Madeleine Dean

“ Democracy is a series of acts, acts by you and by me, by citizens, one building upon the other and another—not acts that we have heard and seen and suffered today, words and acts to incite violence, acts that tear at the very fabric of our democracy. ”

“ Incited by the one at the highest level of government, they attacked people, property, this Capitol, this cathedral of democracy.
Words matter. In his last words to our Nation and to all of us here, our dear colleague, John Lewis, wrote last July: “Democracy is not a state. It is an act.” And each generation has an obligation to preserve its institutions. ”

“ We, too, are armed. We are armed with the facts. We are armed with the truth. We are armed with the love of our country. We are armed with our sworn oaths. And we are armed with our precious Constitution. ”