"What they wanted to do was to be sure that we did not have a monarchy but we had three distinct branches of government: a check and balance one to the other. "

"We gather here this afternoon about a matter of utmost importance to our country.  Every one of us – every Member of Congress, every official across the country – in serving in office, takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States.  To support and defend it.

The Constitution, which begins with our beautiful ‘We the people’ – the Preamble to the Constitution, declaring our purpose.  The words immediately following the Preamble: Article I, the legislative branch.  The beauty of the Constitution, the heart and the soul of the Constitution, is the separation of power of co-equal branches of government to be a balance of power.

To achieve that purpose, the founders were very visionary.  Many beautiful things came, followed that – the Bill of Rights and the rest – but what they wanted to do was to be sure that we did not have a monarchy but we had three distinct branches of government: a check and balance one to the other.  And, because the text of the Constitution spells out the responsibilities of each, giving the Congress of the United States, among other powers, the power of the purse.

The President’s power grab usurps that responsibility and fundamentally violates the balance of power envisioned by our Founders.  To defend our democracy, the House will pass Congressman Castro’s privileged resolution to terminate the emergency declaration tomorrow.

I salute Congressman Castro for his work leading up to the moment, so that we are ready.  And, he is Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.  He is a distinguished Member of Congress from the State of Texas, which has the longest border with Mexico.  But, this isn’t about the border, this is about the Constitution of the United States.

This is not about politics.  It’s not about partisanship.  It’s about patriotism.

And so, again, once we pass this resolution, we will send it over to the Senate.

All Members, as I’ve said, have taken the oath of office.  We would be delinquent in our duties if we did not resist, if we did not fight back to overturn the President’s declaration.  To not do that would be to abandon our own responsibilities.  We do not intend to do that."


Excerpt from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's at the press conference today.