-9999
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleagues, and I would like to particularly thank my colleague, the senior Senator from Minnesota, for bringing us together today.
I rise today with my colleagues to commemorate the first anniversary of January 6--the attack on our Capitol and the attempted coup to overturn our democracy.
You know, I have thought a lot about this day over the last year, and I speak today because I think it is important that we are clear about what happened on January 6, how it connects to what has happened since, and what needs to happen next. So let me be direct.
On January 6, there was a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, led by insurrectionists with the explicit goal to overturn our free and fair elections and the election of Joe Biden. The attack happened because former President Trump and his allies encouraged his supporters to come to Washington. They told them, falsely, that the election had been stolen. He incited them to violence. Then he sat and watched while the Capitol was attacked. These are the facts, and there was no attempt to hide it. It is as plain as that wintery January day.
Now, I am sure that all of us in this room have vivid memories of what happened on that day. Moments of crisis leave a deep impression. For us, of course, this violence happened in our workplace while we were doing our jobs. The Capitol, on January 6, was full of Members of Congress, of national political leaders of both parties, and of a Vice President whom the former President had exhorted his angry mob to hunt down. It was also, though, full of journalists, custodians, and cafeteria workers. In this Chamber were our clerks and colleagues and Parliamentarians and the stenographers. They are here, hour after hour, making this place work.
You are public servants who were thrown into violent chaos and danger by the former President.
As for law enforcement and first responders, let's remember that January 6 was one of the worst days for injuries to law enforcement since 9/11, as a violent mob bludgeoned and crushed and wounded and killed. That is what happened, and no amount of whitewashing is going to change it.
It also happened, when we came back into this Chamber to finish our jobs and to certify the people's votes, that some Republicans spoke the truth about the terrible tragedy of that day.
Senator McConnell said:
The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people.
Senator Lindsey Graham, sitting right over there, declared in reference to the disgraced former President:
Count me out. Enough is enough.
So, for a moment, it seemed like we would unify in condemning the political violence incited by a President who had betrayed our fundamental democratic principles, but later that night, Senator Cruz and Senator Hawley and six other Senators voted to overturn our free and fair elections, continuing down this reckless path.
Within days, Republican Party leaders and rightwing media outlets began turning away from the facts of January 6. Former President Trump was impeached for his seditious actions, but his hold on the Republican Party was so strong that only seven Republican Senators voted to convict.
Republicans, to this day, continue to promote the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Trump. They claim that the people who stormed the Capitol with zip ties and bludgeons were tourists. They have attempted to portray the violent insurgents as martyrs rather than as domestic terrorists. This is why, today, 58 percent of Republicans believe, falsely, that the election was stolen from President Trump.
The insurrection and coup attempt on January 6 was, ultimately, unsuccessful, but this fight continues in State legislatures across the country, and they are prevailing. According to the Brennan Center, in 2021, 19 States passed laws restricting Americans' voting rights and giving partisan officials, Republicans, unprecedented control over the certification of election results.
Their plan is right out there in plain view. Step 1 is to make it harder for some people to vote. Step 2 is to give partisans at the local level the power to ignore and overturn the people's votes. This is a coordinated strategy connected directly to the events of January 6, and it is the path to overturning our democracy if we allow it. We cannot allow it.
Through the January 6 Commission and through the Department of Justice, we must hold accountable those responsible for the crimes of that infamous day, including those at the top. We also need to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, which provides for basic standards for free and fair elections and fulfills the promise of our Nation that, in this democratic Republic, the people decide.
Not a single Republican Senator is willing to join us Democrats in this endeavor, and that is a tragedy.
Colleagues, I implore you: We cannot let Republicans hide behind Senate rules and block us from taking this commonsense step to protecting our democracy.
In a democracy, a majority of the people decides. That is how it works in township meetings and city halls and county board meetings and in State legislatures, and that is how it should work in the U.S. Senate. We Senators have the power to protect our democracy, and we have no excuse not to use that power.
On January 6, I woke up early, and I wrote down a few thoughts as I was heading to the Capitol. I had been sworn into office for the third time in 3 years just a few days before. My husband, Archie, had been with me for the swearing in, and he had headed home the day before.
As he left, he said: Are you going to be OK?
And I said to him: For sure. The U.S. Capitol is one of the safest places in the country. I am going to be fine.
Here is what I wrote that morning before I came to the Capitol.
I wrote:
Today is a remarkable day. This morning, I'm filled with optimism. Georgians turned out in record numbers to elect Reverend [Ralph] Warnock [to the U.S. Senate], pastor of Dr. King's home church. And it looks very likely that Jon Ossoff will be victorious, giving Democrats a majority in the Senate. For me, this means the work that Minnesotans sent me to do in Washington can actually get done.
``We will get through this day,'' I wrote that morning.
I truly believe our democracy is resilient and can withstand this desperate coup attempt. But it's a reminder of how hard we [need] to fight for our core principles, that no one is above the law and that . . . a democracy [is when] the people decide.
Now, little did I know. But my optimism still holds, and my faith also still holds--my faith that we can be worthy of the promise laid out in our Constitution.
``We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity''--that is our oath and our promise.
Thank you.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source