Viewpoint: U.S. Congressman Dave Joyce

January 12, 2021 by Staff Report

Friends,

As I prepared to write this week’s update, I prayed that God would help me find the words I need to share with you. First and foremost I want to address the lawlessness and violence that broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

It is during difficult, dark times such as these that we must remember who we are. We are a great nation, a united nation, and a nation whose democracy has been a political miracle for nearly 250 years.

This country was built by previous generations at great cost and preserved by the Constitution and our adherence to the rule of law. As an American, as a conservative and as a former prosecutor, I value the order and safety found in following the rule of law. It’s much more than just a phrase. It’s the reason why the people of our great nation are free to live their lives and pursue their dreams.

As Robert F. Kennedy said in April of 1968, “an uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not of the people.”

The criminals who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday were the voice of madness. The voice of the people was that of those who protested peacefully and abided by the law as they used their First Amendment right to proclaim their views.

Those who made the choice to break the law put lives at risk – the lives of staff, custodians, cafeteria workers, Members of Congress, and police officers. That choice cost five Americans their lives, including the life of a U.S. Capitol Police Officer. I am both heartbroken and infuriated by that and look forward to seeing those who committed these crimes be brought to justice.

Violence is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable no matter who commits it, regardless of their political affiliation. Destruction of property is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable no matter if it’s a small business, a place of worship, or the United States Capitol. It’s also unacceptable to blame a vast group of individuals for the actions of a few.

Those who came to Washington, D.C. and peacefully protested their concerns about the election did not break the law or commit violence. They are Americans who exercised their First Amendment rights. But those who vandalized the Capitol, stole government property, and killed a Capitol Police Officer are criminals who committed illegal acts and degraded our nation’s rule of law. They deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Those who participated peacefully in Black Lives Matter protests this summer did not break the law or commit violence. They are Americans who exercised their First Amendment rights. But those who vandalized communities, assaulted store owners and injured police officers are criminals who committed illegal acts and degraded our nation’s rule of law. They deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Being offended by the beliefs of one of those groups does not give you the right to hold them to two different standards when it comes to the law. If you believe differently, you have fallen victim to the partisanship that has so clearly damaged our nation, magnified by media outlets competing for the attention of audiences and aggravating divisions within our government and society as a whole.

For too long we have denied one another the chance to be seen not as a member of a particular political party, but as men and women with values, families and loved ones, and experiences that have shaped who we are and what we stand for. We now know that behavior is not just irresponsible, it’s destructive.

Listen and learn from those you don’t agree with. But most importantly, treat them with respect. I can assure you that doing so does not require you to stray from your political principles or force you to adopt policies you are fundamentally opposed to. All it requires is for us to see one another as humans, as fellow Americans above all else.

We are the United States of America. It’s past time we remember that diversity of thought is not our nation’s problem. It is our nation’s strength.

Upholding the Constitution by Counting and Certifying all Electoral Votes

What occurred that day will forever be an indelible stain on our democracy. While we will not be able to erase that stain, I am proud that Congress pressed forward in spite of the chaos and fulfilled the Constitutionally-mandated process of counting the electoral votes certified and sent to Congress by all 50 states. By doing so, we proved to the American people that truth, law and order, and democracy triumphed while falsehoods, violence, and chaos failed.

Here are the facts:

• This election was not stolen from President Trump. He lost.

• There are credible reports of fraud that need to be investigated but the legitimate margins of victory for Joe Biden are and always have been far too wide to change the outcome of the election.

• The President had the legal right to address allegations of fraud and irregularities in court so that the integrity of our elections would be preserved.

• Those courts, which spanned across 60 different jurisdictions, all came to the same conclusion: there was no widespread fraud that caused the President to lose this election.

• The majority of the states where results were contested had Republican legislatures that had the Constitutional authority to send new electors to Congress if they deemed such action necessary. However, none of them did.

• The President and other elected officials lied when they led their constituents to believe that objections to the electoral votes presented to Congress on Wednesday could reverse the election results.

I say all this as someone who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and who voted for his re-election in November. But each time the people of Ohio’s 14th Congressional District elected me to represent them in Congress, I swore an oath to God to uphold the Constitution. I consider that oath both a great honor and a great responsibility and I refuse to be bullied into violating it by threats of my political demise.

That is why, when the Electoral College formally cast their votes nearly a month ago, I recognized Joe Biden as President-elect. That is why, on Wednesday, I did not object to counting the electoral votes submitted by each state of our great union and urged my colleagues to certify the will of the American people in the 2020 presidential election.

While I fulfilled my oath to the Constitution by taking those actions, in light of Wednesday’s terrible events, I recognize that I should have done so more forcefully.

Yes, there were irregularities and legitimate concerns about fraud during the 2020 election because of last-minute changes made due to the pandemic. That is why I will continue to push for the scrutinization of various election methods implemented across the country this past November so that we can restore Americans’ faith in the integrity of our democratic process.

However, I refuse to be a part of the toxic “not my president” culture that tirelessly attempted to undermine President Trump throughout the past four years at the expense of the American people.

The states, not Congress, were entrusted with our elections. The people, not Congress, were entrusted with choosing our leaders. The courts, not Congress, were entrusted with resolving any election disputes. To act outside of that authority would be to unconstitutionally insert Congress into the center of the presidential election process, which would not only delegitimize the Electoral College, but also steal power from the people and the states.

I am proud to have stood with those who upheld our Constitution on Wednesday so, as Abraham Lincoln said, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”