Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/House/Counting Electoral Votes/Pennsylvania Objection Debate/Van Drew Speech
Mr. Van Drew. Madam Speaker, before I start, something I didn’t plan on saying. This is a debate. It is a discussion. Everybody has a right to an opinion. That is American. Because someone doesn’t agree with your view or your ideas does not mean that they are liars. It means they have a different view, a different opinion.
And I think, for God’s sake, as people watch this or see it or hear it, they expect more from us than that. We can disagree at a certain level. There is nothing worse than moral pomposity.
You know, today was an amazing and terrible day. But one thing that we do know is that our law enforcement protected lives, and they protected and preserved our democracy. I watched firsthand, as I always have, just as I do back home in south Jersey, these brave men and women put their lives on the line to defend all of us.
May God bless the woman who lost her life today, and may God bless what will always be the greatest Nation in the history of the world: the United States of America.
At the core of our country’s greatness is our democratic system of government. Without faith in the integrity of our elections, Americans will not have faith in our democracy.
The United States of America is the international embodiment of freedom and opportunity, the shining city on a hill. Free and fair elections have always been a hallmark of America’s greatness.
After this past Presidential election, approximately 60 million Americans have serious doubts about the outcome. That is a number that we cannot ignore.