WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) yesterday delivered remarks from the
Senate Floor about President Donald Trump’s pardons of insurrectionists, who on
January 6th 2021 used violence in an attempt to stop the peaceful
transfer of power. President Trump issued pardons for nearly 1,600 January 6th defendants
and commuted the sentences of 14 dangerous criminals in his first week of
taking office.
Watch Senator Welch’s remarks here:
Key quotes from Senator Welch’s speech:
“In the United States we believe in the peaceful transfer of power. In the United States we believe that the people—not elected politicians—decide who is their president.
“And both of those principles have served our democracy very well—through thick and thin, through strife and turmoil—for the past 248 years.
“Both of those principles were challenged on January 6th, 2021. A mob that was incited by then-President Trump attacked the Capitol for the explicit purpose of using violence to overturn the peaceful transfer of power. They were trying to intimidate elected politicians to substitute their judgment, their preferred candidate for president, instead of acknowledging the will of the people that they represented.
“But our democracy endured—that is the very good news. And, in testament to that, we just witnessed a renewal of America’s commitment to the peaceful transfer of power with the inauguration of Donald Trump as our 47th President.
“However, I must speak today, sadly, about one of the first actions of President Trump. And that, of course, is pardoning 1,600 people and commuting sentences of 14 very dangerous criminals who were involved in that violent attack on January 6th. Speaking for myself, I condemn that action by President Trump.”
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“I was there that day—many of us were. I was in the Gallery of the House of Representatives. It’s a day I won’t forget but America will never forget. It’s had a deep impact on our country, the citizens, the folks who work here, and that honorable tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.
“I was very amazed and proud to see officers, men and women, who withstood this assault. More than 150 officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department were injured that day. Five officers died in the aftermath.
“There was severe damage to this Senate Chamber, the House Chamber, the office buildings, the Capitol Rotunda—where we just had another inauguration only a few days ago. Blood, feces, glass, and other debris from the mob’s attack was everywhere—at a cost of close to $3 million.”
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“How is it that one of the first acts of our president, who wants to be “unifier,” was to pardon people who acted with such violence, such anger, and such contempt?
“President Trump has tried to erase this attack and re-write the history of what happened on January 6th. He has called the insurrectionists, including those who fought with the police, ‘patriots’ and ‘hostages’. They were neither.”
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“These pardons are disrespectful. They’re also dangerous. They’re disrespectful to the men and women who served, who suffered the violence, and are living with the consequences. And they’re dangerous to the law enforcement who serve us every day. The pardons validate the violence of the mob and dishonor the service of those who protect us.
“Unconscionable and appalling actions of January 6th should be repudiated by every Member of Congress. Whatever differences we have, it is vital that those differences be resolved at the ballot box and that the will of the people be respected.
“No citizen, however passionate they may be about their political beliefs, no matter how disappointed they may be at the outcome of an election, is justified in attacking the men and women of the Capitol Police. Their actions should be condemned by each of us and by our President. Those actions should not be condoned with pardons.”
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