,,iii #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 ,,res4 #cgh ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,october #bd1 #bjai,mr4 ,graham 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,mc,connell1 ,mr4 ,grassley1 ,mr4 ,thune1 ,mr4 ,blunt1 ,mr4 ,inhofe1 ,mr4 ,crapo1 ,mr4 ,cornyn1 ,mr4 ,burr1 ,mr4 ,barrasso1 ,mr4 ,wicker1 ,mr4 ,risch1 ,mr4 ,boozman1 ,mr4 ,paul1 ,mr4 ,lee1 ,mr4 ,johnson1 ,mr4 ,scott of ,south ,carolina1 ,mrs4 ,fischer1 ,mr4 ,cruz1 ,mrs4 ,capito1 ,mr4 ,cassidy1 ,mr4 ,lankford1 ,mr4 ,cotton1 ,mr4 ,daines1 ,mr4 ,perdue1 ,ms4 ,ernst1 ,mr4 ,tillis1 ,mr4 ,rounds1 ,mr4 ,young1 ,mr4 ,kennedy1 ,mrs4 ,hyde-,smith1 ,mrs4 ,blackburn1 ,mr4 ,cramer1 ,mr4 ,shelby1 ,mr4 ,roberts1 ,mr4 ,moran1 ,mr4 ,hoeven1 ,mr4 ,rubio1 ,mr4 ,braun1 ,mr4 ,hawley1 ,mr4 ,scott of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,sasse1 ,mr4 ,toomey1 ,ms4 ,mc,sally1 and ,mr4 ,sullivan7 submitted the following resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,rules and ,administration ,,resolution ,expressing the sense of the ,senate that the ,house of ,representatives should1 consistent with long-standing practice and precedent1 prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment investigation into ,president ,donald ,j4 ,trump1 vote to open a formal impeachment inquiry and provide ,president ,trump with fundamental constitutional protections4 ,whereas one of the cornerstones of the ,american ,constitution is due process3 the right to confront your accuser1 call witnesses on your behalf1 and challenge the accusations against you2 ,whereas the ,house of ,representatives is abandoning more than a century's worth of precedent and tradition in impeachment proceedings and denying ,president ,trump basic fairness and due process accorded every ,american2 ,whereas1 in our nation's history1 the ,house has on three occasions moved to formally investigate whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach a ,president1 and in all three of these cases1 the full ,house voted on a resolution authorizing the ,house ,judiciary ,committee to determine whether to impeach the ,president2 ,whereas1 in the case of ,president ,trump1 a formal impeachment process involving debate and a vote by the full ,house prior to taking each step in the process has been replaced by a press conference by the ,speaker of the ,house2 ,whereas the proposition that the ,speaker acting alone may direct committees to initiate impeachment proceedings without any debate or a vote on the ,house floor is unprecedented and undemocratic2 ,whereas the ,house is denying ,president ,trump due process within the inquiry itself2 ,whereas1 for the impeachment investigations of ,president ,richard ,m4 ,nixon and ,president ,william ,j4 ,clinton1 the ,house ,judiciary ,committee adopted rules of procedure to provide due process rights and ensure fairness2 ,whereas these rights included-- 7#a7 allowing the ,president to be represented by counsel2 7#b7 permitting the ,president's counsel to be present at all hearings and depositions2 7#c7 permitting the ,president's counsel to present evidence and object to the admission of evidence2 7#d7 allowing the ,president's counsel to call and cross-examine witnesses2 and 7#e7 giving the ,president's counsel access to1 and the ability to respond to1 the evidence adduced by the ,committee2 ,whereas1 by contrast1 the ,house's current impeachment inquiry provides none of these basic rights and protections to ,president ,trump2 ,whereas the main allegations against ,president ,trump are based on assertions and testimony from witnesses whom he is unable to confront1 as part of a process in which he is not able to offer witnesses in his defense or have a basic understanding of the allegations lodged against him2 ,whereas all witness interviews that have been conducted thus far in the ,house have been behind closed doors with limited minority participation2 ,whereas the ,house's current impeachment inquiry ignores the procedural rights given to the investigating committee's minority in previous ,presidential impeachments1 including granting equal subpoena power to both the chair and ranking member of the committee2 ,whereas1 the ,house is denying ,president ,trump the same basic pre-inquiry rights afforded to ,president ,clinton2 ,whereas the ,whitewater ,investigation involved nearly five years of painstaking investigative work by a special counsel and an independent counsel before the ,house even voted to have the ,judiciary ,committee open an impeachment inquiry2 ,whereas ,president ,clinton vigorously fought that investigation1 including by raising multiple privilege claims and he was permitted to fully litigate those claims through the courts2 ,whereas ,president ,trump1 by contrast1 fully cooperated with ,special ,counsel ,robert ,s4 ,mueller's investigation2 ,whereas1 during the course of the ,mueller investigation1 ,president ,trump never raised privilege claims1 he turned over more than one million pages of documents1 he directed senior aides to testify freely1 including making the ,white ,house ,counsel available to testify for more than thirty hours1 and he agreed to answer written questions on penalty of perjury2 and ,whereas1 rather than giving ,president ,trump the same due process rights that ,president ,clinton had to raise and litigate claims of constitutional privilege1 ,house ,intelligence ,committee ,chairman ,adam ,schiff has repeatedly threatened to use ,president ,trump's assertion of his constitutional rights as evidence of obstruction and to impeach ,president ,trump for trying to litigate those claims3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that the ,senate-- 7#a7 calls on the ,house of ,representatives1 prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment investigation into ,president ,trump1 to vote to initiate a formal impeachment inquiry2 7#b7 calls on the ,house of ,representatives to provide ,president ,trump1 like every other ,american1 with due process1 to include the ability to confront his accusers1 call witnesses on his behalf1 and have a basic understanding of the accusations against him that would form any basis for impeachment2 and 7#c7 calls on the ,house of ,representatives to provide members of the minority with the ability to participate fully in all proceedings and have equal authority to issue subpoenas and other compulsory process4