Republican-Led Senate Adopts Schumer Resolution Calling For Whistleblower Complaint To Be Immediately Transmitted To House And Senate Intel Committees

Adoption Of Schumer Resolution Means Every Republican Senator Endorses The Whistleblower Report Being Immediately Provided To The Senate And House Intelligence Committees

Washington, D.C. – The United States Senate today adopted Leader Schumer’s resolution calling for the Inspector General of the Intelligence community to immediately transmit the whistleblower complaint received on August 12, 2019 to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. Schumer’s remarks before and after the Senate adopted his resolution are below, and can also be found here.

Leader Schumer’s resolution can be found here and says: “the whistleblower complaint received on August 12, 2019, by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community shall be transmitted immediately to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and (2) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives should be allowed to evaluate the complaint in a deliberate and bipartisan manner consistent with applicable statutes and processes in order to safeguard classified and sensitive information.”

Senator Schumer Delivered The Following Remarks On The Senate Floor:

In August, a public servant inside the intelligence community found the conduct of the President of the United States alarming enough to file an official whistleblower complaint. The Inspector General of the Intelligence Community found this whistleblower complaint both “credible” and “urgent.” By law, the Director of National Intelligence must forward such a complaint to the congressional intelligence committees within seven days of receiving it. Congress has been informed by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, in writing, that the Trump Administration is preventing that complaint from being sent to the relevant committees in Congress.

Those are the facts. The situation they describe is unacceptable.

We know that the executive branch is blocking the legislative branch—a coequal branch of our government—from performing its constitutional oversight duties. The fact that the whistleblower complaint concerns our national security, our foreign policy, and potential misconduct by the president makes the situation even more serious.

So in a short time, I will ask my colleagues’ consent to pass a simple resolution. It essentially says: “That the whistleblower complaint received on August 12, 2019, by the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community shall be transmitted immediately to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.”

I cannot imagine any legitimate or straight-faced reason for an objection to this unanimous consent request. The only reason for any Senator to object would be to shield the president’s conduct from scrutiny by the public and the representatives they elected to represent them; that is, to protect the president from accountability.

In a moment, I hope this resolution will pass without a single dissenting Senator. And it should.

The request, despite its non-controversial nature, speaks to issues that go back to the founding days of our Republic: checks and balances, the separation of powers, the constitutional duty of the president and executive branch to faithfully execute the laws of the United States. The Senate today—right now—should speak with one, unified voice to re-affirm those time-honored principles; and defend the grand traditions of our democracy. So, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Resolution 325, introduced by Mr. Schumer, and submitted earlier today.

Senator Schumer Continued His Remarks After Senator McConnell Spoke On the Resolution:

Just three brief points. First, this resolution is not aimed at the Senate intelligence committees. Senator Burr and Warner do do a diligent job in trying to figure out what’s going on. It is aimed at a thus-far recalcitrant executive branch which has blocked the ability for the committees to see the complaint, even though law requires it.

And second, it is welcome that we can join together to do our job of oversight. I want to thank the majority leader for not blocking this request, because I think every one of us in this chamber realizes the importance of oversight and the need to prevent an overreaching executive from going too far.

Getting the transcript is a good step, but it is the complaint we need. That is the gravamen of this resolution. It is the whistleblower’s complaint, not the transcript, that we need and, that what we’re asking for with this resolution. And so I further ask that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered, made, and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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