Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/House/Counting Electoral Votes/Arizona Objection Debate/Grijalva Speech (2)
Mr. Grijalva. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Colorado for yielding time.
I will be very brief, Madam Speaker. There is really nothing left to say. This challenge brought by Members of this House, Republican Members from this House from Arizona and a Senator from Texas, the whole discussion today, this challenge to the 11 electoral votes that are designated for President Biden and Vice President Harris, the discussion today proves there is no merit to denying those electoral votes. There is no legal standing. The courts have proven that in Arizona time and time again. There is no precedent. There was no constitutional violation.
But we are here today, Madam Speaker, because of one man and those who are desperate to please him.
So what do we have to show for this process today? Fear, a lockdown, violence, and, regrettably and sadly, death, arrests, present and real danger, threats, an assault on our institution, this House, this Congress, and the very democracy that we practice here.
And to what end? What did we accomplish?
The reality is that the challenges will be defeated. Come January 20, President Biden and Vice President Harris will be the President and Vice President of the United States.
So what have we accomplished? To further divide this Nation? To continue to fan the same rhetoric of division and us versus them? To paralyze and dismantle our democracy? Is that what we attempted to accomplish today?
The mob that attacked this institution, I hold no Member specifically responsible for that madness that was around us, but we do share a responsibility, my friends, to end it. It is past time to accept reality, to reaffirm our democracy and move on.
I would urge my colleagues from Arizona who filed this challenge to withdraw their challenge to this, to Arizona and to the electors that have been chosen to give their 11 votes to the winners in that election.
But if that doesn’t happen, then I would urge my colleagues to reject this challenge and defend all voters, defend the voters of Arizona and that democracy that we practice daily in the representation of our constituents. That is what is at stake today.