Sheila Jackson Lee: “This is a very troubling moment in our history. After the rule is passed, you will see other Members come to the floor…”

“This is a very troubling moment in our history. After the rule is passed, you will see other Members come to the floor to continue this debate. I thought I would start out by holding up a most precious document, and that is the Constitution of the United States of America. I often get chills when I read its Preamble, which indicates that the body of people who started this Nation organized to create a more perfect Union. I love to hear those words because what it suggests is that we wanted to be the standard-bearer for what is best and better in the world. We wanted to cease conflict. We wanted to be the defenders of peace. And even with the original sin, we wanted somehow to be better than others. I get chills when I walk through the Halls of this very august place, to see the depictions of the debates in the early years, to realize how fragile democracy is, and how we could not last. I hold this up because, interestingly, we can be so proud that Congress was listed as the first body of government, Article I. As I read the charges in here, it gives us powers as the House of Representatives. Nowhere is there a privilege to kill. Nowhere is there the instruction to kill. Nowhere is there an instruction to be free to murder. Yet, with a great deal of trepidation and sadness, I am here because of a video. This headline speaks to it: ``House to vote on censuring Republican,'' Mr. Gosar, ``who shared violent video targeting'' a Member of Congress.…”