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Floor Speech
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Mr. REED. Mr. President, a year ago, thousands of supporters of then- President Donald Trump--marching under banners supporting secession, conspiracy theories, and White supremacy--violently stormed the U.S. Capitol and breached the Senate and House Chambers in the hopes of overturning a free and fair election in which 7 million more Americans voted for President Biden. There was, of course, no proof and no truth to the claims of aberrant voting that Mr. Trump invented in order to fuel the mob.
The assault on the Capitol was an attack on the United States and on democracy itself. We have the brave men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police to thank for defending the country against what can accurately be called an insurrection, and while the assault failed that day, thanks to the efforts of these officers and their partners from neighboring jurisdictions, an insidious campaign against our democracy continues through the baseless lies and antics of the former President and his associates.
Mr. Trump set the events of January 6 in motion when he refused to say that he would accept the results of the November 2020 election, and he continued to value his ego over our democracy when he urged the mob to march to the Capitol and disrupt the election certification process. He repeatedly lied that the election he lost by 7 million votes had somehow been stolen, when the facts and the courts demonstrated that was clearly not the case.
Stoked by his vitriol, Mr. Trump's supporters used pipes and flagpoles to brutally beat police officers. Some of the attacks were also directed at or were planned to be directed at our own Members in both the House and the Senate, and anyone who refused to subvert the election was a target of the insurrectionist mob. That included Mr. Trump's own Vice President, Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Trump, who lit the fuse and stood by, his actions sent a demoralizing signal to billions around the world as they watched his supporters assault the Capitol.
One year ago today, the U.S. Capitol Police, Federal, State, and local law enforcement partners, and the National Guard physically cleared the Capitol Building and grounds. The House of Representatives impeached Mr. Trump for his actions. Yet most of my Senate Republican colleagues made the tortured arguments that his actions were reprehensible but not technically impeachable. As a result, the democratically defeated former President continues his rhetorical assaults through lies and misinformation. He would rather rip our country apart and undermine our elections and democracy rather than to accept the will of the American voter.
The bipartisan House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol is working tirelessly to get to the truth of that day. It is methodically collecting and following the evidence despite there being a lack of cooperation from Mr. Trump and his inner circle. The committee must continue to be transparent, and we must all continue to call out the repeated lies of Trump and his enablers.
Every American, regardless of party affiliation, who believes in the right to vote and in upholding the Constitution, should want the truth about January 6 to come out. Congress must rise to the occasion. The stakes could not be any higher. Because of the former President's actions a year ago and his relentless lying since then, a significant minority of Americans now indicates that violence is an acceptable way to resolve political disagreement. We cannot afford to have such a sentiment persist. Together, we must accept the truth, restore trust in one another, and take steps to improve political discourse.
One step we must take is to honor the officers of the Capitol Police, not just with our words but with real support. Last year, we passed a supplemental appropriations bill that provided over $107 million in additional funding, including roughly $35 million for overtime, retention bonuses, hazard pay, and student loan repayments for officers. It also provided critical funding to address the trauma experienced by our officers and helped support their mental health needs. But we can't stop there. We have to continue in this fiscal year, 2022, to support our police and to continue to support those who protect us.
I am afraid, if we don't quickly resolve our differences, that we could fall into the state of a continuing resolution, which would actually deny our police--the Capitol Police--and our security forces the tools they will need not only to protect us and protect themselves but also to sustain their morale and their mental health. So I hope we can make progress, at least on that point, of reaching a budget agreement on behalf of the men and women who protect us and who literally, on that day, gave their lives for us.
Now, in addition to that, we have a critical role to play when it comes to safeguarding the rights of the American voter. We have before us the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act ready for passage. We have the opportunity, and the time is now. I continue to urge my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, to work together to swiftly pass these critical voting rights bills that are needed to protect our elections and our democracy.
We must bolster the security, accessibility, and transparency of our elections in order to mend the wounds of January 6 and begin to heal as a nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
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