Elections, Not Fear, Make America Strong

ELECTIONS, NOT FEAR, MAKE AMERICA STRONG -- (House of Representatives - July 12, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Harris). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, elections, not fear, make America strong.

I just returned this afternoon from my district. All last weekend, everywhere I went in Seattle people kept asking me the same question, are they really going to take away our election? Now, I did not go to the secret briefing that they had last week. It is my practice and my policy not to go to secret briefings.

The day after the briefing, however, there was a stunning administration press conference revealing that the Department of Homeland Security thinks we should all be more afraid but that things are not bad enough to raise the terror alert level from yellow, and we should all be vigilant, but not about anything specific.

Now, that secret meeting that they had the day before had everybody's mouth zipped shut in this place. Then they go out on the street and say what they told us not to talk about; and, by the way, we need to figure out how to legally delay the election, just in case. That was the bottom line, what they were talking about. The homeland security spokesman referred to this as an effort "to determine what steps need to be taken to secure the election." Please, folks, could we not at least avoid the Orwellian language?

Now we have got the people flooded with fear, and the conspiracy theorists are having a field day. It is everywhere, in all the clips today in the paper, everywhere all across the country just what was going on in my district. I did not know where it came from, but when I got back to Washington and read what was going on nationwide, it is everywhere.

How does this contribute to our national security? How does it do anything except keep everybody off balance and crazy?

This ratcheting up the level of alarm is always followed by a pause though there is no change in the evidence or lack of evidence of a terrorists' ill-intentions and the relaxation of the tension is always followed by another call to fear.

There really are people out in the world who want to hurt us. Let us direct our attention to them. Let us work on the problem, instead of working on the nerves of the American people.

I do not want to anticipate that the Department of Homeland Security is going to fail. I want the Department to do everything possible to make us and our elections safe.

So I have some advice for the Department of Homeland Security, Madam Speaker. Stick to your knitting; try to keep the homeland secure; analyze the chatter; do not chatter yourself; do not add to the noise; do your job; do not stir up fear.

We are a vast and strong Nation. For the people in our government to be saying that if there is a terrorist event we will get rid of the election, excuse me? They do not do that in India. They do not do that in Germany. They do not do that in any country. You are acting like one event somewhere in this country is going to give the President the right to call off the election. Absolutely nonsense.

We got through the British burning the White House and the Capitol, this very building was burned to the ground in the War of 1812, without suspending an election. We got through the Civil War without suspending an election. You can go downstairs and see pictures of troops bivouacked on the campus of the Capitol, but we had an election in 1864. Some people thought it should be delayed, but it went right ahead. In a democracy you do not have to be afraid, and we will get through the election of 2004.

The Presidents who made these decisions to go ahead with the election, despite threats, were fighting ground wars right here in D.C. and in its suburbs, not 8,000 miles away. They had it right on their doorstep, but President Madison, who wrote most of the Constitution, and President Lincoln, who saved the Union, believed in this country and in its people. They believed that people would persevere and prevail, and that is what I believe.

Mr. Speaker, I call on the Members of this body and our administration to repudiate this fear mongering, the rumor generating, the chatter about delaying our elections. What kind of nonsense is that for the leadership in this country to be even talking about? It insults our intelligence. It distracts us. It harms our country. It is ill-befitting of this American democracy that we are all so proud of.