Oct, 22, 2019 by David Silverberg
In a procedural vote yesterday, Oct. 21, two of Southwest Florida’s congressional representatives voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-28-Calif.) who, as the chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee, is leading the impeachment inquiry into whether President Donald Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.
By a vote of 218 to 185, the US House of Representatives voted to table House Resolution (HR) 647. The tabling means that its consideration is postponed indefinitely, effectively killing it.
Both Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-Fla.) and Greg Steube (R-17-Fla.) had co-sponsored an earlier version of the legislation (HR 630) and voted for HR 647. Rep. Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) did not vote.
The censure bill accused Schiff of misleading Congress and the American public, specifically when he parodied President Trump’s summary of his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In that call Trump requested that Ukraine conduct an investigation of Hunter Biden in exchange for releasing US military aid.
Trump has been tweeting relentlessly against Schiff, calling him “shifty,” “corrupt” and “a fraud.”
House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) defended Schiff in her own statement, saying: “Rep. Schiff is a great patriot. America is well-served by his strategic leadership.”
After the vote, Schiff himself tweeted: “It will be said of House Republicans, when they found they lacked the courage to confront the most dangerous and unethical president in American history, they consoled themselves by attacking those who did.”