Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/Senate/Counting of Electoral Ballots/Arizona Objection Debate/McConnell Speech (Insurrection)
Mr. McConnell. I want to say to the American people, the United States Senate will not be intimidated.
We will not be kept out of this Chamber by thugs, mobs, or threats. We will not bow to lawlessness or intimidation.
We are back at our posts. We will discharge our duty under the Constitution and for our Nation, and we are going to do it tonight.
This afternoon, Congress began the process of honoring the will of the American people and counting the electoral college votes. We have fulfilled this solemn duty every 4 years for more than two centuries. Whether our Nation has been at war or at peace, under all manner of threats, even during an ongoing armed rebellion and the Civil War, the clockwork of our democracy has carried on.
The United States and the United States Congress have faced down much greater threats than the unhinged crowd we saw today. We have never been deterred before, and we will not be deterred today.
They tried to disrupt our democracy. They failed. They failed.
This failed attempt to obstruct the Congress, this failed insurrection, only underscores how crucial the task before us is for our Republic.
Our Nation was founded precisely so that the free choice of the American people is what shapes our self-government and determines the destiny of our Nation—not fear, not force, but the peaceful expression of the popular will.
We assembled this afternoon to count our citizens’ votes and to formalize their choice of the next President. Now we are going to finish exactly what we started. We will complete this process the right way, by the book. We will follow our precedents, our laws, and our Constitution to the letter, and we will certify the winner of the 2020 Presidential election.
Criminal behavior will never dominate the United States Congress. This institution is resilient. Our democratic Republic is strong. The American people deserve nothing less.