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Speaker Pelosi Remarks at Moderated Conversation with Historians Event on January 6th  

 

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Senator Schumer, Members of Congress, Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, and historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham for a moderated conversation to establish and preserve the narrative of January 6th.  Below are the Speaker’s remarks:

 

Speaker Pelosi.  Good afternoon, everyone.  Thank you very much for coming together for what I consider to be a solemn occasion; a patriotic occasion and a prayerful one for our country.  Today, we have the privilege of hearing from some of the most outstanding historians of all time in our country.  More will be said about them later.  But the distinguished Chair – Democratic Leader of the Senate and I are honored to be with each and every one of you.

 

We will have the presentation from our historians, we will hear that testimonials of our Members and the Leader has his testimonials on the Floor of the Senate since they are in session.  We are honored and that he came over to the House to be with us.  He served in the House for 18 years, only recently has he exceeded that amount of time in the United States Senate.  But, we still lay claim to him and take pride.

 

Before I bring him on though, I want to reflect, as we all do today, on the deadly assault that was waged on the Capitol and the Congress and the Constitution one year ago today.  The insurrection was an assault, not only on the building, but on the democracy itself, which that day, was on the brink of catastrophe.  Liz Cheney told me something about George Bush.  She said, on the day of 9/11, when 9/11 first occurred, he was in the White House and he said, “These terrorists may shake the foundations of our buildings, but they will not shake the foundations of our democracy.”  What he said applied then and it applies now.  

 

Because of the courage of our Members, the support of the Capitol Police, the staff, the custodial staff, the insurrection failed.  Democracy prevailed.  Congress returned to the Capitol that same night to accomplish our purpose, to ensure the peaceful transfer of power.  

 

One year later, it is essential that we do not allow anyone to rewrite history or whitewash the gravity of what took place.  It is our duty to find the facts of January 6th, to ensure such an assault on our democracy cannot happen again.  And it is also our duty to establish and preserve the narrative of that day, and that is what we are doing today.  One year later, I remain in awe of the courage of all of you, our Members, not only on that day, but every day since including now, as you share reflections and preserve the truth.

 

Let me close by, as I have done throughout the day, by quoting President Lincoln.  He said so many things that were so appropriate, and quoted by our Chaplain earlier today at the Pro Forma session when she quoted Lincoln's greatest speech.  The second inaugural address, ‘with malice toward none; with charity toward all.’  You know the rest.  But imagine, the magnanimity of it all, that the President would say that after the Civil War.  In this regard, he said, ‘Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.  We will be remembered in spite of ourselves, no personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us.  We hold the power and bear the responsibility.’ 

 

Now indeed, we have a responsibility as daunting and demanding as any previous generations of leadership.  ‘We hold the power and bear the responsibility’ to save our democracy.  In that regard, it is my honor to yield to the distinguished Majority Leader of the Senate.  And, speaking on behalf of our colleagues in the House, we welcome you back to the House side.  I want to thank the Leader because he was so instrumental the night of the assault, in ensuring that we would return to the Capitol and the world would see that the insurrection was defeated and victory had prevailed.  Mr. Leader, Chuck Schumer.

 

***

 

Speaker Pelosi.  Thank you very much, Mr. Leader, for your very profound words and for your speech on the Floor of the Senate today as well, sharing your experiences of that day.  That is so important, and that is why we are excited to hear the testimonials of our Members following this moderated conversation. 

 

We are privileged to have a contribution from one of the great creative talents of our time, Lin-Manuel Miranda.  May his beautiful words be an inspiration to us.  Among the words he said and in the music, ‘We will make it right for you.  If we lay a strong enough foundation, we will pass it on to you.  And we will give the world to you.’  Lin-Manuel and his father, and the Hamilton singers who you will hear from, said they were all very honored to be asked to participate today.

 

***

 

Speaker Pelosi.  Somehow, the arts have a way of saying things in a way that connects, that we cannot do any other way and that is why I thought it was really important for us to have the arts meet us in this discussion – and the further discussion of course, some of the most outstanding artists, writers of our time. 

 

It is essential that we preserve the narrative of January 6th.  To do so, we are privileged to have the guidance of leading historians in our nation.  Our moderator, Dr. Carla Hayden, as referenced by our distinguished Leader, who as Librarian of Congress, has helped preserve the treasures of American history.  We are very, very proud of you, Madam Librarian. 

 

[Applause]

 

Speaker Pelosi.  She will have the privilege of truly introducing our guests, but I do want to thank Doris Kearns Goodwin, a national treasure, who chronicled some of the most pivotal periods and personalities in American history.  We are waiting for Team of Rivals to be made into a musical.  Doris Kearns Goodwin, thank you for being with us.  And Jon Meacham, whose writing has informed and inspired millions and we are grateful to him for the beautiful book he wrote about our colleague, John Lewis.  Thank you for being with us and thank you for informally advising our President of the United States, Joe Biden.  Thank you Jon Meacham. 

 

Their wisdom will serve our Congress and the country because as we know, as Lincoln told us and as we just all know, the stories connect.  And they will tell the story – the narrative of America and the place that January 6th fits into that – as we work to preserve the full, true history of that day.  With that, I am very pleased to invite our guests to the podium and first yield to the distinguished Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden.  Steny and I take special pride in Carla Hayden because she is the Librarian from Baltimore Enoch Pratt Free Library, a leader in the Maryland community of thought.  And I, again, was so thrilled when she was named by the President – President Obama to be the Librarian of Congress.  Because I know – she was a leader in the library community, the head of the whole thing, springing from Baltimore, Maryland, and now the head of the Library of Congress.  Carla Hayden.

 

***

 

Speaker Pelosi.  My colleagues, let’s join in thanking Dr. Hayden, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham for an extraordinary, powerful conversation, and to all of you for your work to protect democracy.  Soon my colleagues will begin this next portion of our session, Member testimonials.  Before we do though, I just want to address Dr. Hayden’s last question about ‘one country, one destiny.’  You know, you have heard me say of this pin, it says ‘one country, one destiny’ on it.  And, Doris has on that pin, as does Carla.  I gave Jon the male version of it, cufflinks.  But, he has cufflinks from Lyndon Johnson – I mean excuse me,  George Herbert Walker Bush, so we’ll defer to that. 

 

‘One country, one destiny’ was embroidered in the coat that Abraham Lincoln had the night he was assassinated.  Probably a coat he wore every day.  It was close to his heart, one country, one destiny.  It was very much a part of what was in his head for our country. I think we have to follow his lead in so many ways, including bringing our country together. 

 

Soon we will hear the second portion of the session, our Members’ testimonials, which are very valued by all of us, and we look forward to it.  Along with the historians’ perspective, the voices of Members are an essential piece of the narrative of January 6th.  Today, led by the Congressman Crow, we will hear reflections from our colleagues.  I thank Congressman Crow for organizing that.  We thank them, all of our Members for their courage in sharing their experiences and sharing their truth of that day.  Now, though, before our Members’ testimonial, let us close this conversation with this presentation. 

 

***

 

Speaker Pelosi.  We must never forget, as traumatic as it was, it bears repeating for the American people to see the intentions of that day.  Now we’re going to hear from our Members, and I want to thank Congressman Jason Crow.  We all know him as an American patriot, serving our nation in uniform as an Army Ranger for three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan where he received a Bronze Star, serving our nation in Congress, including as an impeachment manager, and now serving the nation as a leader in the Caucus following the insurrection, including lending – leading Members’ testimonials, which are vital to establishing and preserving the narrative of that day.  My colleagues, please welcome Jason Crow.  Jason Crow, the floor is yours. 

 

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