FEARING FOR OUR LIVES

On 2026-01-09, Representative Al Green (D-TX-9) delivered a floor speech titled "FEARING FOR OUR LIVES" in the House. The speech addressed foreign policy and also covered defense, trade policy. It referenced legislation: SJRES90.

FEARING FOR OUR LIVES

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 7 (Friday, January 9, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 7 (Friday, January 9, 2026)] [House] [Pages H607-H610] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] {time} 1110 FEARING FOR OUR LIVES (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Green of Texas was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.) Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, and still I rise, a liberated, unbought, unbossed, unafraid Democrat. And still I rise, and I rise today because I have grave and great concern for the American people. I fear for the lives of the American people. I do so, Mr. Speaker, because if the President of the United States and his underlings and his persons who are in charge of very powerful agencies within the Federal Government can convince this country or some significant portion of the people in this country that Ms. Renee Good was a terrorist, I fear for the lives of the people in this country. In fact, I fear for my own life. I am not afraid to speak truth to power. I am not afraid to speak truth about power. I am going to speak truth about power today, but I can tell you that I fear for our lives because if you can justify what happened to Ms. Good after seeing with your very own eyes what took place, and if we can allow the king's men to conclude that only they can investigate this and remove the local constabulary from the process, if this can happen, I fear for our lives. We are now living in a country where people are expected to believe that this mother of three, a Christian woman, seated in her vehicle-- yes, the vehicle was across the roadway--that somehow she was a terrorist. The head of Homeland Security has as much as said so, a terrorist. Mr. Speaker, I fear for our lives because what we saw when this lady, this woman, was accosted--and I say ``accosted'' because men who had on masks in police regalia, I suppose, approached her rather aggressively, it seems to me, and one of them, in approaching, said: ``Get the f out of the car.'' I am not using the profanity, but that is what was said. You can see it for yourselves, and you can hear it for yourselves. That is what was said: ``Get the f out of the car.'' When men can approach a female in a car and say this to her and expect her to immediately respond in a positive manner, and if she does not and attempts to drive away, if they can take her life, I fear for our lives. Do not assume that it can happen only to her. They aggressively approached her. Cars were going around her in various ways, but when she made her move to extricate herself, to move along, to move her car, officers started to shoot. She was shot. One officer shot through the side window as she was moving away. You don't have to know this lady. I don't know her. I don't know who she was other than what I have seen and what I have read, but the truth is, officers ought not be allowed to do what was done to this lady. There should be an investigation that includes the local constabulary. If you truly want to be transparent, if you truly believe in liberty and justice for all, if you want the people in this country to believe that what occurred was the right thing, then you would want the local constabulary to be involved, but no. This administration is shutting out the local investigation, and they are including only the Federal investigation, which means, by some thought processes, that they have no desire to let this go to trial. There are people who believe that this administration has no desire to let this case go to a trial. For edification purposes, I am one of them. I don't believe that they want this case to go to a trial. I think that this is why they have decided that only the Federal authorities will investigate. I also believe that if the case goes to a trial and if there is [[Page H608]] a conviction and it is a Federal conviction, I believe this President will do for the person or persons convicted, I believe he will do for them what he did for the people who assaulted the citadel of democracy on January 6. I believe he will pardon, and I believe he will do it without question, reservation, or hesitation, just as he did for those persons who assaulted this Capitol. He did it immediately after being sworn in. Mr. Speaker, I fear for the lives of the American people, and again, I say that includes me. I think we have a reckless, ruthless outlaw who has found his way into the Presidency. To further validate my thinking, I have here the words of the President of the United States of America, Donald John Trump. Here are his words when asked if there were any limits on his international power. I know what happened within the country was national. This deals with international power. Give me just a moment, please, of your time so that I might connect these dots. When asked if there were any limits on his international power, here is his response: ``My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me.'' Some things bear repeating: ``My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me.'' Mr. President, what about Congress? What about the Constitution? What about the power to declare war and where that power is vested? What about it, Mr. President? Only your mind? Only your morality? I won't go into the President's moral standards. I will leave that to you. {time} 1120 Mr. Speaker, what the President is saying is, this joint resolution, S.J. Res. 90, over in the Senate--here is a copy of it--permit me to read some excerpts. Mr. Speaker, it reads: ``Joint Resolution--To direct the removal of the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.'' S.J. Res. 90, it goes on to say: ``Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives.'' Eventually, if it passes the Senate, it has to come to the House for our approval. ``Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, ``Section 1. Findings. Congress makes the following findings: (1) Congress has the sole power to declare war under article I, section 8, clause II of the United States Constitution.'' Mr. President, the Constitution still has some relevancy. The Constitution is not meaningless. It goes on to say: ``(2) Congress has not yet declared war upon Venezuela or any person or organization within Venezuela, nor enacted a specific statutory authorization for use of military force within or against Venezuela.'' Mr. Speaker, it is only his mind and his morality. That is the only thing that can stop him. This resolution won't stop him. Here is what he knows. He knows that if it passes the Senate and he knows that if it passes the House, he knows that he has a vote. He knows that if he votes ``no'' with his veto, he knows or believes that it will not be overridden. Mr. Speaker, I still say this is the right thing to do. I say this because you cannot allow a President to do what he has done in terms of going to another country, bombing the country, to do this and not put some check on him. At least you have to try. You can't just allow it to happen and decide we will wait until we can override his veto. Pass it in the Senate even if it never passes the House. You ought to pass it in the Senate. The House should pass it. If the House doesn't, the Senate is doing the right thing. Pass it. Let him know that there are some people who are watching. By the way, the President has also gone on to say that the five Republicans who voted for this to move forward shouldn't hold public office again. Threats and intimidation, this President spells the word ``respect'' f-e-a-r. That is respect. He wants people to fear him. I don't fear you, Mr. President. I am concerned about your behavior. I am concerned about what you might have your underlings in some way do to me. I want you to know I will not be deterred, just as these Senators are not being deterred. Yes, they are doing the right thing, notwithstanding the fact that you have a vote in this process. They did it, and they are doing it. I support what they are doing. In doing what he has done, the President is doing the following. He is using the noble ends--not always noble--to justify ignoble means. They are noble ends to justify ignoble means. That is what is happening in Venezuela. Only it is noble ends to justify unconstitutional means. I think some Senators seem to agree with me on that: Unconstitutional means to justify what are perceived to be ignoble ends. The President of Venezuela is a part of this, but it is not about him. It is about the Constitution. It is about whether we will have a Constitution. If we are going to allow what are perceived to be noble ends to justify unconstitutional means, at some point the Constitution of the United States of America will become meaningless. He is using noble, perceived ends to justify unconstitutional means. The President should have brought this to the attention of the Congress. He did not do so. He did, however, bring it to the attention of the oil companies. Have the oil companies replaced Congress in the United States of America? Is what they think more important than what we think, given that the Constitution has given us the authority to declare war? I know that this is a difficult topic for some people to embrace, but this is where we are. Congress has become irrelevant in the mind of this President. It is not relevant. It is not. His own morality, his own mind is the only thing that can stop him. Well, Mr. President, you are wrong. Congress is relevant. Just as the Senate took this action, Congress, meaning the House of Representatives, should take action. By definition, the House and the Senate make up the Congress. The House of Representatives should take action. We have the power to do what has to be done. We have the power. Before I go furth

Referenced legislation: SJRES90