Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/Senate/Counting of Electoral Ballots/Arizona Objection Debate/Portman Speech
Mr. Portman. Mr. Vice President, you have fulfilled your duties as President of the Senate tonight with distinction, and we all appreciate it.
I thought about changing my mind and not speaking tonight, given the lateness of the hour, and I know all of my colleagues would have appreciated that greatly. But I thought it was necessary to speak because I want the American people, particularly my constituents in Ohio, to see that we will not be intimidated, that we will not disrupted from our work, that here in the citadel of democracy, we will continue to do the work of the people. Mob rule is not going to prevail here.
Now, let’s face it. We did not reclaim this Chamber tonight. Brave and selfless law enforcement officers stood in the breach and ensured that the citadel of democracy would be protected and that we would be defended, and we are deeply grateful for that—as is the Nation.
I have listened carefully to comments of my colleagues, and I have listened over the past couple of weeks as this issue has been discussed, and I tell you, for me, it is not a hard decision. I stand with the Constitution. I stand with what the Constitution makes clear: The people and the States hold the power here, not us.
My oath to the Constitution and my reverence for our democratic principles make it easy for me to confirm these State certifications.
By the way, I opposed this process some 15 years ago, when some Democrats chose to object to the electors from my home State of Ohio after the 2004 elections. I opposed it then, and I oppose it now. I said at the time that Congress must not thwart the will of the people. That is what we would be doing.
Let’s assume for a moment that those who object to the certifications are right, that the Constitution intended that a bare majority of Members of Congress could circumvent the States that have chosen to certify the popular votes of their own State citizens. I ask the objectors to think about the precedent that would be set if we were to do that.
What if the majority in the House and the Senate were of the other party when a Presidential candidate of our party came through a close Presidential election? Would you want a Congress controlled by the Democrats to play the role you now intend for us?
It is asking Congress to substitute its judgment for the judgment of the voters and its judgment for the judgment of the States that certified the results. And even forgetting the dangerous precedent that would be set, what would be the basis for objecting in this election?
Look, I voted for President Trump. I supported him because I believe the Trump administration’s policies are better for Ohio and for the country. And I supported the Trump campaign’s right to pursue recounts—they had every right to do it—and legal challenges.
I agree that there were instances of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 elections. I think we all do. And by the way, there are fraud and irregularities in every Presidential election.
But it is also true that after 2 months of recounts and legal challenges, not a single State recount changed the result. And of the dozens of lawsuits filed, not one found evidence of fraud or irregularities widespread enough to change the result of the election. This was the finding of numerous Republican-appointed judges and the Trump administration’s own Department of Justice.
Every State has now weighed in and chosen to certify its electoral slate based on the popular vote, as set out in the Constitution.
I understand that many Americans who would never storm this Capitol don’t trust the integrity of the 2020 election, don’t think the States should have certified, don’t think we should have accepted the results from the States, and are insisting on more transparency and accountability.
In the 2016 elections, lest we forget, many Democrats objected to the results and distrusted the election.
I challenge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to listen but also to do our part to try to restore faith in our elections. We should all work to improve the integrity of the electoral system and the confidence of the American people in this bedrock of our great democratic Republic.
Today, I will do my constitutional duty and oppose these efforts to reject the State-certified results.
And tomorrow, in the wake of this attack on the Capitol, the pandemic that engulfs us, and other national challenges, let’s work together for the people.