(22nd House of Representatives) — Democrat Rep. Tina Sablan issued the following statement Monday in response to the impeachment rules adopted by the Senate Joint Impeachment Committee and scheduled for introduction in the Senate afternoon session Monday, Feb. 28, 2022.
Sablan was a member of the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee as well as the House Special Committee on Impeachment.
“Tempers flared in the Senate chamber today,” she said, “in part because the stakes are so high and because the rules put forth by the joint committee are so unreasonable and clearly one-sided. Unfortunately, what the people have seen thus far is a concerted effort by the Senate leadership to shield the proposed rules from public review and comment, and to suppress voices of opposition.”
Sablan said the Senate president’s “apology to the people for the breakdown of decorum is appreciated and necessary. But I would respectfully urge him to go several steps further and 1) instruct the joint committee to go back to the drawing board to ensure fair and reasonable rules to govern the impeachment trial, 2) make sure that the Senate and its committees comply with the spirit and letter of the Open Government Act, and 3) allow people to speak freely even in dissent or criticism in the Senate chamber without interruption, harassment, or intimidation — including members of the public and minority members of the Senate.”
According to Sablan, “Dissent and criticism help us all do our jobs better. To have any confidence in the legitimacy of this impeachment trial, the people will be looking to the Senate to demonstrate fairness, transparency, and the highest level of respect and decorum — in the rules they adopt to govern these proceedings, and in the proceedings themselves.”
Tina Sablan
