who are willing to perpetrate those lies and those conspiracies, and that is why it is so important that we as Democrats and Republicans and Senators stand up together—stand up together and tell the truth. You know when you go into a court of law, like those 60 cases, you are testifying under penalty of perjury. That is very different than here in the House and the Senate, and in all those 60 cases, under penalty of perjury, there was no evidence of widespread fraud. So it should be easy for us all together to tell the truth.
On January 20, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the next President of the United States. He has said he wants to bring the country together. He has said he wants to bring Democrats and Republicans together to do some of the pressing business of this country, to defeat this pandemic, to get the economy going again, to face challenging issues of racial and social justice. I hope we will learn from what happened today—the mob attack on this Capitol—the price we pay when we don’t stand up for the truth and for democracy.
James McHenry, Maryland’s delegate to the Constitutional Convention, wrote about a famous exchange in his diaries between Elizabeth Willing Powel and Benjamin Franklin. A lady asked Dr. Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a Republic or a monarchy?” “A republic,” replied Dr. Franklin, “if you can keep it.”
My colleagues, this is a test of whether we unite to keep our Republic. I hope we will pass the test together. Thank you.
Mr. Leahy. Mr. President. January 6, 2021, will forever mark a historic day for our Nation. Not simply because our beloved Capitol building—the very heart of our democracy—laid under siege. Not simply because rioters stormed the Senate and House floors, assaulting Capitol Police officers and leaving a wake of destruction along the way. Not simply because the President of the United States encouraged his supporters to commit these felonies—to march to the Capitol and “to fight,” in his words. No, today will also be remembered because of what happened before all of that. Today, over 100 Members of the House and a dozen Senators supported a ploy to deprive the States and the American people of their constitutional role to choose our next President—a ploy that amounts to nothing less than an assault on our Constitutional republic.
The President’s obscene claim that the election was stolen from him, which he continued to spout even while his rioting supporters roamed the Halls of the Capitol today, has been disproven time and again. Every single Senator knows that Vice President Biden won the election and did so decisively. Claims that President Trump won reelection are not just fantasy; they are delusional. And citing voters’ mistrust in the election results as grounds for this stunt is particularly disingenuous given that those concerns have been fueled by the President’s own baseless conspiracy theories—not by the evidence, not by the facts, and not by State election administrators, both Republicans and Democrats, who actually oversaw these elections and know what they are talking about.
President Trump and his allies have now lost more than 60 cases in courts across the country, by judges of every political stripe, including those appointed by the President. The lopsidedness of these decisions has been extraordinary. It has been nothing less than a wholesale rejection of the President’s claims. But this is not surprising. The President’s own Attorney General said there is no evidence of widespread fraud. His own Department of Homeland Security described it as the “most secure election in American history.”
President Trump serves no one but himself. He is not a custodian or guardian of our democracy. He is a man whose every decision is driven by his shallow self-interest. I did not expect him to be gracious in defeat. I expected him to throw tantrums. I am not even surprised that his rhetoric has incited violence, as it has today. That is who President Trump is; we have all known that for some time. I am surprised and disappointed that so many Members of this body have let it get this far. After he incited rioters and criminal actions by a mob attacking America’s symbol of democracy, our Capitol, what more will he do? He should just leave. He has damaged the country enough.
Our job today is simply to count the votes and to certify that Joe Biden won the election. Pretending that Congress could effectively overturn the will of the American people has, predictably, poured gasoline on an already lit fire. We must now get to work to put this fire out. I am glad that Congress is taking the first step now—that is, to stop with this nonsense and certify this election. The next step will be harder. The only way we stand a chance of coming together as a country, let alone making progress for the American people, is by working together.
I am thankful to the many Senate Republicans who have forcefully rejected this dangerous political stunt, even before the violence. Your words had meaning and sent a message to the country that our democracy will endure.
I have served in the Senate for 46 years. I can tell you that history will remember this sad day. So let us ensure that it is not just remembered for the destruction, for the President’s recklessness, and for those in Congress who so casually attempted to overturn the will of the American people. Let us work together now and certify this election, so this day will also be remembered for those who stood up and rejected this dangerous political stunt for the good of the Republic and for the good of the American people.
Mrs. Feinstein. Mr. President. Today has been a dark day that will take a long time and a lot of work to overcome. It has been a day truly unworthy of our Nation.
I thank the U.S. Capitol Police, the U.S. Secret Service, the law enforcement officers from Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, the National Guard, and others who have protected this institution and the U.S. Congress today.
There will be time to say more about today’s events, but I rise now to speak about the unprecedented actions today to attempt to undermine a fairly and properly conducted democratic election.
Under our system of government, States bear the primary responsibility for runninq elections and certifying election results, and that is exactly what we have seen—all 50 States and the District of Columbia have certified the results of the 2020 Presidential election.
The results of the election are clear: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won.
Challenging these electoral votes now is the height of hypocrisy for a party that prides itself on States’ rights.
Even worse, today’s actions are based on the faulty premise that this election was somehow tainted by widespread fraud, which is flat out wrong.
Protesting these votes today is a disservice to our constitutional order and the more than 81 million Americans who voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
We must also recognize that today’s actions could echo far beyond this election. Our democratic Republic has survived as a result of certain bedrock principles, including the peaceful transfer of power and the right of the people to elect their leaders.
For Congress to challenge the legitimacy of electoral votes because President Trump is upset that he lost far exceeds our role as envisioned by our Founding Fathers.
These challenges threaten the very core of a functioning democracy—that voters and votes matter.
If a State’s electoral votes can be set aside by Congress based on conspiracy theories dreamed up by the President and his followers, the value of free and fair elections is damaged.
Mr. President, those who feel they needed to protest today’s results say they do so because of allegations of fraud. The problem is, those allegations all originate from President Trump himself.
The Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud. Attorney General Barr himself said there were no irregularities that could have affected the outcome of the election.
Likewise, our courts—including the Supreme Court—have tossed out lawsuit after lawsuit filed by President Trump and his allies, more than 60 in total.
I appreciate those Republicans Senators who have stood up for democracy and against these baseless objections to the election results.
