Since I wrote you two weeks ago about my support for an impeachment inquiry, I’ve become even more concerned about President Trump’s abuses of power and the threat he poses to our democracy. I wanted to share with you a few key concerns I have:

• The call record of President Trump's July 25 conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky makes clear that the President pressed Ukraine to initiate investigations to benefit him personally and politically. In the President's own words, he told Ukranian President Zelensky, "Do us a favor, though."

• President Trump further abused his office by using multiple levers of the government to cover up his attempts to pressure the Ukrainian leaders to interfere in the 2020 elections.

• The Trump Administration is actively preventing key witnesses from testifying before the House of Representatives.

• By first pressuring a foreign country to interfere in our elections and then marshalling the federal government and the power of his office to cover up his actions, President Trump has endangered our national security and the very essence of our democracy.

No other President has ever abused his power for his own personal political gain at the expense of our national security.

I listened to your calls and read your messages and know that many of you share these deep concerns. I am a member of the Oversight Committee, one of the three Committees conducting the impeachment inquiry, and I will continue fighting for you and for our democracy. No one is above the law.

I was proud to welcome Speaker Pelosi to South Florida for a roundtable on the crisis in Venezuela and continue demanding the Senate or White House act to extend Temporary Protected Status for Venezeulans.

The impeachment inquiry is extremely important, but only one of many ways I'm working for you in Washington:

• I was joined by Speaker Pelosi, Rep. Shalala, Rep. Mucarsel-Powell, Rep Sires, and Ambassador Vecchio for a community forum in Weston where all of us called for Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans, which would protect them from deportation. The Trump Administration continues to refuse to grant these lifesaving protections to Venezuelans fleeing the brutal Maduro regime, but we will not stop fighting for our Venezuelan friends and community members.

• I visited the Carl Shechter Southwest Focal Point Senior Center and listened to your concerns about the costs of prescription drugs. House Democrats are working hard to lower the costs of prescription drugs with H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act.

• The Supreme Court heard arguments in critical cases that will determine whether LGBT people can be discriminated against or fired just for being who they are. I'm proud to have joined a brief calling on SCOTUS to recognize that federal law protects LGBTQ+ people.

• I led a Congressional delegation to the Bahamas to survey the damage from Hurricane Dorian and the status of recovery efforts.
  

Sincerely,


Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Member of Congress