To my Republican colleagues. Before voting today I ask one last time for you to vote YEA on Jan6commission. I ask you to stop in the Rotunda and remember what it looked like that day. I know I’ll never forget picking up trash with my bare hands as I collapsed on my knees. THREAD
As we walk through the Capitol halls to vote today, I ask you to read the quotes on the wall. There is wisdom in these walls. The Capitol and the Constitution are one and the same. The Capitol is the physical manifestation of the Constitution and it demands our respect. 2/8
I ask you to look down at the floor in Statuary Hall and see the plaque that marks the desk of Abraham Lincoln and reflect on the fact that we work a job that Lincoln himself held. Let us be humbled by the history surrounding us and rise up to his great example. 3/8
I ask that you remember the blood shed that day in the Capitol. Remember that a woman was shot and killed mere feet from where we will be voting. A brave officer was killed protecting us. This is not about politics, it’s about truth. We have no healing unless we have truth.4/8
I ask that you look at this plaque in the Capitol that marks the cornerstone put in place by George Washington. The Capitol is bigger than all of us. What happened on Jan6 is bigger than all of us. We are but mere caretakers of this beautiful building and democracy. 5/8
As you walk through the doors of the House Chamber, remember the broken glass and guns drawn on that day. Those sacred doors where Presidents enter to give the State of the Union were smashed and barricaded. All of us bore witness to that tragic day. Remember what we saw. 6/8
I say this final plea for you to vote YEA on this commission because I want to believe that you love this building as much as I do. We deeply disagree about policies and the nature and state of power in politics. But no one can stand in the rotunda and not feel the awe.7/8
We have responsibility to those before us and those after us to be humble stewards of this building. That fragile preciousness is what we are trying to protect with this commission. To never allow again the desecration of this temple of our democracy. Let truth be truth.END
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