Government of the People, Not of the King

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, on January 6, 2021, a crowd of people stormed the Capitol seeking for the second time in American history to take by force what they could not win at the ballot box.

Capitol Police were beaten as they tried to protect Members of this body and the Vice President of the United States from harm. Congressional leaders begged President Trump to send in the National Guard. He refused. However, Virginia, the birthplace of American democracy, did.

Four years later, President Trump pardoned the individuals who sought to harm Members of Congress and who did hurt Capitol Police who swear to keep us safe.

Now, as people exercise their constitutional right to protest, President Trump has deployed the National Guard and the Marines, and now an administration that ignores the Constitution it swore to preserve, protect, and defend seeks to intimidate, assault, and arrest Members of Congress exercising their oversight duties outlined in that same constitution, like Representative LaMonica McIver and Senator Alex Padilla.

Next year we have the opportunity to celebrate 250 years of a remarkable idea of power derived from the people, not from a king, but only if we take action now.

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