opening statement she would care
to offer.
>> Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman.
Thank you for your tremendous
leadership of this committee.
I know we all have benefited
greatly from your wisdom and
wise counsel, so thank you very
much.
In April of 1861, when Abraham
Lincoln issued the first call
for volunteers for the union
army, my great-great grandfather
joined the 21st Ohio volunteer
infantry.
He thought through all four
years of the civil war.
He marched with his unit in the
grand review of troops up
Pennsylvania avenue in may of
1865, pass a review stand where
president Johnson and general
grant were seated.
Silas Canfield, the regimental
historian of the 21st Ohio
volunteer infantry, described
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 of 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
6, of my great, great
grandfather and all those in
every generation who have
sacrificed so much for the unity
of our nation in the perpetuity
of our institutions.
At the heart of our republic is
a guarantee of the peaceful
transfer of power.
Members of congress are reminded
of this every day as we passed
through the capitol rotunda.
There, eight magnificent
paintings detail 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 "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 as called for in the
constitution routinely takes
place, as it has for almost two
centuries, and few of us stop 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
beginning of our investigation,
we understood 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 of
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 capitol was invaded.
The electoral count was halted.
The lives of those in the
capitol was put -- were put at
risk.
As described in our report, this
was an utter moral failure and
clear dereliction of duty.
Evidence of this can be seen in
the testimony of president
trump's own white house counsel
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 is 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 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 the bravery of a handful of
Americans doing their duty saved
us from and even more grave
constitutional crisis.
Elected officials, election
workers, and public servants
stood against Donald Trump's
correct pressure.
-- Corrupt pressure.
Many showed selfless patriotism
and their words and courage will
be remembered.
Brave men and of the capitol
police, metropolitan police, and
all the other law enforcement
officers who fought to defend us
that they 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.
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 time.
Many of you sacrificed for the
good of our nation.
You have helped make history and