AMERICANA / TEXT OF THE 7 ANGRY FROSH HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Elissa Slotkin

Annapolis to Congress

It's a new day

This remarkable opinion essay first appeared in the Washington Post, one of the nation’s leading voices.

GUEST BLOG / By Gil Cisneros [California], Jason Crow[Coloroado], Chrissy Houlahan[Pennsylvania], Elaine Luria[Virginia], Mikie Sherrill [New Jersey], Elissa Slotkin[Michigan] and Abigail Spanberger [Virginia]--Our lives have been defined by national service. We are not career politicians. We are veterans of the military and of the nation’s defense and intelligence agencies. Our service is rooted in the defense of our country on the front lines of national security.

Congressman Gil Cisneros

We have devoted our lives to the service and security of our country, and throughout our careers, we have sworn oaths to defend the Constitution of the United States many times over. Now, we join as a unified group to uphold that oath as we enter uncharted waters and face unprecedented allegations against President Trump.

The president of the United States may have used his position to pressure a foreign country into investigating a political opponent, and he sought to use U.S. taxpayer dollars as leverage to do it.

He allegedly sought to use the very security assistance dollars appropriated by Congress to create stability in the world, to help root out corruption and to protect our national security interests, for his own personal gain.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (above) and
Rep. Slotkin were in the CIA
before being elected to Congress

These allegations are stunning, both in the national security threat they pose and the potential corruption they represent. We also know that on Sept. 9, the inspector general for the intelligence community notified Congress of a “credible” and “urgent” whistleblower complaint related to national security and potentially involving these allegations. Despite federal law requiring the disclosure of this complaint to Congress, the administration has blocked its release to Congress.

Chrissy Houlahan, exUSAF

[This essay appeared before the Whistleblower complaint was made public and before the transcript of the Ukraine telephone call.]

This flagrant disregard for the law cannot stand. To uphold and defend our Constitution, Congress must determine whether the president was indeed willing to use his power and withhold security assistance funds to persuade a foreign country to assist him in an upcoming election.

If these allegations are true, we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense. We do not arrive at this conclusion lightly, and we call on our colleagues in Congress to consider the use of all congressional authorities available to us, including the power of “inherent contempt” and impeachment hearings, to address these new allegations, find the truth and protect our national security.

Rep. Elaine Luria, Commander, U.S. Navy

As members of Congress, we have prioritized delivering for our constituents — remaining steadfast in our focus on health care, infrastructure, economic policy and our communities’ priorities. Yet everything we do harks back to our oaths to defend the country. These new allegations are a threat to all we have sworn to protect.

We must preserve the checks and balances envisioned by the Founders and restore the trust of the American people in our government.

And that is what we intend to do.

U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger attached to the 82nd Airborne division participated in a D-Day remembrance "jump" in Normandy last June. What's easier: jumping into politics or jumping from a plane?  "Jumping from a plane..."