Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/House/Counting Electoral Votes/Pennsylvania Objection Debate/Kinzinger Speech
Mr. Kinzinger. Madam Speaker, as a student of foreign policy, if somebody described to me the actions that we saw, I would have assumed we were in a failed nation or a banana republic. Storming past police, some carrying the flag of the Confederacy, the mob breached this House.
But there is good news: The democracy held today.
For the last few years, misinformation and fear has been fed into people for profit and power, and for too many years, leaders around the country said nothing and sometimes echoed those messages because of the belief that winning, no matter the cost, was worth everything.
Today, we saw the result of ignoring these warning signs.
People look to Washington to give hope. Instead, we simply amplify fears.
People look to us for expertise on what can and can’t be possible. Sometimes it is easier to say what makes people feel good instead of the hard facts.
Today, some Members of Congress argue that we can unilaterally pick the next President, that with our glorious wisdom, armed with Twitter, we know better than the American people. Some have shown that, if conspiracies are repeated enough, they become facts and they aren’t disputed.
Even here in this Chamber after the events today, some speeches have been shockingly tone-deaf. I have seen people applaud cheap political lines that are embarrassing.
Power and cultural fights have divided us so much that they are the ultimate goal now, and sometimes the oath we swear to uphold feels like a prop.
People have been lied to by too many for too long.
So here is the truth: Joe Biden won this election, the effort will fail, and everybody knows it.
For some out there, this isn’t about making a statement for the betterment of our country; it is about avoiding the pain of leveling with the people and telling them the truth: the emperor has no clothes.
I know many are disappointed in the result, but what legacy are we leaving? Have our kids seen the day where Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill had a beer over their differences, or have they learned that to lead, you must tweet, and sometimes all in caps, because now this is Hollywood, fame is the ultimate goal?
But the first step that we can take to restore this is to reject the charade, and what happens next is up to us.
We get threatened with primaries; we worry about the political implications. But our names will long be forgotten; the legacy of now will exist.
The bottom line: If we ask men and women to be willing to give their lives for this Nation and we talk about their service with tears in our eyes, shouldn’t we be willing to give up our jobs to uphold that Constitution?