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Kaptur Upholds Oath of Office, Votes For Articles of Impeachment

December 18, 2019

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), released the following statement after she voted to support Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump:

"Members of Congress swear a solemn oath to protect and defend our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Today, we fulfilled our Oath," said Rep. Kaptur.

"No person runs for Congress with the desire to impeach a President – I certainly did not. For the sake of our democracy, we pray impeachment is never necessary.

"But like so many patriotic Americans in Northern Ohio and communities across the country, I am deeply concerned by President Trump's systematic betrayal of our values and national security in favor of our adversary Vladimir Putin.

"Putin has sought to sow disarray and destabilize our democracy and the NATO Alliance. He has coordinated murders, election hacking, propaganda, and the entrapment of willing fools who would put their own self-interests over liberty – President Trump among them.

"At Putin's direction, Russia illegally invaded Ukraine in 2014. As Ukrainians defend Europe's eastern flank, 14,000 have already died at Putin's hand with over 2 million more displaced.

"At home and abroad, President Trump has failed to defend our Constitution or be a champion for liberty. Rather than stand up to Putin, President Trump has aided him – first in hastening Russian interference in our 2016 election, and more recently, by withholding vital military aid from Ukraine to extort their interference in our 2020 election for his personal gain.

"President Trump is guilty of abusing his power and strengthening America's adversaries. He has repeatedly obstructed Congress in his failure to comply with lawful subpoenas. His actions have subverted U.S. national interests and emboldened Putin.

"I would like my constituents to know that a vote for impeachment is not one that has been whipped up by Democratic leadership – from its start, it has been driven by the public. Our office has fielded hundreds of calls from citizens urging impeachment.

"It has taken the strong moral courage of whistleblowers, public servants, veterans, and legislators to bring us to this solemn moment in our nation's history, but first and foremost it was the president's own actions that started us down this unfortunate path.

"No one is above the law, not even the president. Donald Trump is a threat to our republic and should be removed from office without delay.

"In defense of our democracy, I have voted to impeach President Donald Trump. Onward Liberty."

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