On the recordJanuary 6, 2021
As terrifying as today was here in the people's House, it was, thankfully, fairly short in duration. In contrast, the pain and fear that so many Americans are experiencing this year has been long and continuous to this very moment. Rather than pitting Americans against Americans, as we are here, we should be working to ensure rapid distribution of vaccines and adequate relief to Americans who are struggling economically because of this horrific pandemic. But we are not doing that. Instead, we have witnessed a stunning assault on our democracy itself. This challenge is not an act of patriotism. The position of the objectors is completely incompatible with patriotism. Our country is defined by her great people, and our democracy is defined above all else by our Constitution, a Constitution that these individuals want to ignore because they have decided that their judgment, the judgment of a small minority of partisan elites, should somehow override that of the more than 155 million Americans who participated in this election. That, my friends, is not democracy. {time} 0100 We should all remember this country's founding was a rejection of monarchy, a rejection of the notion that any one person could be all- powerful. Our commitment to self-determination is what gave rise to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.…





