Congressman Chuck Fleischmann on Wednesday voted against impeachment of President Donald Trump, but the House gathered enough votes to proceed. It would also take action of the Senate to actually remove the president from office.
Rep. Fleischmann said, “I am deeply concerned about our nation’s future.
The inexcusable and heinous violence that occurred at the Capitol last week was abhorrent and an affront to our Republic. We are deeply divided, and the vitriol, toxicity, and animosity towards our fellow Americans have only continued to exasperate this divide. I believe we desperately need to begin to heal as a nation - impeachment would only throw fuel on the fire.
“Our constituents elected us to lead, but I haven’t seen much of that from many elected officials in the past week - I’ve seen personal insults hurled from all sides and I’ve seen dangerous rhetoric only continue to escalate.
“I have always had the utmost respect for my colleagues on all sides of the political spectrum. I believe that we should be able to have healthy disagreements on politics and policy but, at the end of the day, be able to respect each other and be united in our shared love for this great nation.
“When I speak to folks at home, they want to know what we’re doing to help small businesses, what we’re doing to support their families and their children, and what we’re doing to solve our communities’ ailments. I want to get back to doing our job, and I know they want that too.
“I will be voting against impeaching President Donald Trump, he has seven days left in his term, and he has committed to a peaceful transition of power. All this impeachment process does is further hurt and divide our nation when we need to be working to heal these wounds. I hope that my colleagues will soon join me in deescalating the rhetoric and working to mend our political divides. We need to focus on what we were sent here to do, creating and enacting policies that will help our communities.
“This is undoubtedly a rough time in our history. However, I firmly believe that our nation is stronger than the events that have unfolded, our nation is stronger than our political divides, and our nation will heal. At the end of the day, we are still one nation, under God, indivisible.”
Senator Marsha Blackburn said, “To persist with impeachment now, with just days to go in the current administration, will further divide Americans and exacerbate tensions.
“Moving forward, it is my sincere hope Congress will work on a bipartisan basis to restore the confidence of the American people in our elections, and affirm our shared commitment to the rule of law.”
Senator Bill Hagerty said, “At a time when the United States needs national healing and a true commitment to the rule of law, the American people should look to their legislators not to deepen partisan division, but to bring us together. There are seven days to go in the President’s term, and he has fully committed to a peaceful transfer of power.”