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Floor Speech

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Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, it is with heavy hearts that we pause to mark the fifth anniversary of the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol--this Capitol, this Capitol that represents article I of the Constitution, the people's representatives in the House and the Senate, forging the vision to be implemented by our Chief Executive.

There are two ways that a republic can be destroyed. The normal vision is with a mob attacking a Capitol or a White House and taking over a country in short order. The second way is for an authoritarian President to dismantle it from within, eroding the checks and balances of the Constitution. I don't think any of us who serve in this Chamber ever thought either was a possibility here in the United States of America with the strength of our two centuries-plus of determined efforts in the course of running a democratic Republic, but we were wrong.

Five years ago today, our Republic suffered just such an assault by a mob. I will never forget seeing an individual run down this aisle, then circle around to the desk where the Vice President was presiding, have the Vice President immediately gavel down the session, be escorted out, and everyone is looking around the room in mystery.

And then, soon, the Capitol Police officers were working to lock the doors on this level and the balconies above, a moment none of us who were here will ever forget and a moment that America should never forget--a mob that was tearing down the American flag and putting up a flag that said ``Donald Trump,'' a mob that was breaking down these doors and occupying this Chamber, and doing the same in the House of Representatives.

That moment, when we are counting the electoral college votes--the slates, those who were assigned to the electoral college to determine who was elected President--that moment, that is the peaceful transfer of power. The ballot box, the counting of the votes, the peaceful transfer of power--that is the vision at the heart of government by and for the people. That is the difference between a democratic republic and an authoritarian state.

And on that day, we went over to the House Chamber and started the rollcall of States. On the State of Alabama, no one objected. On the State of Alaska, no one objected. And then it came to Arizona, and a Member of the House and a Member of the Senate objected, and we came back over here to debate that issue of whether or not we would accept the slate from Arizona, and that is when the chaos ensued.

You know, up front here were these amazing three boxes. We carried them over to the House, and then when we came back to debate, they came back here to the Senate Chamber, these mahogany and leather boxes with all kinds of straps on them. They look like treasure. They look like they would be filled with gold. But their content is more precious than gold; their contents, the expression through the electoral college ballots of the will of the United States of America about who would next serve as the President of our Nation.

And if it wasn't for the quick action of our Parliamentarian team to grab those boxes, I am sure that the rioters who entered this Chamber just moments later would have destroyed those boxes--another symbolic destruction of a democratic Republic in an effort by some to create an authoritarian state.

We had some real heroes that day like Eugene Goodman, who got Senator Mitt Romney to safety, and then, seeing people coming up the stairs from the lower level, proceeded to steer those folks away from the center of the building and away from the Senate Chamber where we were sitting--an amazingly effective strategy to buy a few more minutes of time for the security of this Chamber.

And we remember the police officers who so valiantly defended this building--170 injured--and others who lost their lives as a consequence of the attack on that day: Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith, Gunther Hashida, and Kyle DeFreytag.

Now, there is a plaque that has been built, and I ask unanimous consent to have the text of it be entered into the Record.

THEIR HEROISM WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

United States Capitol Police

Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia

Arlington County, Virginia, Police Department

Fairfax County, Virginia, Police Department

Maryland Department of State Police

Metro Transit Police Department

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Police

New Jersey State Police

Prince George's County, Maryland, Police Department

Prince William County, Virginia, Police Department

Virginia State Police

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Homeland Security

Federal Bureau of Investigation

National Guard Bureau, Department of Defense

Pentagon Force Protection Agency, Department of Defense

United States Marshals Service

United States Park Police

United States Secret Service

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Mr. MERKLEY. The plaque says:

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 their heroism should never be forgotten.

And that plaque, which by law is supposed to be mounted on this Capitol, has not yet been mounted, and it needs to be mounted.

There is a second way that republics are lost. And in the last 20 years, around the world, this has primarily been the way it has happened--not with mobs storming the Capitol but from authoritarian figures destroying the republic from within. And out of those experiences, in a variety of countries around the world--countries like Venezuela, countries like Turkiye--there has become a set of principles about how to convert a democratic republic into a strongman state without a mob storming the Capitol that includes firing the government's referees, like Trump did when he fired 17 inspectors general and 200 career prosecutors in the Department of Justice; packing the government with loyalists to head key departments, as President Trump has done; demonizing the enemy within, trying to divide and concur; attacking those with dark skin as rapists and murderers and garbage, targeting people on the color of their skin and the language they speak, as this administration has done; disregarding due process; silencing free speech; shutting down programs, even though they are authorized and funded by Congress, in violation of the Constitution; abusing government authorities like licenses and permits and security clearances and research grants; weaponizing the Justice Department; seeking to put the military in the streets to stop peaceful dissent; and rigging the next election--all 10 of these things happening right now.

So 5 years ago, we witnessed the effort to destroy our Republic with an assault on this building, and right now we are witnessing the insidious determination of President Trump and his team to destroy our Republic from within through these 10 strategies.

Just as we stood and stopped the assault on this Capitol 5 years ago, we must stand and stop this President from destroying our Republic today. That is the best way to honor those who defended the Capitol 5 years ago.

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