Insurrection in the Capitol

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman from New York, first of all, for her courage and for convening us together. And I might say to the gentlewoman that we are not doing this for ourselves. We have taken an oath of office.

I have said this many times today as we debated a question of the status of a Member. We took an oath to defend this Nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And we realize that that oath is really above our own personal safety; that if we were called upon by this Nation to defend her, to defend our constituents, I would venture to say that most Members would stand by their constituents and this Nation.

This should not be taken as Members fleeing out of fear. But it should be taken as an explanation and an expose' of what happened in this place; how it was desecrated, undermined, diminished; how the American people watched this precious place.

For those of us who have been here, I fled this place on 9/11. We were in a meeting, and all you could hear is a lot of noise. Members continuing to meet, not wanting to be disturbed, did not move until an officer or screaming came, and we heard the noise saying, we don't know what's going on, but get out.

In that instant, we fled, and all we could hear was, run as fast as you can and hit the ground way on the other side near First Street and the Supreme Court. I could see the billowing smoke and the plane that had hit the Pentagon. And so, that fleeing, of course, was because we were told to do so.

But Members began to look for their staff and wanted to know what they could do. It was different from having a pandemic. It was different from the setting here, except for the fact that Members cared about what was going on with their constituency and their staff.

Here, we were in the same way. Members were protecting their staff in their offices. So I want this not to be about us, but the story needs to be told.

As you have already heard, there were those of us participating in this debate, some on the floor, some in the gallery.

And I will tell you that the first thing I saw, Madam Speaker, because we did not know of the huge crowds down near the White House. We didn't know that there were people dancing to music inside the White House, watching activities of attack here. But we did know about the major speech that was provoking a crowd of insurrectionists that had planned to come here and kill people.

But the first thing I saw was good friends here rising up out of seats and moving out quickly. And only after they began to move did we hear the words, Hurry up. Get out. Flee. Not necessarily flee, but the first words I heard was our good leadership calling for the doors to be closed. Thank them for that, our Sergeant at Arms, who are here in this place.

As we fled, we could hear the attack coming from the Senate side, and then we could hear the shooting that occurred right outside in the cloakroom area. And we crouched there, and some of my good colleagues and I began to pray.

I started out by saying this is not about us, but it is about truth. And as I mourned and honored Officer Sicknick, as he was honored by being in a state of honor in this House, I was reminded of the many officers, Capitol Hill and Metro Police, that are in hospitals; that are still hurting; and that are still suffering. And I said earlier this evening that I offered to them my deepest concern and sympathy and respect, and I will be introducing a resolution to honor them.

But I think the importance of this reliving what we went through is, as I have heard from my colleagues, we must get to the bottom of this. We cannot let white supremacy, which is now the number one terrorist activity or terrorist group in America, more so than foreign terrorists, dominate the goodness of what this democracy and this Constitution stands for.

We can't let the idea of free speech be the source of the fueling of hatred and anger that turns to violence. We can't let individuals storm this building and call for the killing of the Vice President, or the killing of the Speaker of the House, or the putting on of plastic cuffs on Members of Congress.

We can't frighten Members of Congress in their offices. We cannot allow this kind of attack on voices like the gentlewoman from New York who simply wants to tell truth. She has freedom.

So I am here on the floor to say that we shall not be denied. We are never going to give up our love for democracy nor its vitality; nor are we going to let this country be dominated by the insurrectionists who came to this place to do nothing but act in a bloodthirsty manner. We are not afraid of you.

And yes, on behalf of all of those officers that the video showed us that were beaten by American flags, beaten with signs of Nazism, we are going to get to the bottom of this for you. We are going to find out what happened.

We are going to find out why the information came from the FBI to the City of Washington, D.C., and their police, and it was evident that it was given to the brass here, but that there was no response in terms of the kind of equipment or the numbers of officers that were there, or why wasn't permission given to the mayor of the City of Washington to call up the National Guard.

Why did this President deny access to the National Guard to protect, not us, but this place of democracy?

I am grateful for this opportunity. We have work to do. But I think the greatest statement that we can make tonight, that we are in the light of day on this floor, as I said before, not for us, but to be able to stand in the shoes of all those heroes who fought in different ways, whether it was in the peace movement, whether it was in the civil rights movement, Black power movement, whether it was Cesar Chavez fighting for farmworkers--people who fought to make a difference for goodness.

For all of those patriots, all of those fallen leaders, some assassinated like Dr. Martin Luther King, we cannot stand and allow the voices of those who provided horror to this place to suggest to the world that they have overcome us.

I close by simply saying to the world that we had a day, January 6, an attack on this place, insurrectionists and domestic terrorists penetrated the United States Capitol, but they never penetrated the strength of the Constitution and our values and our commitment to protect democracy, but also to give respect and comfort to those who lost their lives on that day or thereafter, in terms of our law enforcement officers, and sadness for those unfortunately who lost their life by being misguided, but also to be able to say that this is a place that we will hold sacred.

We will be victorious. White supremacy, insurrectionists, and also domestic terrorism will not prevail over us. We will win, and we will win for the many Americans who believe in the goodness of this country.

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me, and I thank her so very much for her courage.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source