Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Says Capitol Insurrection Speeches ‘Not About Us’ But About Protecting Democracy From White Supremacy
Texas Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee rose during a round of speeches on the Capitol insurrection to say that “we’re not doing this for ourselves,” but rather, to push for accountability and fight back against white supremacy.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez organized an hour of Special Order speeches Thursday evening following the vote to expel Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from House committees, and introduced them by noting that “attempting to minimize, discredit, or belittle the accounts of survivors” of the Capitol insurrection, and that such efforts harm all survivors of trauma.
Ocasio-Cortez’s own lengthy account of her ordeal on January 6th has been the subject of the effort she described.
“Tonight, for this special order, we will begin to hear, and commit to the congressional record, just some of those many stories,” she said.
When Rep. Lee rose for her speech, she thanked AOC and praised her for her courage in speaking out. The congresswoman then explained the purpose of the speeches, as she saw it:
Let me thank the gentlelady from New York, first of all for her courage, and for convening us together. And I might say to the gentlelady that we’re not doing this for ourselves. We have taken an oath of office, I have said this many times today as we debated a question of the status of a member, we took an oath to defend this nation against all enemies foreign and domestic.
And we realize that that oath is really above our own personal safety. That if we were called upon by this nation to defend her, to defend our constituents, I would venture to say that most members would stand by their constituents and this nation. This should not be taken as members fleeing out of fear. But it should be taken as an explanation and an expose of what happened in this place. How it was desecrated. Undermined. Diminished.
Rep. Lee recounted her experience being in the Capitol on 9/11, then harrowingly described the events of January 6th, thanking leadership and the House security staff for locking the doors.
“As we fled, we could hear the attack coming from the Senate side, and then we could hear the shooting that occurred right outside in the cloakroom area,” Rep. Lee said, and, pointing to a spot in the House chamber, added, “And we crouched there, and some of my good good colleagues and I began to pray.”
“I started out by saying this is not about us but it’s about proof,” Lee continued. “And as I mourned and honored Officer Sicknick as he was honored by being in a state of honor in this House, I was reminded of the many officers, Capitol Hill and metro Police that are in hospitals, that are still hurting, and they are still suffering.”
“But I think the importance of this reliving what we went through is, as I’ve heard from my colleagues, we must get to the bottom of this,” Rep. Lee said. “We cannot let white supremacy, which is now the number one terrorist group in America, more so than foreign terrorists, dominate the goodness of what this democracy and this constitution stands for.”
Rep. Lee spoke at length about the need for accountability, for answers about the lack of preparation on that day, and about the generations of struggle against white supremacy.
Lee concluded by promising that “This is a place that we will hold sacred, and we will be victorious, and white supremacy, insurrectionists and also domestic terrorism will not prevail over us. We will win, and we’ll win for the many Americans who believe in the goodness of this country.”
Watch the clip above via C-Span.
