On the recordJuly 14, 2022
This week, I had the privilege of taking some of our young high school students and visitors throughout the Capitol. What a sense of pride I had in the beauty of this Capitol, the beauty of this building, but what it symbolizes is democracy. As I walked through the Halls, I was reminded of the important hearings that are going on in the January 6th Committee. The most recent hearing made it very clear that the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys came specifically at the calling of President Trump. The terrorism that occurred was driven by his lack of accepting the peaceful transfer of government. It was the big lie. What we saw on that day, January 6, was domestic terrorism on steroids, destined to commit mayhem, bloodshed, and death. It was an attack on democracy, and it is being evidenced every day that the hearings proceed methodically, block by block, evidence by evidence. It is clear in the injury of law enforcement officers and loss of life that we have to say to those of this Nation: You have to take ownership of protecting the values and the sanctity of democracy. Yes, someone must be held accountable. The President must be held accountable because what happened was not only an attack on democracy and the peaceful transfer of government, but loss of life and death, and that cannot go unanswered. ____________________
