Floor Speech on H.R. 5314, the Protecting Our Democracy Act

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.R. 5314, the Protecting Our Democracy Act. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for – congratulate her on her great leadership, chairing an important Committee of the House: COR, as we call it. And to thank her for bringing this legislation to the Floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Adam Schiff for his leadership in putting this legislation together. I'll get to that in a moment. But, first, I just want to say how proud we are today. Every day we serve in this House, a House of the people, is a privilege. No matter what honors others may bestow to us in this House, whether we are Speaker or Leader or Whip or whatever, no honor is greater than to be able to step on the Floor and say we speak for the people of our district – that they have chosen us to come here, as was intended by our Founders.

Two-hundred and forty-five years ago, in an act of daring that would redefine the world, our Founders – imagine the courage they had – to declare their independence from an oppressive monarch. They said, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' The pursuit of happiness is written into the founding document. And they continued: ‘When any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the people's duty to throw off such government, to provide new guards for their future security.' They were speaking about England. Our Founders would then forge those guards for our own government.

The democratic institutions enshrined in the Constitution, which for 42 – for nearly two and a half centuries have safeguarded the security and well-being of the American people, of the American people. But, disturbingly, the last Administration saw our democracy in crisis, with a rogue President who trampled over the guardrails protecting our republic.

Now, Congress has the solemn responsibility and opportunity to safeguard our democracy, ensuring that past abuses can never be perpetrated by any president of any party. The Protecting Our Democracy Act ensures the strength and survival of a democracy of, by and for the people: defending the rule of law, revitalizing our system of checks and balances and restoring our democratic institutions.

Thank you to Chairman Adam Schiff, the Chair – and the Chairs of the Committees of jurisdiction, Judiciary being one of those, COR another, and many co-sponsors for their leadership on this transformative package of democracy reforms, which will put in place essential safeguards to prevent any president from abusing the public trust, no matter what his or her party is.

This legislative package is sweeping and future focused – looking to the future, designed to restate the rule of law, now and for generations to come. Our Chairs have crafted a robust reforms package that can stand up to and prevent attempts to undermine our democracy, including the abuse of pardon power, abuse of office for personal enrichment, the solicitation of foreign assistance in our elections, retaliatory attacks on whistleblowers and inspectors general, politicization of the tools of justice and contempt of Congress' oversight powers on behalf of the American people, including our lawful subpoena power and the power of the purse. These steps ensure that no one, not even a president, is above the law.

During the Constitutional Convention, one of our Founders, George Mason, asked, ‘Shall any man be above justice? That man be above it who can commit the most extensive injustice.' In his great wisdom, George Mason knew the injustice committed by the president erodes the rule of law – the very notion, the idea of fair justice, which is the bedrock of our democracy. And if we allow a president to be above the law, we surely do to the peril of our republic. Addressing presidential abuse, therefore, goes to the very heart, the very survival of our democracy.

We are a democracy, three co-equal branches of government, each a check and balance on the other. That cannot be undermined. Otherwise, we are a monarchy. And that is what we chose not to be.

Let me close by recalling another scene from that Constitutional Convention on its final day, as our Constitution was adopted. Benjamin Franklin was greeted by folks as he descended the steps from Independence Hall. People know this story. Children in school learn it. The people ask, ‘What do we have, a republic or a monarchy?' Benjamin Franklin responded, ‘A republic, if we can keep it.'