Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the Committee voted to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump to the full House, the first article for abuse of power and the second article for obstruction of Congress.

Below is Chairman Nadler's full statement:

"'A Republic, if you can keep it.'

"At the Close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, as he was leaving Independence Hall, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of nation we had established.  His reply—'A Republic, if you can keep it'—was more than a quip, and more than a warning.  It was a challenge.  We had just fought a war to earn our independence.  Franklin challenged us to protect his new republic, and to keep it from reverting to the kind of tyranny from which we had just separated.

"In every generation that has followed, Americans have risen to that challenge. 

"We have seen it in the men and women of our military, who leave home to fight on foreign soil and risk their lives for our country.

"We have seen it in the police officer, who kisses her family goodnight and puts on her badge and bulletproof vest before heading out to protect her community.

"We have seen it in the high school teacher, who runs through the hallways making sure all of his students are safe while a gunman opens fire.

"We saw it in the first responder, who ran into a smoke-filled tower on 9/11 to rescue as many people as possible before the building collapsed.

"We see it in the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters of those who serve, knowing that they may never see each other again but understanding that they are serving something larger than themselves. 

"'A Republic, if you can keep it.'  Generation after generation of Americans have risen to this challenge. Each time, they have placed the Republic—this country, its people and our values—above all else.

"Overwhelming evidence shows that President Donald Trump put his own interest, his personal political needs and selfish wants, before the country he swore an oath to defend.  President Trump risked our national security, jeopardized the fairness and honesty of our next election, and worked to conceal the truth from Congress in violation of his responsibility to the American people.

"Today is a sad and somber day for the nation.  Yet we must meet the challenge posed by a President who puts himself before the country, whose actions pose a direct threat to the integrity of our elections, and to the separation of powers that safeguard our liberty."