The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol this past week will go down as one of the darkest days in American history. Like most Americans, I am filled with both rage and sadness. The sacred temple of our democracy was defiled, not by a foreign enemy, but by a mob of American citizens, incited by President Trump, to block Congressional certification of a free and fair election.

U.S Senator Mitt Romney had it right when he said, “The best way we can show respect to voters that are upset is by telling them the truth, that’s the duty, the burden of leadership.”

The truth is that Joe Biden received over 7 million more votes in the Presidential Election than Donald Trump. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. It was a competitive but not a close election. In the United States, we have 51 separate Presidential elections in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. States, not the federal government, run elections. Each state possesses checks and balances to ensure free and fair elections and to combat fraud or illegalities.Any aggrieved candidate has access to the courts, if they possess evidence, to challenge the election.

While partisan claims of fraud were alleged, no proof was ever presented. More than 60 lawsuits were filed across the nation. The cases were dismissed, including cases considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. Election officials from both parties in contested states attested to the legitimacy of their election process. In short, the states and the courts afforded election challengers the chance to make their case. There was no case to make.

On December 14, the Electoral College voted. The U.S. Congress has certified the results by a substantial bi-partisan majority.The election is over. Joe Biden won. On January 20, he will be inaugurated as our 46th President.

That is the truth. Yet, for two months, President Trump, some U.S. Senators, and some Members of Congress, including our own, have lied to their supporters by telling them, without any credible evidence, that the election was stolen. They are complicit in the insurrection that occurred last week.

President Trump will go down as the worst President in American History. As for these Senators and Members of Congress, the moniker “The Sedition Caucus” is well-deserved.

Seeking to overturn the vote of the people in the States of Arizona and Pennsylvania, was a brazen effort to thwart majority rule, usurp the power of the states to conduct their elections, and the role of the courts to properly review the conduct of elections under the rule of law.

On January 6, the U.S. Congress only had one job: to count the electoral votes and certify the results. The attempt to overturn the results of the election, even after an insurrection where people died, was a frontal assault on the U.S. Constitution.

History will judge what occurred at the Capitol this past week. Those who attempted to overturn a free and fair election will be judged harshly. The actions of these elected officials were reckless.They are unfit to hold office.

This was not some partisan or ideological disagreement. What these misguided representatives sought to do for craven political self-interest was to undermine the very foundation of our democracy enshrined in our Constitution.

There is a story, often told, that upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: "A republic, if you can keep it."

This time we have kept our republic. Our system of checks and balances was severely strained but held. We owe a debt to the judicial branch and bipartisan election officials who assured that it did. They often did so at great personal peril.

Democracy requires constant vigilance. President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

This insurrection was thwarted. However, we continue to face challenges rivaling what Lincoln faced during the Civil War and what FDR faced during the Great Depression and World War II. We need to continue to perfect our democracy in the face of a pandemic, economic disruption, and social unrest. To keep our republic will require our active participation and constant vigilance. America has been challenged throughout its history; Together, I know we will meet this one too.