Democratic Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Fourth Anniversary Of The January 6th Insurrection; Calls On President-Elect Trump Not To Pardon Rioters
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the dangers of election denialism and the need to protect our democracy, criticizing President-elect Trump for his promise to pardon rioters who took part in the insurrection on January 6th, 2021. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Four years ago today, I stood on this very spot alongside my colleagues as we prepared to certify the 2020 election.
As we were going about our business, all of a sudden I felt a hand pull my collar. My security detail gripped me by the arm, and told me we had to get out, that a mob of rioters had broken into the Capitol, and that we were not safe.
I looked to the podium, and saw Vice President Pence quickly being rushed out of the chamber by his detail.
And as we evacuated, accompanied by two of the Capitol Police officers, we took a turn down the hallway, opened the door, and came within several yards of angry rioters, before my security detail pulled us away to safety. We were within maybe twenty feet of them. Had one of them blocked the door or had a gun, Lord knows what would’ve happened.
Thus began one the darkest, most shameful days in American history. That was four years ago today.
Less than an hour from now, the House and Senate shall convene for a joint session of Congress, to complete the process of certifying the 2024 presidential election.
Today we will not see the violence we saw four years ago. Today, the process will return to normal, and remain solemn but peaceful. We are here today to continue the transfer of power, to acknowledge what the people have already decided, and nothing more.
Unfortunately, today stands in sharp contrast to what happened four years ago.
On that day, lawlessness and mob violence sought to bring democracy to its knees. Staff and members of Congress hid beneath desks, barricaded the doors of their offices.
Rioters smashed windows and ransacked offices and broke into the Senate and House chambers.
Insurrectionists waved Confederate flags and donned Nazi symbols. Pipe bombs were planted near the DNC and the RNC. This was in no way a peaceful protest. This was not even a protest that got out of hand. This was a deliberate, and in some cases a premeditated, attempt to subvert the democratic process through intimidation and violence.
It was one of the most shameful, reprehensible episodes in the history of this great nation, and it happened because the loser of the 2020 election refused to accept defeat.
We cannot let anyone whitewash what happened here four years ago. Far too many individuals have tried to rewrite the history of January 6th, have tried to sweep the truth under the rug and pretend like that day was perfectly fine, or even a moment of great patriotism. That is a lie. Plain and simple, a lie.
Future generations must never forget the truth. January 6th, 2021 was a day that a violent mob tried to halt the results of a presidential election. It was a direct assault on American democracy.
On that day, our Capitol Police faced their hour of maximum danger, but then they responded with maximum valor. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the Capitol Police and all our first responders became the defenders of our democracy. Today we honor all the members of the Capitol Police, the D.C. police, our service members, and all first responders who kept us safe four years ago, as well as everyone who has kept us safe since.
We acknowledge and thank all the Capitol staff who stayed late into the night to restore order and clean the wreckage left behind by the rioters. They did their jobs without fanfare, without complaint, and away from the spotlight. They join our first responders as the unsung heroes of our democracy, every one of them.
We mourn, of course, all those whose lives were lost in connection with the attack. We mourn the brave officers who died in the days and weeks and months after the attack. We pray for their families, that they find comfort and grace.
It is shamefully, utterly outrageous, that the president-elect is considering pardons for these rioters who broke the law and attacked our police officers on January 6th. Pardoning the criminals who assaulted police officers and tried to halt the democratic process would be a dangerous endorsement of political violence. It would send a message to the country and to the world that those who use force to get their way will not be punished. It is wrong. It is reckless. And it would be an insult to the memories of those who died in connection to that day.
On that day, the rioters tried to halt the peaceful transfer of power. But as we know, they failed.
The insurrection failed because our democracy is stronger than the gale-force winds of mob violence. The rioters failed because on that day, Democrats and Republicans of good will united, amidst a storm of utter lawlessness, and committed to finishing the job of certifying the election. As hard as January 6th was, it will be one of my proudest moments in office, because on that day the majority of us united to uphold our oaths to the constitution.
I still remember that at around 5:00 pm that day, Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy and I gathered and said “we are going to go back into session now, and we are going to count the votes.” We decided this despite the worries of some that the Capitol was not yet safe. And we did. We were not going to let the rioters interfere with our democracy. It was a historic moment of bipartisanship, where both sides united in the protection of our democracy.
I mention January 6th to remind everyone that democracy is precious, and can at times become a fragile thing.
I mention January 6th to set the record straight for all coming time, so that future generations may know the truth of what happened on that day, and that they may remain vigilant against future attacks on our democracy.
I mention January 6th to warn this generation – and future generations – of the immense dangers that arise when election denialism is tolerated and excused and propagated. We can never, ever again, allow that level of unhinged election denialism to happen. Not from Republicans, not from Democrats, not from anyone.
And we are setting an example today. Even though the elections did not go Democrats’ way, I want to be very clear: on this January 6th, our side will not engage in election denialism.
We Democrats accept the will of the people. We accept the results even when we don’t like them, because our loyalties lie with the Constitution and with the rule of law.
We hope what happens today, rather than what happened four years ago, stands as a shining example for future generations of how one conducts themselves in a free democracy.
We hope the way we Democrats conduct ourselves today helps those Republicans who tried to subvert the election four years ago understand the grave nature of their mistake. Far too many on the other side – far too many – willingly claimed the election of 2020 was stolen, even though they knew perfectly well it was not.
Of course, I know plenty of my Republican colleagues, including my friend the former Republican Leader, did not participate in attempts to undermine the election four years ago. But too many did.
If we want to prevent another attack like January 6th, neither side can ever again tolerate the kind of conspiratorial madness that we saw four years ago. And it starts by setting an example and doing the right thing today, no matter which side got their way in the electoral process.
On the four-year anniversary of the Capitol attack, the only obstruction we will see is the obstruction coming from the storm. Even then, Mother Nature will not be able to stop us from doing our jobs today.
Today we will convene, we will do our jobs, and then we move on to the business of governing for the American people.
Because that is what our oaths demand of us.
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