WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) today delivered the following opening remarks during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing he co-chaired, “Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-Up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution.” Excerpts are below, and video can be found here.

“Last June, the American public saw with their own eyes what many knew to be true but would not dare to admit publicly – our sitting Commander-in-Chief was suffering from severe cognitive decline.”

“As we now know, there was a conspiracy to hide the President’s true condition by his family, by his staff, by the media, and many elected officials.”

“This was a constitutional crisis bigger than President Biden, bigger than any single election, and one that cannot be absolved by the collective apology of the press and an election where the President’s party lost.”

“We need to know who was in charge during the last months of the Biden administration. Was it his wife, his chief of staff, nameless others? None of these people were elected by the American people, nor were they authorized by the Constitution and laws of the United States to carry out the duties of the President of the United States.”

“The 25th Amendment provides a roadmap for succession in instances of presidential incapacity. Section 4 gives the Vice President and a majority of the President’s Cabinet the authority to challenge the President’s ability to carry out the functions of his office, subject to a vote in Congress.”

 “But in this instance, the Vice President and the cabinet – the very ones authorized by the 25th Amendment to question the President’s capacity – they did nothing.”

“Biden’s cabinet and the Vice President did not act in good faith. They acted in their political and personal self-interest.”

“As a government, it is imperative that we have clear contingency plans when emergency strikes, and yes, it is an emergency when we have a sitting president who is unable to discharge the duties of that office.”

“I will note that few of my Democratic colleagues are here today – thank you to Senator Welch from Vermont for being here – leaving us with no other option than to take the boycotting of this hearing as an admission of guilt for their role in this crisis.” 

“It is not an overstatement to say that the future of our country could one day hinge on how we choose to act or not act on this very issue.”