WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) responded to reports that the Democrat Majority Leader will move to table the articles of impeachment of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and refuse to hold a full trial for the first time in U.S. history. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“Secretary Mayorkas was not impeached because he is unpopular or just because he’s incompetent. He was impeached for two serious offenses.”

“The first of which is his willful and systematic refusal to enforce our immigration laws.”

“Secretary Mayorkas has made catch-and-release the de facto policy of the United States government, which is in direct contravention of our immigration laws.”

“The second of which is breaching the public trust.”

“It’s not just the misleading and false statements on cable news networks. On more than one occasion, Secretary Mayorkas lied under oath to Congress.”

“The Majority Leader is expected to take the completely unprecedented step of voting to table the impeachment articles and eliminate a trial entirely, in violation of the Constitution.”

“This would be the first time in our nation’s history that the Senate failed to do its duty to consider evidence, hear witnesses, and allow Senators to vote guilty or not guilty.”

“This would be a dangerous precedent to set.”

“Impeachment is one of the most solemn features in our democracy, and the Majority Leader must not brush these articles under the rug.”