I faced four questions while locked down at US Capitol, says Tacoma area congressman
On Jan. 6, as a group of rioters attacked the US Capitol, I sat locked down in my office, glancing at two frames on my desk: one, a photo of my family.; the other, a framed copy of the Rotary Four-Way Test.
As a former Rotarian, I’ve always valued the four questions intended to guide the things we think, say and do as somewhat of an ethical North Star. I’m not sure we “move on” from a failed insurrection or from four years of Donald Trump as president. But we must move forward.
These key four questions, repeated by Rotarians around the world, may provide a roadmap for doing so.
Is it the truth?
The Washington Post found that of this past October, Trump was averaging 50 false or misleading claims per day. Moving our country forward requires embracing truth.
In his inaugural address, President Biden said, “We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.” Acknowledging that is a start.
The legislative branch must embrace truth, too. Moving forward requires members of Congress – including 139 House Republicans who voted to reject certification of the Electoral College – to embrace the same truth acknowledged by election departments throughout the nation, Republican secretaries of state, and courts in nearly 60 cases: that Joe Biden won the presidency fair and square.
Is it fair to all concerned?
We cannot allow America to continue with two separate systems of justice: one that sees peaceful protesters advocating for the value of Black lives teargassed for a presidential photo-op, and another that allows white supremacists and insurrectionists free reign in the US Capitol Building.
Doesn’t fairness require justice to be blind? Doesn’t it require us to address pay inequities and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity?
Moving our nation forward requires embracing fairness.
Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
In some circles, it’s not enough to disagree with political opponents. They must be enemies or “un-American.”
What can we make of Trump promoting a video this summer of a New Mexico elected official saying, “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat?”
I co-chair the Bipartisan Working Group, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans focused on one thing: solving problems. Our group meets weekly to identify issues we can work on together – and to build goodwill.
Such efforts may help move our Congress and our country forward.
So will kindness and civility. Biden provided an important reminder to White House employees to whom he was administering the oath of office, saying, “Everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity.”
That’s a start.
Wil it be beneficial to all concerned?
How could a COVID relief package – something that could so clearly help save lives and protect livelihoods – take so long to pass Congress?
It’s time to move forward on priorities that we know will benefit everyone.
Biden has proposed a plan to ramp up vaccine availability and ensure Americans can pay their bills, feed their families and keep roofs over their heads. These steps will benefit everyone, saving lives and helping our economy recover.
There are other priorities – investing in modernizing infrastructure, reforming our immigration system and more – that will enable our country to build back better.
As I sat in lockdown on January 6 staring at that family photo, I was struck that if folks in Congress, and in our country, can focus on principles like truth, fairness, building goodwill and committing to benefitting our fellow Americans, then maybe we’ve got a shot at forming that “more perfect union” that my kids – and all Americans – deserve.
US Rep. Derek Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat, was reelected in November to his fifth term representing Washington’s 6th Congressional District, which runs from Pierce County to the Olympic Peninsula.