The Jan. 6 Capitol attack proved America’s democracy is fragile. Here’s how to protect it
This week, our nation commemorated the events of the attack on the United States Capitol a year ago. What we saw that day, January 6, 2021, was an assault on our democracy. The mob that stormed the Capitol at the incitement of President Trump was not simply seeking to damage a building — it was seeking to upend our very republic.
As someone who was on Capitol Hill that day, the attempt to overturn our democracy was a searing moment for me personally. What’s more, the images of that day — the Confederate flag being paraded through the Capitol, law enforcement officers being beaten mercilessly and the violent attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power – are hard to get past. Indeed, most Americans have a sense that — while Donald Trump is no longer president and the insurrection was a failure — the events of last January stand as a painful reminder of how fragile our democratic republic is.
A year on, Americans are right to ask - what do we do now?
First, a bipartisan committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is doing important work to understand the events of last January — to hold those involved in planning and perpetrating the insurrection accountable and, importantly, to ensure that nothing like that can ever happen again.
Second, Congress should pursue reforms to strengthen our democratic institutions against the type of abuses that we saw — not just on January 6, but over the prior four years.
The American people deserve more accountability and transparency — and less corruption. That’s why I’m a sponsor of the Protecting Our Democracy Act.
Among other things, this bill will:
Prevent the abuse of presidential pardons
Suspend the statute of limitations on federal crimes committed by a president to ensure no one is above the law
Enforce the Emoluments Clauses to keep federal officials from profiting off of their service
Establish tools to enforce Congressional subpoenas
Limit the ability for the president to unilaterally substitute their own funding decisions for those of the Congress
Limit Presidential declarations of emergencies to ensure that they cannot unilaterally or unjustly set aside many of the legal limits of their authority
Prevent political interference in the work of the Justice Department
Protect the independence of inspectors general and keep them from being removed for political purposes
Protect whistleblowers to ensure federal employees can lawfully disclose abuses of power
Strengthen the Hatch Act, the law limiting certain political activities of federal employees, to provide stronger enforcement and penalties for violations
Take steps to prevent foreign interference in American elections
Additionally, Congress should pass the For the People Act, a sweeping package of democracy reform bills that includes substantial ethics reform for the president, vice president and federal officers and employees. This legislative package includes measures requiring the president and vice president to adhere to the same ethical standards as the millions of government employees who work for the federal government; requiring the president, vice president and candidates for those offices to disclose their tax returns; and requiring the president and vice president to divest financial interests that pose a conflict of interest. I’ve sponsored this bill — which has already passed the House — and am hopeful we can get it passed into law.
Finally, now more than ever, we must work to protect voting rights. When Congress came back and certified the Electoral College vote last year, it was an important reminder that, in our system of government, mobs don’t get to choose our president. Failed candidates don’t get to choose our president. The American voters get to choose. But protecting the franchise — particularly in the face of multiple states and jurisdictions erecting barriers to the ballot box — requires federal action.
It’s said that, at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was asked what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
In the days ahead, it is up to us — all of us — to show that unity is more powerful than division, truth is more powerful than lies and that our democracy is worth keeping for the American people.
US Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, represents Washington’s 6th Congressional District, which runs from Tacoma to the Olympic Peninsula. For more information, including how to contact him, go online to kilmer.house.gov
This story was originally published January 8, 2022 at 5:00 AM.