-The Constitution is at the foundation
of our republic's success.
And we each strive not to lose sight of our promise
to defend it.
The Constitution established the vehicle of impeachment
that has occupied both houses of our Congress these many days.
We have labored to faithfully execute
our responsibilities to it.
We have arrived at different judgments,
but I hope we respect each other's good faith.
The allegations made in the articles of impeachment
are very serious.
As a Senator juror, I swore an oath before God
to exercise impartial justice.
I am profoundly religious.
My faith is at the heart of who I am.
I take an oath before God as enormously consequential.
I knew from the outset that being tasked
with judging the President, the leader of my own party,
would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced.
I was not wrong.
The House managers presented evidence support their case,
and the White House counsel disputed that case.
In addition, the President's team presented three defenses --
first, that there could be no impeachment
without a statutory crime.
Second, that the Bidens' conduct
justified the President's actions.
And third, that the judgment of the President's actions
should be left to the voters.
Let me first address those three defenses.
The historic meaning of the words
"high crimes and misdemeanors," the writings of the Founders,
and my own reasoned judgment convince me that a president
can indeed commit acts against the public trust
that are so egregious that while they are not statutory crimes,
they would demand removal from office.
To maintain that the lack of a codified and comprehensive list
of all the outrageous acts that a president
might conceivably renders Congress powerless
to remove such a president defies reason.
The President's counsel also notes that Vice President Biden
appeared to have a conflict of interest
when he undertook an effort
to remove the Ukrainian Prosecutor General.
If he knew of the exorbitant compensation his son
was receiving from a company actually under investigation,
the Vice President should have recused himself.
While ignoring a conflict of interest is not a crime,
it is surely very wrong.
With regards to Hunter Biden,
taking excessive advantage of his father's name is unsavory
but also not a crime.
Given that in neither the case of the father,
nor the son, was any evidence presented
by the President's counsel that a crime had been committed,
the President's insistence
that they be investigated by the Ukrainians
is hard to explain other than as a political pursuit.
There's no question in my mind that were their names not Biden,
the President would never have done what he did.
The defense argues that the Senate
should leave the impeachment decision to the voters.
While that logic is appealing to our democratic instincts,
it is inconsistent with the Constitution's requirement
that the Senate, not the voters, try the President.
Hamilton explained that the Founders' decision
to invest senators with this obligation,
rather than leave it to the voters,
was intended to minimize, to the extent possible,
the partisan sentiments of the public at large.
So the verdict is ours to render under our Constitution.
The people will judge us for how well
and faithfully we fulfill our duty.
The grave question the Constitution tasks senators
to answer is whether the President committed an act
so extreme and egregious
that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor.
Yes, he did.
The President asked a foreign government
to investigate his political rival.
The President withheld vital military funds
from that government to press it to do so.
The President delayed funds for an American ally at war
with Russian invaders.
The President's purpose was personal and political.
Accordingly, the President is guilty
of an appalling abuse of public trust.
What he did was not perfect.
No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights,
our national security, and our fundamental values.
Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office
is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation
of one's oath of office that I can imagine.
In the last several weeks, I have received numerous calls
and texts, many demanded, in their words,
that I stand with the team.
I can assure that that thought has been very much on my mind.
You see, I support a great deal of what the President has done.
I voted with him 80% of the time.
But my promise before God to apply impartial justice
required that I put my personal feelings
and political biases aside.
Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented
and disregard what I believe my oath
and the Constitution demands of me
for the sake of a partisan end,
it would, I fear, expose my character to history's rebuke
and the censure of my own conscience.
I'm aware that there are people in my party and in my state
who will strenuously disapprove of my decision
and in some quarters I will be vehemently denounced.
I'm sure to hear abuse from the President and his supporters.
Does anyone seriously believe
that I would consent to these consequences
other than from an inescapable conviction
that my oath before God demanded it of me?
I sought to hear testimony from John Bolton,
not only because I believed
he could add context to the charges,
but also because I hoped that what he might say
could raise reasonable doubt and thus remove from me
the awful obligation to vote for impeachment.
Like each member of this deliberative body,
I love our country.
I believe that our Constitution was inspired by providence.
I'm convinced that freedom itself is dependent
on the strength and vitality of our national character.
As it is with each senator, my vote is an act of conviction.
We've come to different conclusions, fellow senators.
But I trust we have all followed the dictates of our conscience.
I acknowledge that my verdict will not remove the President
from office.
The results of this Senate court will in fact
be appealed to a higher court,
the judgment of the American people.
Voters will make the final decision,
just as the President's lawyers have implored.
My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate.
But irrespective of these things, with my vote,
I will tell my children and their children
that I did my duty to the best of my ability,
believing that my country expected it of me.
I will only be one name among many --
no more, no less --
to future generations of Americans
who look at the record of this trial.
They will note, merely, that I was among the senators
that determined that what the President did was wrong,
grievously wrong.
We are all footnotes at best in the annals of history.
But in the most powerful nation on Earth,
the nation conceived in liberty and justice,
that distinction is enough for any citizen.
Thank you, Mister President. I yield.