FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 21, 2019
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ICYMI: Speaker Pelosi Joins Veterans Rally in Front of Capitol to Call on Congress to Put Country Over Party During Impeachment Inquiry
WASHINGTON—Today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined veterans from around the country on the lawn of the Capitol for the last stop on the Defend American Democracy tour. The Speaker and more than 60 veterans called on members of Congress to honor the oath they took to defend the Constitution.
Below are Speaker Pelosi’s remarks as delivered:
Thank you so much all of you for being here. Thank you to so many representatives of all of the forces: Alex McCoy, U.S. Marine Corps; Alan Pitts, U.S. Army, a Purple Heart veteran; Skip Delano, U.S. Army; Kathryn Smith, U.S. Air Force; Leo Cruz, U.S. Navy; Alex Ferencz – Ferencz, U.S. Marine Corps; Jason Hurd, U.S. Army. But thank you to all of you for putting country first.
You have done that in your service to our country. You continue with courage to do that in service to our country.
We all take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. This isn’t about politics. It’s not about Democrats or Republicans. It’s not about partisanship. This is about patriotism.
I wish we didn’t have to go down this path. Nobody came here to do this. We came here to get results. Protect and defend, our first order of business. The Constitution, though, requires – requires that we do just that.
The day September 17, 1787 was the day when – that the Constitution was adopted.
Benjamin Franklin walked out onto the steps of Independence Hall.
They said, ‘What do we have, Dr. Franklin, a monarchy or a republic?’
He said, ‘A republic, if we can keep it.’
And that republic is a democracy.
So, thank you for defending American democracy, because that is what this is all about.
Again, no one is above the law. We must all be held accountable for how we honor our oath of office.
You all have been so courageous in so many ways: personally, patriotically and the rest. Thank you for this act of courage to defend America’s democracy.
It is my honor to bring you greetings from Members of Congress for what you do to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Thank you all so much.
Video of Speaker Pelosi’s remarks can be seen here and here.
Coverage of the event in the Washington Post can be found here.
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