in April of 1861 when Abraham Lincoln issued the first call for volunteers for the Union Army
my great great grandfather Samuel Fletcher Cheney joined the 21st Ohio volunteer Infantry
he fought through all four years of the Civil War from Chickamauga to Stones River to Atlanta
he marched with his unit in The Grand Review of troops a Pennsylvania Avenue in May of 1865.
passed a reviewing stand where President Johnson and General Grant were seated
Silas Canfield the regimental historian of the 21st Ohio volunteer Infantry
describe the men in the unit this way he said they had a just appreciation of the value and
advantage of free government and the necessity of Defending and maintaining it and they enlisted
prepared to accept all the necessary labors fatigues exposures dangers and even death for
the unity of our nation and the perpetuity of our institutions I have found myself thinking often
especially since January 6th of my great great grandfather and all those in every generation
who have sacrificed so much for the unity of our nation and the perpetuity of our institutions
at the heart of our Republic is the guarantee of the peaceful transfer of power
members of Congress are reminded of this every day as we pass through the capital Rotunda
their eight magnificent paintings detailed the earliest days of our Republic
one painted by John Trumbull depicts the moment in 1793. when George Washington resigned his
commission handing control of the Continental Army back to Congress Trumbull called this
quote one of the highest moral lessons ever given the world with this Noble act George
Washington established the indispensable example of the peaceful transfer of power in our nation
standing on the west front of the Capitol in 1981 President Ronald Reagan described it this way
the orderly transfer of authority is called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has
for almost two centuries and few of us stopped to think how unique we really are in the eyes of many
in the world this every four-year ceremony that we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle
every president in our history has defended this orderly transfer of authority except one
January 6 2021 was the first time one American president refused his constitutional duty to
transfer power peacefully to the next in our work over the last 18 months the select committee has
recognized Our obligation to do everything we can to ensure this never happens again
at the beginning of our investigation we understood that tens of millions of
Americans had been persuaded by President Trump that the 2020 election was stolen by
overwhelming fraud and we also knew this was flatly false we knew that dozens of state
and federal judges had addressed and resolved all manner of allegations about the election
our legal system functioned as it should but our president would not accept the outcome
among the most shameful of this committee's findings was that President Trump sat in
the dining room off the Oval Office watching the violent riot at the Capitol on television
for hours he would not issue a public statement instructing his supporters to disperse and leave
the capitol despite urgent pleas from his White House staff and dozens of others to do so members
of his family his White House lawyers virtually all those around him knew that this simple Act
was critical for hours he would not do it during this time law enforcement agents were attacked
and seriously injured the capital was invaded the Electoral count was halted and the lives of those
in the capital were put at risk in addition to being unlawful as described in our report this
was an utter moral failure and a clear dereliction of Duty evidence of this can be seen in the
testimony of President Trump's own White House Council and several other White House Witnesses
no man who would behave that way at that moment in time can ever serve in any position of authority
in our nation again he is unfit for any office the committee recognizes that our work has only begun
it's only the initial step in addressing president Trump's effort to remain in office illegally
prosecutors are considering the implications of the conduct that we describe in our report
as our citizens all across our nation in 1761 John Adams wrote the very ground of our liberties is
the freedom of Elections faith in our elections and the rule of law is Paramount to our Republic
election deniers those who refuse to accept lawful election results purposely attack the rule of law
and the foundation of our country the history of our time will show that The Bravery of a handful
of Americans doing their Duty saved us from an even more grave constitutional crisis elected
officials election workers and public servants stood against Donald Trump's corrupt pressure
many of our committee's Witnesses showed selfless patriotism and their words and courage will
be remembered the brave men and women of the Capitol Police the Metropolitan Police and all
the other law enforcement officers who fought to defend us that day saved lives and our democracy
finally I wish to thank my colleagues on this committee
it has been a tremendous honor to serve with all of you we have accomplished great and
important things together and I hope we have set an example and I also want to thank all of those
who have honorably contributed to the work of our committee and to our report we have accomplished
much over a short period of time many of you sacrificed for the good of our nation you have
helped make history and I hope helped to write the ship thank you Mr chairman I yield back