乔·拜登总统周四在1月6日起义周年之际向全国发表讲话。
拜登没有直接提到前总统唐纳德·特朗普的名字，而是称他为“被击败的前总统。”
拜登演讲的全文如下:
副总统女士和美国同胞们，显而易见，一年前的今天，在这个神圣的地方，民主遭到了攻击。简单的攻击。人民的意志受到攻击。我们的宪法面临着最大的威胁。面对寡不敌众的野蛮袭击，国会大厦警察局、特区大都会警察局、国民警卫队等勇敢的执法人员挽救了法治。
我们的民主坚持了下来。我们人民忍受着。我们人民胜利了。在我们的历史上，这是第一次，一位总统不仅输掉了选举——他试图阻止权力的和平转移，因为一群暴力暴徒闯入了国会大厦。但是他们失败了。他们失败了。在这个纪念日，我们必须确保这样的袭击永远不再发生。
我今天在美国国会大厦的雕像馆和你们讲话。在美国内战爆发前的几十年里，众议院在这里开了50年的会。就在这层楼，伊利诺伊州的一位年轻议员亚伯拉罕·林肯坐在191号桌前。在他的上方，在我们的上方，在通向圆形大厅的那扇门的上方，是一座描绘历史缪斯的雕塑。
她手里拿着一本打开的书，里面记录了发生在下面这个房间里的事件。一年前的今天，Clio站在这里守护着这个大厅，就像她200多年来一直做的那样。她记录了发生的一切——真实的历史，真实的事实，真实的真相，副总统哈里斯刚刚分享的事实和真相，以及你我和整个世界亲眼看到的事实和真相。
圣经告诉我们，我们将知道真相，真相将使我们自由。我们会知道真相的。这是上帝关于2021年1月6日的真相。闭上眼睛。回到那天。你看到了什么?暴徒们横冲直撞，在国会大厦内第一次挥舞着象征着毁灭美国、撕裂我们的邦联旗帜。
即使在从未发生过的内战期间。但这发生在2021年。你还看到了什么?一群暴徒打破窗户，踢开门，闯入国会大厦，电线杆上的美国国旗被用作武器，如长矛。灭火器被扔向警察的头上。一群声称热爱执法的人袭击了那些警察。拖他们，喷他们，踩他们。
140多名警察受伤。我们都听到了那天在那里的警官们为所发生的事情作证。一名军官称之为“一场中世纪的战斗”，那天他比在伊拉克打仗时更害怕。从那天起，他们反复问:“有谁，有谁敢贬低、贬低或否认他们所经历的地狱?”
我们亲眼看到，暴徒威胁着这些大厅，威胁着众议院议长的生命。真的是架设绞刑架来绞死美国副总统。
我们没有看到什么?我们没有看到一位前总统坐在白宫椭圆形办公室外的私人餐厅里，在电视上看着这一切，他刚刚召集了暴徒进行袭击。无所事事。几个小时。当警察被袭击时。冒着生命危险。该国首都被围困。
这不是一群游客。这是一场武装叛乱。他们不想维护人民的意志。他们试图否认人民的意愿。他们想维护的不是自由公正的选举，而是推翻一个选举。他们并不想拯救美国的事业。他们想颠覆宪法。
这不是要陷入过去。是为了确保过去不会被埋葬。这是唯一的出路。伟大的国家就是这么做的。他们不会掩盖真相，他们会直面真相。听起来像夸张，但这是事实，他们正视它。
凯文·拉马克/路透社
1月1日，美国总统乔·拜登在雕像馆的一次活动上发表讲话.
我们是一个伟大的国家。我的美国同胞们，生活中有真理，不幸的是，也有谎言。为了利益和权力而构思和传播的谎言。
我们必须绝对清楚什么是真实的，什么是谎言。事实是这样的。美利坚合众国前总统制造并散布了一张关于2020年大选的谎言网。他这样做是因为他看重权力而不是原则。因为他认为自己的利益比国家利益更重要，比美国利益更重要，因为他受伤的自我对他来说比我们的民主或宪法更重要。他不能接受他输了。
尽管这是93名美国参议员、他自己的司法部长、他自己的副总统、州长和每个战场州的州官员都说过的话。他输了。这就是8100万人投票支持新的前进道路时所做的。他做了美国历史上、这个国家的历史上没有一位总统做过的事情。他拒绝接受选举结果和美国人民的意愿。
虽然共和党中一些勇敢的男男女女站出来反对它，试图维护该党的原则，但太多其他人正在将该党转变为其他政党。他们似乎不再想成为林肯、艾森豪威尔、里根和布什的政党。但无论我与支持法治而不是一个人统治的共和党人有什么其他分歧，我将始终寻求与他们合作，在可能的地方找到共同的解决方案，因为我们对民主有着共同的信念，即一切皆有可能。任何事。
所以在这一刻，我们必须决定，我们要成为什么样的国家?我们会成为一个接受政治暴力为常态的国家吗?我们会成为一个允许党派选举官员推翻人民合法表达的意愿的国家吗?我们会成为一个不是生活在真理的光芒下，而是生活在谎言的阴影下的国家吗?
我们不能允许自己成为那种国家。前进的道路是认清真相，并以此为依归。这位前总统和许多害怕他愤怒的共和党人所说的大谎言是，这个国家的叛乱实际上发生在2020年11月3日选举日。想想吧。
你是这么想的吗?你那天投票的时候是这么想的吗?参加起义，你以为你在做什么?或者你认为你是在履行作为公民的最高职责并投票?前总统的支持者正试图改写历史。他们想让你把选举日视为起义日。1月6日发生在这里的暴乱是人民意志的真实表达。
你能想出一个更扭曲的方式来看待这个国家吗?去看看美国?我不能。事实是这样的。2020年的选举是这个国家历史上最伟大的民主展示。你们中有更多的人在那次选举中投票，比美国历史上任何时候都多。
当天有超过1.5亿美国人去投票站投票。在疫情。有些人冒着生命危险。他们应该被鼓掌，而不是被攻击。现在在一个又一个州，新的法律不是为了保护选票，而是为了否定它。
不仅要压制投票，还要颠覆投票。不是为了加强和保护我们的民主，而是因为前总统输了。这位前总统和他的支持者没有看2020年的选举结果，说他们需要新的想法或更好的想法来赢得更多的选票，而是决定他们获胜的唯一方法是压制你的选票，颠覆我们的选举。这是错误的，不民主的，坦率地说，这不是美国式的。
前总统及其支持者撒的第二个弥天大谎是，2020年的选举结果不可信。事实是，美国历史上没有任何一次选举被更仔细地审视或统计过。质疑选举结果的每一项法律挑战，以及这个国家的每一个法院本可以提出的质疑都被提出并被驳回。
经常被共和党任命的法官驳回，包括前总统本人任命的法官。从州法院到美国最高法院。一个州接一个州地进行重新计票。佐治亚州，佐治亚州三次计票，一次手动重新计票。几个州在选举后很久才进行虚假的党派审计，但没有一个改变结果。在其中一些国家，具有讽刺意味的是，胜率实际上略有上升。因此，让我们坦率地谈谈2020年发生的事情。
曼德尔·恩根/法新社，通过盖蒂图像，文件
2021年1月6日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在白宫附近的椭圆形办公室向支持者发表讲话..
甚至在第一轮投票之前，这位前总统就已经对选举结果产生了怀疑。他花了几个月的时间编造谎言，没有任何事实依据。他只是在找一个借口，一个掩饰真相的借口。他不仅仅是前总统。他是一位落选的前总统，在一次完全自由公正的选举中，他以超过700万张选票的优势落选。
根本没有证据证明选举结果不准确。事实上，在每一个必须出示证据的地方，必须宣誓，说实话，这位前总统没有提出他的理由。想想这个。这位前总统和他的支持者从未能够解释他们如何接受11月3日发生的其他选举结果的准确性。政府、美国参议院、众议院的选举。
缩小众议院差距的选举。他们对这些都没有质疑。首先是总统的名字。然后我们继续前进:州长，参议员，众议院。不知何故，这些结果在同一次投票中是准确的，但总统竞选有缺陷。在同一次投票中，同一天由同样的选民投票。
唯一不同的是，这位前总统没有输掉那些竞选。他刚刚失去了属于他自己的那个。
最后，一位前总统和他的支持者撒的第三个弥天大谎是，那些试图通过暴力将自己的意志强加于人的暴徒是国家真正的爱国者。
当你看到暴徒洗劫国会大厦，毁坏财产，在走廊上排便，搜查参议员和众议员的办公桌，追捕国会议员时，你是这么想的吗?爱国者?在我看来不是。
对我来说，真正的爱国者是在投票箱中和平表达自己投票的150多名美国人。保护投票完整性的选举工作者。保卫首都的英雄们。
只有当你赢了，你才能爱你的国家。你不能只在方便的时候遵守法律。当你拥抱和启用谎言时，你不可能爱国。
那些冲进国会大厦的人，那些煽动和煽动的人，那些呼吁他们这样做的人，拿着一把匕首直指美国和美国民主的咽喉。
他们来这里不是出于爱国主义或原则。他们愤怒地来到这里。不是为美国服务，而是为某个人服务。那些煽动暴民的人，那些不顾一切否认这次选举认证的真正策划者，无视选民的意愿，但他们的阴谋被挫败了。国会议员、民主党人和共和党人都留了下来。参议员、众议员、工作人员——他们完成了宪法要求的工作。
他们履行誓词，捍卫宪法，抵御国内外的一切敌人。听着，伙计们，现在要靠我们所有人，靠我们人民来捍卫法治。保护民主的火焰。保持美国的承诺。
那些把野蛮的力量看得比民主的神圣更重要的势力，把那些处于危险中的承诺作为目标——恐惧胜过希望，个人利益胜过公共利益。
毫无疑问，无论在国内还是国外，我们都生活在历史的转折点上。我们重新投入到民主和专制的斗争中。在多数人的愿望和少数人的贪婪之间，在人民的自决权和自私自利的独裁者之间。从中国到俄罗斯以及更远的地方，他们打赌民主的日子屈指可数。
他们实际上告诉我，在当今快速变化和复杂的世界中，民主太慢，太被分裂所拖累，无法取得成功。他们打赌，他们打赌美国会变得更像他们，而不像我们。
他们打赌美国是一个独裁者、独裁者、强者的地方。我不相信。那不是我们。这不是我们曾经的样子。这不是我们应该成为的人。我们的开国元勋，尽管他们并不完美，却启动了一项改变世界的实验，实际上改变了世界。
在美国，人民会统治。权力将会和平转移，永远不会在枪头或枪管处转移。他们承诺写下一个他们无法实现的想法，但是一个无法约束的想法。
是的，在美国，人人生而平等。拒绝你，如果你成功了，我就失败了。如果你领先，我落后。如果我按住你，我会以某种方式把自己举起来。
对这次选举撒谎的前总统和袭击国会大厦的暴徒离美国的核心价值观已经不远了。他们想统治，否则他们会毁灭。毁掉我们国家在列克星敦和康科德、葛底斯堡和奥马哈海滩、塞内卡瀑布、塞尔玛和阿拉巴马为之奋斗的一切。我们为之奋斗的是——选举权，管理自己的权利，决定自己命运的权利。
权利伴随着责任。视对方为邻居的责任。也许我们不同意那个邻居的观点，但他们不是对手。接受失败的责任，然后回到竞技场，下次再次尝试证明你的观点。
看到美国是一个想法的责任。一个想法需要警惕的管理。就在我们今天站在这里的时候，距离2021年1月6日已经过去了一年，那些驱使我们在这个地方看到的愤怒和疯狂的谎言并没有减弱。因此，我们必须坚定、坚决和不屈不挠地捍卫投票权，并让投票权得到计算。
有些人已经在这项神圣的努力中做出了最大的牺牲。1月6日之后，吉尔和我在国会大厦圆形大厅悼念警察不止一次，而是两次。一次是为了纪念布莱恩·西克尼克警官，他在袭击后的第二天失去了生命，第二次是为了纪念比利·埃文斯警官，他也为保卫首都而失去了生命。
我们想到了其他失去生命和受伤的人，所有生活在那天的创伤中的人，那些保卫首都的人，两党的国会议员和他们的工作人员，记者，食堂工人，看守工人和他们的家人。不要自欺欺人。那天的痛苦和伤疤很深。
我已经说过很多次了，当我们想到1月6日的事件时，它不再真实或真实。我们正在为美国的灵魂而战。凭借上帝的恩典，以及这个国家的善良和伟大，我们将赢得这场战斗。相信我，我知道民主有多难，我非常清楚美国面临的威胁。
但我也知道，我们最黑暗的日子可以带来光明和希望。从《珍珠港》中提到的副总统的死亡和毁灭，到法西斯势力的胜利，从血腥星期天和埃德蒙·佩图斯桥的残暴，这个国家获得了历史性的投票权。所以现在让我们站出来，书写美国历史的下一个篇章，1月6日标志着的不是民主的终结，而是自由和公平竞争的复兴的开始。
一年前的今天，我并没有寻求将这场战斗带到国会大厦。但我也不会退缩。我会站在这个缺口。我将保卫这个国家。我不允许任何人用匕首抵住民主的咽喉。我们将确保人民的意愿得到倾听。投票胜于暴力。这个国家的权力将永远和平移交。我相信总统的权力和目的是团结这个国家。不是分。把我们举起来，而不是把我们分开。关于我们，关于我们，而不是关于我。
在美国的心脏深处，燃烧着一团250年前点燃的自由、自由和平等的火焰。这不是一个国王或独裁者或独裁者的土地。我们是一个法治国家，秩序国家，而不是混乱国家。和平，而不是暴力。在美国，人民通过投票进行统治，他们的意志占上风。
所以让我们一起回忆。我们是一个国家，在上帝之下，不可分割。今天，明天，永远以最好的状态，我们就是美利坚合众国。上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保护我们的军队。我的上帝，保佑那些守护民主的人。
副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的讲话全文如下:
美国同胞们，早上好。某些日期贯穿整个历史，包括那些能立即提醒所有经历过这些日子的人，当我们的民主受到攻击时，他们在哪里，他们在做什么的日期。日期不仅在我们的日历上占据了一席之地，也在我们的集体记忆中占据了一席之地:1941年12月7日、2001年9月11日和2021年1月6日。
那一天，我不仅是当选副总统，还是美国参议员。那天早上我在国会大厦，和参议院情报委员会的成员一起参加了一个机密听证会。几小时后，国会大厦的大门被攻破。
我已经离开了，但我的思绪立即转向，不仅是我的同事，还有我的工作人员，他们被迫在我们的办公室寻求庇护，把文件柜变成了路障。
游荡在这些大厅里的极端分子所针对的不仅仅是当选领导人的生命。他们试图贬低和摧毁的不仅仅是一座神圣的建筑。他们攻击的是几代美国人为了建立和捍卫的制度、价值观和理想，他们游行、示威、流血。
1月6日，我们都看到了，如果那些试图摧毁我们民主的势力成功了，我们的国家会变成什么样子。无法无天，暴力，混乱。当时和现在利害攸关的是由我们人民，所有人民决定我们未来的权利，正如宪法所描述的那样。
我们不能让那些一心想压制我们的声音、推翻我们的选票、兜售谎言和错误信息的人，或者一些可能刚刚复活、但其根源古老而深厚的激进派别来决定我们的未来。
当我会见年轻人时，他们经常问我们的民主状况，大约在1月6日。我告诉他们的是，1月6日反映了民主的双重性质，它的脆弱性和它的力量。
你看，民主的力量是法治。民主的力量在于每个人都应该被平等对待的原则。选举应该是自由和公平的。腐败不应该被容忍。
民主的力量在于它赋予人民权力。民主的脆弱性在于，如果我们不警惕，如果我们不捍卫它，民主就不会存在。它会动摇和失败。
这里发生的暴力袭击，我们离一场被推翻的选举有多近的事实，反映了民主的脆弱性。
然而，当我当晚回到参议院会议厅时，我在我们当选的领导人身上看到的决心，他们不屈服，而是证明选举的决心，他们对美国宪法而不是政党或个人的忠诚，反映了美国的力量。当然，国会大厦警察、华盛顿大都会警察局、国民警卫队和其他执法人员的英雄气概也是如此，他们在那天响应了号召，包括那些后来死于可见和不可见伤口的人。
我们想念所有失去亲人的家庭。你知道，我想知道，在未来的岁月里，1月6日将如何被人们记住?它会作为加速世界上最古老、最伟大的民主瓦解的时刻而被铭记吗?还是我们决定为子孙后代保护和加强我们的民主的时刻?
美国精神正在经受考验。我们是否能迎接这一考验的答案就在我们的国家，就在你们这里。未来的工作并不容易。就在这座大楼里，将决定我们是否维护投票权，并确保自由和公平的选举。让我们说清楚。我们必须通过现在提交参议院的投票权法案，美国人民也必须做更多的事情。
我们不能袖手旁观，我们必须团结起来捍卫我们的民主。
为了形成一个更完美的联盟，建立正义，确保国内安宁，提供共同防御，促进普遍福利，并确保自由祝福我们自己，我们的繁荣和子孙后代。
这是拜登总统和我宣誓维护和捍卫的宪法序言，也是美利坚合众国的持久承诺。
Full transcript: Biden, Harris speak from Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 anniversary
President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed the nation on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Biden did not mention former President Donald Trump directly by name, instead calling him a "defeated, former president."
The full transcript of Biden's speech is below:
Madam Vice President and fellow Americans, to state the obvious, one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked. Simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault. The constitution -- our constitution -- faced the greatest of threats. Outnumbered in the face of a brutal attack, the Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guard and other brave law enforcement officials saved the rule of law.
Our democracy held. We the people endured. We the people prevail. For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election -- he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol. But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again.
I'm speaking to you today from Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. This is where the House of Representatives met for 50 years in the decades leading up to the Civil War. It's on this floor where a young congressman of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, sat at desk 191. Above him, above us, over that door leading into the rotunda is a sculpture depicting Clio, the muse of history.
In her hands, an open book, in which she records the events taking place in this chamber below. Clio stood watch over this hall one year ago today, as she has for more than 200 years. She recorded what took place -- the real history, the real facts, the real truth, the facts and the truth that Vice President Harris just shared, and that you and I and the whole world saw with our own eyes.
The Bible tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. We shall know the truth. Well here is God's truth about Jan. 6, 2021. Close your eyes. Go back to that day. What do you see? Rioters rampaging, waving for the first time inside this Capitol, the confederate flag that symbolizes the cause to destroy America, to rip us apart.
Even during the Civil War that never ever happened. But it happened here in 2021. What else did you see? A mob, breaking windows, kicking in doors, breaching the Capitol, American flags on poles being used as weapons, as spears. Fire extinguishers being thrown at the heads of police officers. A crowd that professes their love for law enforcement assaulted those police officers. Dragged them, sprayed them, stomped on them.
Over 140 police officers were injured. We all heard the police officers who were there that day testify to what happened. One officer called it “a medieval battle” and that he was more afraid that day than he was fighting the war in Iraq. They repeatedly asked since that day, "How dare anyone, anyone diminish, belittle or deny the hell they were put through?"
We saw with our own eyes, rioters menace these halls, threatening the life of the Speaker of the House. Literally erecting gallows to hang the Vice President of the United States of America.
What did we not see? We didn't see a former president who had just rallied the mob to attack sitting in the private dining room off the Oval Office in the White House watching it all on television. And doing nothing. For hours. As police were assaulted. Lives at risk. The nation's capital under siege.
This wasn't a group of tourists. This was an armed insurrection. They weren't looking to uphold the will of the people. They were looking to deny the will of the people. They were looking to uphold-- they weren’t looking to uphold a free and fair election, they were looking to overturn one. They weren’t looking to save the cause of America. They were looking to subvert the Constitution.
This isn't about being bogged down in the past. It's about making sure the past isn't buried. That's the only way forward. That's what great nations do. They don't bury the truth, they face up to it. Sounds like hyperbole, but that's the truth, they face up to it.
We are a great nation. My fellow Americans, in life there's truth, and tragically, there are lies. Lies conceived and spread for profit and power.
We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. And here's the truth. The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle. Because he sees his own interest as more important than his country's interest than America's interest, and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution. He can’t accept he lost.
Even though that's what 93 United States senators, his own attorney general, his own vice president, governors and state officials in every battleground state have all said. He lost. That's what 81 million of you did as you voted for a new way forward. He's done what no president in American history, the history of this country has ever, ever done. He refused to accept the results of an election and the will of the American people.
While some courageous men and women in the Republican Party are standing against it, trying to uphold the principle of that party, too many others are transforming that party into something else. They seem no longer to want to be the party, the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes. But whatever my other disagreements are with Republicans who support the rule of law and not the rule of a single man, I will always seek to work together with them, to find shared solutions where it’s possible because we have a shared belief in democracy, that anything is possible. Anything.
So at this moment, we must decide, what kind of nation are we going to be? Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth, but of the shadow of lies?
We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it. The big lie being told by the former president and many Republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. Think about that.
Is that what you thought? Is that what you thought when you voted that day? Taking part in an insurrection, is that what you thought you were doing? Or did you think you were carrying out your highest duty as a citizen and voting? Former president's supporters are trying to rewrite history. They want you to see Election Day as the day of insurrection. And the riot that took place here on Jan. 6 as a true expression of the will of the people.
Can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country? To look at America? I cannot. Here's the truth. The election of 2020 was the greatest demonstration of democracy in the history of this country. More of you voted in that election than have ever voted in all of American history.
Over 150 million Americans went to the polls and voted that day. In a pandemic. Some at great risk to their lives. They should be applauded, not attacked. Right now in state after state, new laws are being written not to protect the vote, but to deny it.
Not only to suppress the vote but to subvert it. Not to strengthen and protect our democracy but because the former president lost. Instead of looking at the election results in 2020, and saying they need new ideas or better ideas to win more votes, the former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections. It's wrong, it's undemocratic and frankly, it's un-American.
The second big lie being told by the former president and his supporters is that the results of the election of 2020 can't be trusted. The truth is that no election, no election in American history has been more closely scrutinized or more carefully counted. Every legal challenge questioning the results and every court in this country that could have been made was made and was rejected.
Often rejected by Republican-appointed judges, including judges appointed by the former president himself. From state courts to the United States Supreme Court. Recounts were undertaken in state after state. Georgia, Georgia counted its results three times with one recount by hand. Phony partisan audits were undertaken long after the election in several states, none changed the results. In some of them, the irony is the margin of victory actually grew slightly. So let's speak plainly about what happened in 2020.
Even before the first ballot was cast, the former president was preemptively so in doubt about the election results. He built his lie over months, wasn't based on any facts. He was just looking for an excuse, a pretext, to cover for the truth. He's not just a former president. He's a defeated, former president -- defeated by a margin of over 7 million of your votes in a full and free and fair election.
There is simply zero proof the election results were inaccurate. In fact, in every venue where evidence had to be produced, an oath, to tell the truth, had to be taken, the former president failed to make his case. Just think about this. The former president and his supporters have never been able to explain how they accept as accurate the other election results that took place on Nov. 3. The elections for government, United States Senate, House of Representatives.
Elections that close the gap in the House. They challenged none of that. President’s name was first. Then we went down the line: Governor, senators, House of Representatives. Somehow those results are accurate on the same ballot but the presidential race was flawed. And on the same ballot, the same day cast by the same voters.
The only difference, the former president didn't lose those races. He just lost the one that was his own.
Finally, the third big lie being told by a former president and his supporters is that the mob who sought to impose their will through violence are the nation's true patriots.
Is that what you thought when you looked at the mob ransacking the Capitol, destroying property, literally defecating in the hallways, rifling through the desks of senators and representatives, hunting down members of Congress? Patriots? Not in my view.
To me, the true patriots were the more than 150 Americans who peacefully expressed their vote at the ballot box. The election workers who protected the integrity of the vote. And the heroes who defended this capital.
You can't love your country only when you win. You can't obey the law only when it’s convenient. You can't be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies.
Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and incited and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the throat of America and American democracy.
They didn't come here out of patriotism or principle. They came here in rage. Not in service of America, but rather in service of one man. Those who incited the mob, the real plotters who were desperate to deny the certification of this election, defy the will of the voters, but their plot was foiled. Congressmen, Democrats and Republicans stayed. Senators, representatives, staff -- they finished their work the Constitution demanded.
They honored their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Look, folks, now it's up to all of us, to we the people to stand for the rule of law. To preserve the flame of democracy. To keep the promise of America alive.
The promises at risk targeted by the forces that value brute strength over the sanctity of democracy -- fear over hope, personal gain over public good.
Make no mistake about it, we're living at an inflection point in history, both at home and abroad. We're engaged anew in a struggle between democracy and autocracy. Between aspirations of the many and the greed of the few, between the people's right of self-determination and self-seeking autocrat. From China to Russia and beyond, they’re betting that democracies' days are numbered.
They actually told me democracy is too slow, too bogged down by division to succeed in today’s rapidly changing and complicated world. They're betting, they’re betting America will become more like them and less like us.
They’re betting that America is a place for the autocrat, the dictator, the strong man. I do not believe that. That is not who we are. That is not who we have ever been. And that is not who we should ever, ever be. Our founding fathers, as imperfect as they were, set in motion an experiment that changed the world, literally changed the world.
Here in America, the people would rule. Power would be transferred peacefully, never at the tip of a spear or the barrel of a gun. They committed to paper an idea that they couldn't live up to, but an idea that couldn't be constrained.
Yes, in America, all people are created equal. The reject of you, that if you succeed, I fail. If you get ahead, I fall behind. If I hold you down, I somehow lift myself up.
The former president who lies about this election and the mob that attacked this Capitol could not be further away from the core American values. They want to rule or they will ruin. Ruin what our country fought for at Lexington and Concord, at Gettysburg and Omaha Beach, Seneca Falls, Selma, Alabama. And what we were fighting for -- the right to vote, the right to govern ourselves, the right to determine our own destiny.
With rights come responsibilities. The responsibility to see each other as neighbors. Maybe we disagree with that neighbor but they're not an adversary. Responsibility to accept defeat then get back in the arena and try again the next time to make your case.
Responsibility to see that America is an idea. An idea requires vigilant stewardship. As we stand here today, one year since Jan. 6, 2021, the lies that drove the anger and madness we saw in this place, they have not abated. So we have to be firm, resolute and unyielding in our defense of the right to vote and to have that vote counted.
Some have already made the ultimate sacrifice in this sacred effort. Jill and I have mourned police officers in this Capitol Rotunda not once but twice in the wake of Jan. 6. Once to honor Officer Brian Sicnick, who lost his life the day after the attack and the second time to honor Officer Billy Evans, who lost his life defending this capital as well.
We think about the others who lost their lives and were injured and everyone living with the trauma of that day, and those defending this capital, to members of Congress in both parties and their staffs, to reporters, cafeteria workers, custodial workers and their families. Don't kid yourself. The pain and scars from that day run deep.
I’ve said it many times, and it's no more true or real when we think about the events of Jan. 6. We are in a battle for the soul of America. A battle that -- by the grace of God, and the goodness and greatness of this nation -- we will win. Believe me, I know how difficult democracy is, and I’m crystal clear about the threats America faces.
But I also know that our darkest days can lead to light and hope. From the death and destruction as Vice President referenced in Pearl Harbor can then triumph over the forces of fascism, from the brutality of Bloody Sunday and the Edmund Pettus Bridge came historic voting rights to this nation. So now let's step up, write the next chapter in American history where Jan. 6 marks, not the end of democracy but the beginning of a renaissance of liberty and fair play.
I did not seek this fight brought to this Capitol one year ago today. But I will not shrink from it either. I will stand in this breach. I will defend this nation. And I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy. We will make sure the will of the people is heard. That the ballot prevails not violence. That authority in this nation will always be peacefully transferred. I believe the power of the presidency and the purpose is to unite this nation. Not divide it. To lift us up, not tear us apart. To be about us, about us, not about me.
Deep in the heart of America burns a flame lit almost 250 years ago of liberty, freedom and equality. This is not a land of kings or dictators or autocrats. We’re a nation of laws, of order not chaos. Of peace, not violence. Here in America, the people rule through the ballot and their will prevails.
So let us remember together. We’re one nation, under God, indivisible. That today, tomorrow, and forever at our best, we are the United States of America. God bless you all. May God protect our troops. And my God, bless those who stand watch over democracy.
The full transcript of Vice President Kamala Harris' speech is below:
Fellow Americans, good morning. Certain dates echo throughout history, including dates that instantly remind all who have lived through them, where they were and what they were doing when our democracy came under assault. Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars but a place in our collective memory: Dec. 7, 1941, Sept. 11, 2001 and Jan. 6, 2021.
On that day, I was not only vice president-elect, I was also a U.S. senator. And I was here at the Capitol that morning, at a classified hearing with fellow members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Hours later, the gates of the Capitol were breached.
I had left, but my thoughts immediately turned, not only to my colleagues but to my staff, who had been forced to seek refuge in our office, converting filing cabinets into barricades.
What the extremists who roamed these halls targeted was not only the lives of elected leaders. What they sought to degrade and destroy was not only a building, hallowed as it is. What they were assaulting were the institutions, the values, the ideals that generations of Americans have marched, picketed and shed blood to establish and defend.
On Jan. 6, we all saw what our nation would look like if the forces who seek to dismantle our democracy are successful. The lawlessness, the violence, the chaos. What was at stake then and now is the right to have our future decided, the way the Constitution describes it, by we the people, all the people.
We cannot let our future be decided by those bent on silencing our voices, overturning our votes and peddling lies and misinformation, by some radical faction that may be newly resurgent, but whose roots run old and deep.
When I meet with young people, they often ask about the state of our democracy, about Jan. 6. And what I tell them is Jan. 6 reflects the dual nature of democracy, its fragility and its strength.
You see, the strength of democracy is the rule of law. The strength of democracy is the principle that everyone should be treated equally. That elections should be free and fair. That corruption should be given no quarter.
The strength of democracy is that it empowers the people. And the fragility of democracy is this, that if we are not vigilant if we do not defend it, democracy simply will not stand. It will falter and fail.
The violent assault that took place here, the very fact of how close we came to an election overturned, that reflects the fragility of democracy.
Yet, the resolve I saw in our elected leaders when I returned to the Senate chamber that night, their resolve not to yield, but to certify the election, their loyalty not to party or person but to the Constitution of the United States, that reflects its strength. And so of course, does the heroism of the Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guard and other law enforcement officers who answered the call that day, including those who later succumbed to wounds, both visible and invisible.
Our thoughts are with all of the families who have lost a loved one. You know, I wonder, how will Jan. 6 come to be remembered in the years ahead? Will it be remembered as a moment that accelerated the unraveling of the oldest, greatest democracy in the world? Or a moment when we decided to secure and strengthen our democracy for generations to come?
The American spirit is being tested. The answer to whether we will meet that test resides where it always has resided in our country, with you, the people. And the work ahead will not be easy. Here in this very building, a decision will be made about whether we uphold the right to vote, and ensure free and fair elections. Let's be clear. We must pass voting rights bills that are now before the Senate and the American people must also do something more.
We cannot sit on the sidelines, we must unite in defense of our democracy.
In order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our prosperity and posterity.
That is the preamble of the Constitution that President Biden and I swore an oath to uphold and defend and that is the enduring promise of the United States of America.
