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Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today joined by Democratic Leader Schumer and so many of our colleagues in raising our voices on this fifth anniversary of a dark day in American history. Yes, it has been 5 years, and some on the other side of the aisle may ask, Why are we still talking about this? I think we just witnessed why it is important to keep talking about this--because the lies continue, the conspiracy theories continue, and the truth must be told. We will not let history be rewritten.

The truth is that 5 years ago today, insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in an unprecedented attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. The truth is police were beaten as a violent crowd surged forward. The truth is there were Members of Congress literally running for their lives, rushed out of this very Chamber and told to hide and barricade themselves.

It was an attack instigated and fueled by lies, a coordinated campaign by President Trump to overturn the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election.

Now, even on that day, as rioters threatened to hang Vice President Pence, Trump tweeted a message to them that the election had been stolen; that they were ``patriots''--his words, not mine--that he ``loved them'' as the violence erupted.

Special Counsel Jack Smith recently testified that President Trump was the ``most culpable and most responsible person'' in this January 6 conspiracy. He continued, ``These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol does not happen without him.''

Now, despite the President's attempts to rewrite history, today, for the sake of our democracy and for the sake of future generations, we remember and highlight the truth. See, we all vividly remember where we were 5 years ago. Unlike most of my colleagues who will speak out, I was not in this Chamber 5 years ago. I was still serving as California Secretary of State at the time, where I had spent years working to keep our elections, not just accessible for all eligible voters, but safe and secure, which they have always been despite the claims of the President.

On November 3, 2020, it was my privilege to serve as the chief elections officer in the Nation's most populous and diverse State. I assure you that, even under the best of circumstances, election administrations are complex operations, but in 2020, our election workers faced the additional and unprecedented challenge of a global health crisis. Those election workers stepped up. They rose to the occasion. As a result, California election officials and volunteers administered an extremely accessible, secure, and safe election that drew an historic turnout, and we saw similar electoral performances across the country. By every objective measure, the 2020 election was a success.

But, furious at his loss, none of that mattered to President Trump. He didn't just refuse to concede the election; he filed and lost more than 60 frivolous lawsuits that challenged the election. He personally called State elections officials, including, as I know the Presiding Officer will remember, the Georgia secretary of state, asking him to find more votes. He also called State legislature leaders in Michigan, in Arizona, and in Pennsylvania, trying to pressure them to change the official vote results; and he lied to the American people, denying his loss. He lied to them again just this morning, to a roomful of House Republicans, calling the 2020 Presidential election rigged.

Online and across the country, President Trump's Big Lie caught fire, and, clearly, it is still burning. Sadly, many Republicans participated in fanning the flames by spreading false claims of voter fraud for political gain. Others stood by silently as President Trump radicalized his supporters with these lies. They chose loyalty to Trump over the truth, and our Nation paid the price.

On January 6, we saw, we witnessed, we lived through what was once unthinkable--an unprecedented attack on this Capitol by violent extremists who were incited by the President. He told a crowd that was gathered outside the White House to ``fight like hell'' or ``you're not going to have a country anymore.'' Then he pointed them directly at the Capitol.

Armed rioters brutally beat police officers and stormed this building. For the first time in our Nation's history, the Confederate flag flew inside the Halls of this Capitol. Members of militarized hate groups searched the hallways with the intent to kill Democratic- and Republican-elected leaders. They found their way to the House floor and to this very Chamber to try and stop the certification of the Presidential election.

The deadly January 6 attack will forever remain an ugly stain on American history. But, yes, thanks to the bravery of the U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers who risked their lives, including five officers who tragically lost their lives, the assault on our democracy failed. Still, Speaker Johnson refuses to install a plaque--required by law--honoring the police officers who defended the Capitol that day. Even this morning, the President is shamefully blaming officers for, as he said, deliberately escalating the violence that day. But thanks to the strength of the American people and our institutions, our democracy has survived. It continues to be tested, but it has survived.

In the aftermath, Congress enacted meaningful changes through the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act.

Despite this action, we are still not out of the woods. Clearly, President Trump's attacks on the right to vote and the very foundation of our democracy have continued. In one of his first acts in his second term, Trump issued a blanket pardon of more than 1,500 of the defendants charged with attacking the Capitol, including more than 1,200 who were convicted--1,200 convicted. Upon hearing the news of the pardon, one of the Capitol Police officers injured that day who testified against the rioters felt Trump was ``trying to erase what [he] did.'' Not satisfied with that, the January 6 convicts are now seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in payouts of taxpayer money.

Mr. President, I would like to share with all of you that Senator Whitehouse and I are introducing new legislation today to bar these payouts.

But this is about more than just payouts and pardons. Trump doesn't believe he has done anything wrong. The President continues to work to undermine the midterm elections in a desperate attempt to hold onto power.

Five years after January 6, Trump continues to double down on the Big Lie conspiracy. He has already issued an Executive order that threatens to seize authority over State elections administration. Thankfully, much of it has been blocked by Federal courts, but he is threatening more of the same or even a phony national emergency while he tries to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. He has staffed the White House, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security with known election deniers. In 2020, he was trying to make calls to Georgia, demanding 11,000 more votes, but now Trump is pressuring States to redraw congressional districts to tilt the scales before the upcoming midterm elections.

I refuse to stay silent while Trump tries to rig the next election and continue to lie about the last election. We will fight for the future of our free and fair elections in this country.

Mr. President, Senator Whitehouse and I are also leading the No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act to forbid payouts to January 6 rioters.

I will continue to press the Office of Special Counsel to investigate the many brazen Hatch Act violations related to partisan political campaigns being waged from the current Oval Office and the current Department of Justice.

We must defend bipartisan State election administrations in this country and take to the floor to warn Americans about the Trump administration's efforts to rig election rules ahead of this year's midterm elections. American democracy was here long before Trump came into power, and it will be here long after he is gone because we will continue to fight every anti-voter, undemocratic action this White House rolls out.

I thank my coalition for participating in the floor block this afternoon.

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