 One year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked, simply attacked. 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 reached the capital. But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such attack never, never happens again. We saw with our own eyes, rioters menaced these halls, threatened 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. That was a snippet from President Joe Biden's speech addressing the nation on the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection. And I'll admit, I thought that his speech was good. He hit on a lot of really important points. But there was one thing that was missing, and that is a really strong call to action to fix the vulnerabilities that make our country susceptible to an actual coup succeeding. Now, thankfully, members of the squad actually did speak to things that need to be done, actual actions to take. And I want to get to that because I think it's really important. And I don't think that enough Americans know about the current vulnerabilities that exist that make us susceptible to an actual coup here in the United States. So Cory Bush talked about how, at a minimum, you have to at least hold the co-conspirators in Congress accountable. She writes, there are Republican members of Congress who aided the January 6th insurrection. They need to be investigated and expelled. My bill, House Resolution 25, does just that. And this is important because if you don't believe in democracy, you shouldn't serve in a democratic body. You shouldn't have been able to get away with coordinating with people who tried to undo democracy. I'm talking about Lauren Boebert. I'm talking about Paul Gosar. If people see that members of Congress can get away with this, then they too will think that they can get away with this. So we have to hold people in power accountable if they did, in fact, try to steal an election and end democracy in the United States. Now it goes further than that because there are attempts by state legislatures controlled by Republicans across the country where they're trying to give themselves the authority to actually carry out a coup if they don't like the results of an election. Now in a really long and thoughtful thread on Twitter, Ilhan Omar spoke about this. She writes, in fact, as we speak, Donald Trump's allies in state houses across the country are seeking to erect barriers to voting, largely affecting low-income people, people of color, and seniors. If that's not enough, they are stripping power from nonpartisan election officials and rewriting state laws to seize partisan control over election certification. The next coup is not only possible, it has already begun. And that's a really important point. I don't think that enough people have actually grappled with the reality that it's not just likely that another coup attempt will happen, but it's already in progress. Republicans in GOP controlled states are trying to give themselves the power and authority to subvert the will of voters. Voter suppression is a huge part of that, yes, but it goes deeper than that. But let's talk about some specifics here. So as Jake Johnson of Common Dreams explains, last year, according to a recent analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 19 Republican-led states passed 34 laws restricting ballot access, a tidal wave of voter suppression that's expected to intensify in 2022. A recent report by a coalition of watchdog groups added the additional warning that state-level Republicans are pursuing a number of anti-democratic tactics beyond proposing or passing bills. So Republicans at the state level and local level, they're not just doing voter suppression, although that's a key part of their strategy to end democracy in the United States. But on top of that, they are actively stripping local officials at the precinct level of their power to oversee elections. So that way, if need be, they can subvert the will of voters in their state. Now, there's a lot of differences depending on the state that you look at. But one example is state Republicans want to be able to send their preferred electors to the Electoral College in some states if it is the case that people in their state didn't vote the way that they wanted to. Now, we already saw this attempted by Donald Trump in 2020, but thankfully it didn't work. But if they have more power, if they tweak it so that we can future elections, they can do what they want, can pull off what they've been trying, then they're going to do that. So you have to rein it in. Now, one report by the States United Democracy Center explains in great detail how Republicans specifically are trying to implement new laws that are authoritarian in nature that give them the ability to subvert the will of people in their states. So 262 bills were introduced by Republicans in 41 different states that purposefully interfere with or outright subvert democracy. This is serious. Now, as you can see, a number of states have already seized the power to oversee elections, which again, this isn't done by state legislatures. This is usually done by precincts, local officials. Now moving on to chart number two, a number of GOP controlled states have already seized the power to oversee elections, which again is typically done at the precinct and local levels. So this includes Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Tennessee and Texas. And it goes deeper than this. So I'll link to the report down below, but it talks about how, for example, Michigan had Republicans at the county level oust appointees at the county canvassing boards with anti-democracy Trump loyalists. So that's what Trump's allies are doing at the state and local level. But nationally, Donald Trump is endorsing the primary opponents of any Republican who dared to not go along with his big lie. So this is a thorough and systematic attempt to dismantle democracy. And if they are successful, they could actually pull off a coup going forward because in 2020 they weren't very organized, but they're already laying the groundwork to steal an election just outright. If it's possible, if it doesn't go the way that they wanted to. Now, thankfully, Joe Biden did reference this effort by Republicans at the state level in his speech. Take a look. But whatever my other disagreements are with Republicans to 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 possible. Because if we have a shared belief in democracy, then anything is possible, anything. And 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 in 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. 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 from 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. And he's right. Democracy is already hanging on by a thread. And if action is not taken, then democracy, as we know it, may be over in the United States. We are sliding closer and closer towards authoritarianism. And there were already issues with our democracy, but we have to go further. The problem I have with Joe Biden is even if he's saying the right words, when it comes to his actions, he's not doing enough to exert pressure on members of his own party who are sabotaging the Democratic Party's push to enact voter rights legislation. If they don't get this accomplished, then it's I don't even know how to explain it. It'd be a disaster. But it goes deeper than that because you don't just have to pass legislation to enact more voting rights and stop these state efforts by Republicans to steal elections. But you also have to deliver for the American people. So that way they're not desperate and a demagogue can't exploit their desperation and prey on them and get them to believe lies about the election in the first place. Now, going back to that thread written by Ilhan Omar, she explains this in great detail. She writes about the causes of the attempts to overturn our democracy run much deeper than Donald Trump. For decades, our institutions have been failing to meet the needs of the people they are tasked to represent. Inequality has skyrocketed as has the cost of basics like health here and education, while the average American's wages have not kept pace. Self-interested elites have prioritized profit and greed over the common good. Trust in our government's ability to tackle the biggest problems we face from health care to climate to food insecurity has cratered as a result. Borrowing from demagogues around the world, authoritarians like Donald Trump filled the void, offering false promises while scapegoating immigrants and religious and racial minorities. To stop the next coup, we must reinvigorate the democratic experience that requires at a minimum passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and strengthening election laws around the country to prevent the next coup. But it also requires reforming our institutions so that they are once again responsive to the core demands of our constituents that requires abolishing fundamentally anti-democratic elements of our system like the Senate filibuster and the electoral college. And it requires major investments in child care, education, health and climate like the Build Back Better Act. The coup attempt on January 6th was a warning for what's to come. If we don't act, the work to prevent the next coup begins now. Well said, saving democracy isn't just about passing legislation to fix the vulnerabilities that make us susceptible to a coup. It means actually having a government that is responsive to the needs of people. And I don't see many people talk about this. So kudos to Ilana Omar for actually saying that. The problem is that I don't think that people in her party take this issue as seriously as she does. Case in point, Nancy Pelosi just introduced as part of the January 6th Remembrance, a song by Lin-Manuel Miranda performed by the cast of Hamilton. Yeah, that's a problem. Performative bullshit like this is not a sufficient substitute to legislation. Now, to be fair to Nancy Pelosi, the House has done their part. It's really the Senate. But people in the Democratic Party have to exert pressure on their own. There's been this weird sense of, like, I don't know, a ceasefire among people in the Democratic Party, like even progressives, with the exception of a few members of the squad are really apprehensive about calling out members of their own party when that's bad. There are people in your party who are saboteurs, who are co-conspirators and complicit with the Republican's attempt to destroy democracy in the United States. And if you do not exert pressure on them, then you are just as bad as the people who are attacking democracy. So, you know, call out the people who aren't saying what they need to say. Call out the people who are saying what they need to say, but not taking action. You know, this is serious. Once you lose democracy, once you slip further and further towards authoritarianism, you can't put the cat back in the bag. Once you open Pandora's box, you can't close it. So we have a limited amount of time to act. Democrats have this year to take action. And if they fuck it up and they don't act, then forever democracy in America gets even worse. Perhaps we slip further into authoritarianism. Perhaps Republicans actually steal an election, which is entirely possible given the momentum that they had in 2020. But now they've had the time to coordinate and plan for their next coup. It's already in progress. So if Democrats don't capitalize on this small window of opportunity, then the ones to blame are them because the Republican Party has broadcasted very clearly what they want to do. Their intent is known. So now Democrats have to take action to stop a coup in the United States.