-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. KIM. Mr. President, today is the fifth anniversary of the attack on this Capitol, on this extraordinary building that we love so dearly.

I personally believe that the Capitol Building is the most beautiful building in this country. It is the physical manifestation of article I of our Constitution, and I believe that to defile and disgrace this building is tantamount to defiling and disgracing our Constitution.

It should be the easiest thing for all of us across the political spectrum to say that this building is sacred ground. And I am speaking here in the Senate Chamber where rioters broke into. Look, regardless of our political affiliation, we should be able to say what happened, that it was wrong, and that it should never happen again.

Five years does not seem like a lot of time, but as anyone with young kids knows all too well, time moves quickly. I remember 2 days after January 6, I drove back home from the Capitol, back home to New Jersey. And I drove actually straight to my kids' daycare to be able to pick them up. My 2 boys were only 3 years old and 5 years old at the time. My older son usually bounds out and runs up to me, but this time, he walked out slowly, and he came up to me, and he asked me: Are you OK?

And I glanced towards my wife, who shrugged her shoulders, because we had specifically agreed that we would not mention anything to the kids at this point about what happened on January 6. So I looked back at my boy, and I asked him: What do you mean?

And he looked right back at me, and he said: Did something bad happen at work?

Now, he didn't know exactly what had happened, but he knew something did. He knew something not right happened. A 5-year-old child can grasp that fundamental fact about January 6, that we don't use the means of violence against one another, especially in determining the results of our democracy.

Now, if a 5-year-old can grasp that, why is it so difficult for so many, including some here at the Capitol, to be able to do the same? Why do so many pretend like nothing happened or seek to downplay the events of that day? I call this a purposeful amnesia. Five years out, it is so much more damaging to our democracy than the shattered windows of 5 years ago. This is the storm after the storm.

Now, here is an example to the extent with which congressional Republicans are trying to erase the history. In 2022, the year after the January 6 attack, Congress passed a law that mandated a plaque be placed on the western front of the Capitol to allow visitors to this building to remember.

Now, the plaque itself, pretty simple, an image of the Capitol with a few lines of text: ``On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021. Their heroism will never be forgotten.''

And beneath the text, various law enforcement entities are listed. A simple message of remembrance for those brave individuals who acted and for the democracy they defended. Now, we should be able to walk out of this Chamber today and view that plaque. In fact, it was supposed to be installed by March of 2023.

But instead, nearly 3 years after it was mandated to be made public, 5 years after the event it was meant to commemorate, the plaque is missing, is absent at the direction of Speaker Johnson. As of last night, it is not just absent; it is being explicitly denied because of Speaker Johnson, who is still refusing to do the simple thing, the right thing, and displaying it for the American people to see.

Now, that absence and denial is part of a broader effort by Speaker Johnson, President Trump, and so many others to prevent us from remembering, to encourage us to forget--the purposeful amnesia. Now, they have done this by gaslighting us, downplaying the events of that day. Speaker Johnson directed his conference to blur the face of rioters in publicly released images so they couldn't be ``charged by the Department of Justice.''

A member of his House conference referred to January 6 as resembling a ``normal tourist visit.'' President Trump called that day a ``day of love.'' He called the rioters patriots, and he pardoned more than 1,500 rioters on his first day in office last year, signing an Executive order directing the Department of Justice to drop pending cases against those suspected of taking part in this attack.

But we know better. We know the truth. Now, 5 years out, I still haven't found the words yet to fully tell my boys what happened then. I never fully answered my older son's questions: Are you OK? Did something bad happen at work?

I have avoided it for 5 years, and I have been wondering why. Why is it that I have been unable to be able to find the words to be able to talk to my child? And what I have come to understand today as I have been thinking about it is I have not talked to them about this because I have wanted to hold off on confronting the full implications of that day.

I think what I have been waiting for is some moment where I can say with assurance that things are better now, where I could tell them about what happened on January 6, but immediately say: That was a horrible thing in the past, but we are beyond it now. Things aren't going to be bad again.

But 5 years on, I am still waiting for that day, but it hasn't come-- not yet. Now, 5 years in, I am faced with the reality that I don't actually know when that day will come. I don't actually even know if that day will come. I can't say for certain that we will get there.

When I look at today compared to 5 years ago, yes, our Capitol is secure today. Yes, our own security here is more assured. But I can't say that about our country. Sadly, when I reflect back on 5 years ago compared to today, I actually believe we are more divided now than we were 5 years ago.

I believe our democracy is even more fragile now than it was 5 years ago. And I believe that our future as a nation is more perilous than it was 5 years ago. The future threats to our democracy may not come in the form of rioters storming our Halls, but that doesn't mean that the threat isn't present.

So after I am done here, I will go home and try to have a conversation with my boys. And I will tell them about the divisions we faced 5 years ago and that we continue to face as a nation. I will talk to them about the meaning of cowardice, of those hiding the truth from the American people to try to erase from our memories with that purposeful amnesia.

But I will also tell my boys it is not just about the broken windows and the fighting that occurred here on the Capitol Grounds, but I will tell them about the courage of those who kept us safe, of the Capitol Police officers, many who still serve and protect us to this day, who deserve better than how they have been treated, that they continue with their mission of keeping us safe, even if we are ones that deny what happened on that day and deny the injuries and the harm that they faced.

I will tell my boys growing up in New Jersey about a man from New Jersey named Brian Sicknick, someone whose name should never dissipate from the Halls of this building that he sought to protect. I will tell them about those willing to stand up for our Capitol and our democracy, whose example we should seek to replicate, not just on the anniversaries of January 6, but every day.

I hope to be able to tell my boys that we can heal this country. I hope that we can tell them that we are taking steps to mend the wounds of that day and of the days since that have driven us further apart as Americans.

I should not hold off on having this conversation, hoping and wishing for a day where I can tell them that the threat is passed and gone. We as Americans should confront the problems that we face full on, to not hide from the fact of how fragile our democracy is now. We see it for what it is, but the fragility of our democracy should renew our purpose and our conviction to stand up and do everything we can to make sure days like January 6 never happen again.

And that is my promise to you, to this country, to my State, and to my little boys, that the work can start right here, right now. I stand ready to heal this country and ready to make it OK for my boys, for your kids and your grandkids; let us keep fighting every day.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source