Attleboro area congressman says vote to impeach Trump was about 'moral leadership"
WASHINGTON — Wednesday’s vote to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time came down to an issue of “moral leadership,” the area’s congressman says.
U.S. Rep, Jake Auchincloss, D-Newton, said Wednesday — in his first floor speech as a congressman — that the move, which passed the House by a vote of 232 to 197, including all Democrats and 10 Republicans voting in favor, was a “duty under a Constitution that compels us to defend against enemies foreign and domestic.”
The House voted to charge Trump with “inciting violence against the government of the United States” and requested his immediate removal from office and disqualification from ever holding one again.
The vote came a week after a mob of the president’s supporters invaded the Capitol in an apparent attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory in November’s election.
Five people died in the resulting chaos, including a Capitol police officer and a California woman shot by an officer, Ashli Babbitt. Her husband is from North Attleboro.
Auchincloss, the state’s newest member of Congress, represents the 10 communities in The Sun Chronicles coverage area.
In an interview Wednesday night, he said the debate on the impeachment resolution “reflected the urgency and gravity of the moment. We have a commander in chief who is a clear and present threat and he needs to be removed now.”
Auchincloss rejected the argument by some Republicans that there was little point in impeaching a president who has only a week left in his term.
“We are coming up on Martin Luther King Day. He said it was always the right time to do the right thing,” the congressman said.
“I want to push back on the concept that Congress will be distracted (by impeachment),” Auchincloss said.
He noted that he had spent the morning talking about economic development in Southeastern Massachusetts, talent and workforce development with area community college officials, and working with small business.
“I can hold the president responsible while serving the district,” Auchincloss said.
He also mocked calls for unity coming from some in the GOP.
“These are yelps from a party that for four years has been fomenting division. This calls for moral leadership,” he said.
In his speech on the House floor, Auchincloss said, “As a Marine officer, I defended our democracy from foreign enemies. As a member of Congress, I am solemnly resolved to defend it from domestic ones. With this vote, we strike a blow for moral leadership.”
Source:
Tom Riley