WASHINGTON, DC – Marking the fifth anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) delivered an emotional floor speech declaring that America is facing a “national emergency” and “democracy-ending crisis,” warning that the nation is more divided and fragile today than it was during the insurrection.
“Right now this is emergency time. It is crisis moment as a country time,” Kim said, calling on lawmakers to show courage and unity as political tensions deepen ahead of another contentious election year. “This is a perfect example of how Trump demands absolute loyalty at all cost. Congress doesn’t answer to him. Trump isn’t our boss. The American people are our bosses.”
Kim has often told his supporters in recent weeks that America’s Democracy is at stake.
Standing on the same Senate floor breached by rioters five years ago, Kim honored Capitol Police officers who defended the building and condemned what he called a “purposeful amnesia” surrounding the attack. “This purposeful amnesia, five years out, is so much more damaging to our democracy than the shattered windows,” he said. “This is the storm after the storm.”
Kim criticized Republican leadership, specifically Speaker Mike Johnson, for refusing to display a congressionally mandated plaque honoring the officers who protected the Capitol on January 6. “Five years after the events it was meant to commemorate, that plaque is missing,” Kim said. “It is absent at the direction of Speaker Johnson… who is still refusing to do the simple thing – the right thing – and displaying it for the American people to see.”
The senator also denounced former President Donald Trump’s actions surrounding the attack, noting that Trump referred to January 6 as a “day of love” and pardoned more than 1,500 rioters during his return to office. “We know better. We know the truth,” Kim said.
Reflecting on his own experience that day as a newly reelected congressman, Kim said he has struggled to explain the events to his two young sons. “I think I was waiting for some moment when I could say with assurance that things are better now,” he said. “That day hasn’t come.”
While acknowledging that Capitol security has improved since the attack, Kim warned that the underlying divisions in the country have only deepened. “I believe we are even more divided now than we were five years ago,” he said. “I believe our democracy is even more fragile than it was five years ago. The future threats to our democracy may not come in the form of rioters storming our halls, but that doesn’t mean the threats aren’t here.”
Senator Andy Kim declared that the United States is in a “national emergency” for democracy, warning that division and denial now pose greater dangers than the Capitol riot itself.
