“Today, for a second time in two years, I joined my colleagues the U.S. House of Representatives in voting to impeach Donald J. Trump. 

“Throughout his chaotic and divisive tenure in the White House, the President has sown hate and violence throughout America. His presidency has been a series of policies and pronouncements meant to brutalize and denigrate some while amassing power for himself and his enablers. 

“On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, his years of craven despotism resulted in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and on American democracy. The insurrection was incited by Donald Trump’s months-long lie about the integrity of the 2020 election, a lie further inflamed by Members of Congress who swore an oath to defend the very democracy they now desecrate. 

“As Massachusetts suffragist and abolitionist Lucy Stone stated, ‘If we speak the truth fearlessly, we shall add to our number those who will turn the scale to the side of equal and full justice in all things’. 

“The truth is that a seditious President’s actions have left five Americans dead, our Capitol besieged, our security threatened, and our democracy hanging in the balance. The truth is a vote to impeach is the only way to ensure that ‘the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth’.

“I will never forget walking to the Capitol on January 6^th while angry, hateful rioters stormed the citadel of our democracy waving Confederate flags. This moment must be a turning point for America; a moment that we reject partisan excuses that allow white supremacy to continue terrorizing America, a moment that we come together and demand accountability as one body, as one America, united in our commitment to democracy and justice. 

“America, be undeterred, be determined and be hopeful. While today we are in darkness, on January 20^th, President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris will take office, and we will rebuild a more just, inclusive America. A new beginning is ahead.”