Transcript: Congressman Crow's Floor Speech on the Concerning State of US Politics & the Path Forward to Unite Our Country

WASHINGTON — A transcript of Congressman Jason Crow's (D-CO-06) full speech from the House floor.

Almost seven years ago, I came to Congress to serve my community, my state, my fellow veterans, and the country I love – in a different way than I served it on the battlefield. When I put the uniform on as a teenager, I swore an oath to the Constitution. I stand here today to uphold that oath.

I came here to represent a state that has been wracked with trauma: Columbine, Aurora Theater, Club Q, Boulder, and most recently Evergreen High. 

I came here because like so many of my fellow veterans I harbor deep resentment for our wars that cost thousands of lives, trillions of dollars, and decades of lost opportunity.

I came here because the American working class has been gutted, left behind, and excluded from the American dream while the elites grow wealthier than ever. 

I came to Congress assuming that, together with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, we could solve these problems together. And we could have open and safe debates in a free society.

Instead, I’ve seen two impeachments, an insurrection, a pandemic, cyber attacks, social unrest, political assassination, mass shooting after mass shooting, wars, tumultuous elections, and a rapid collapse of our social fabric.

In the last nine months, the Republican majority has given up the power and the responsibility of Congress to serve the American people and has turned this Congress into nothing more than a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. 

We should be doing what we were sent here to do: making people’s lives better. But the Republican majority has stopped that. 

The lives of average Americans everywhere are getting much worse.

Prices are skyrocketing. 

Homes are unaffordable. 

Consumer debt is surging. 

Unemployment is rising. 

Credit scores are plummeting. 

Family farms are going under. 

And gun violence continues to devastate our schools and our towns.

While Americans struggle, Donald Trump and his family are cashing in at our expense. 

Accepting endless gifts from businesses and foreign nations, including a $400 million dollar jet.

Charging $500,000 to join a private club for access to Trump officials.

Turning Mar-a-Lago and the White House Rose Garden into a pay-to-play destination for the wealthy and the well connected.

And issuing meme coins so investors and foreign individuals can buy influence and personally enrich the President and his family.

All of this has added billions of dollars to Trump’s wealth since becoming president.  

But while Americans get poorer, Trump gets richer, something darker is happening.   

The walls of our democracy are being disassembled, brick by brick. 

Federal troops are patrolling our streets to intimidate and instill fear.

Senators and Members of Congress are thrown to the ground, handcuffed, arrested, and intimidated.

They’re firing our most experienced generals and admirals who may disagree with the President. 

Purging military officials who find themselves on the wrong side of the President’s cronies. 

Threatening American cities with war and violence.

Attacking civil society, journalists, and public servants who show independence or speak freely.

Censoring media because someone dares to question or make a joke about the President. 

Snatching people off the streets with masked agents in unmarked vehicles.

Forcing American troops to get on their knees and roll out a red carpet for a brutal dictator. 

And now, using a terrible tragedy to pit Americans against one another and grab power. 

Political violence in every form is abhorrent. I condemn every single act of political violence regardless of its source or its motivation. 

I went to war three times for this country to defend the Constitution and the rights of people to say things I may disagree with.  

The right of every American to speak freely, peacefully organize and protest is fundamental to who we are. 

Afterall, what is more American than the ability to question authority? Questioning authority is, in fact, how we came to be as a nation. 

We all lose when free and open debate is replaced with violence or threats. We must not lose our right and our responsibility to speak up against abuses of authority. 

Power in America has always been cyclical. At one time one party is in power and the next moment another. That’s why we must all protect it all of the time, not just when it’s convenient for you. Everyone must defend the ability of a minority, Republican or Democrat, to question and protest because at some point you will need that right. 

That’s why an attack on one person’s freedom is an attack on all of us. 

And that is exactly what Donald Trump is doing – attacking all of our rights. Donald Trump and his cronies are now labeling those who disagree with them “terrorists,” “scum,” and “enemies of the state.”

And only they will decide what is hateful, only they will decide what poses a threat, only they will decide who can speak and who will be silenced. 

If anyone thinks they are safe just because it’s happening to someone else this time, they are not paying attention to history. 

Donald Trump and his cronies have attacked anyone, including right wing media and politicians, simply for questioning them. 

Because the point for Trump is not to advance an ideology, it’s to silence dissent and anyone who would dare speak up. 

Because when dissent is silenced they can turn our government and weaponize it into an institution that serves only Donald Trump and enriches those who are loyal to him. 

In a system where the rule-of-law is replaced with raw power and governed by grievance, greed, cruelty, and impunity: nobody is safe. 

But this is not just a story of a presidential power grab because that was envisioned by the Constitution. That’s why it was written the way it was; to prevent power grabs. 

There are people with power, right now, allowing this to happen.

As Trump tramples on the Constitution, some of our most elite and powerful individuals and institutions are failing to defend our democracy. 

Some of our nation's most powerful law firms have bent the knee.  

Some of our finest universities are buckling. 

Some of the most powerful CEOs have capitulated.

And some of the largest media companies are simply surrendering. 

If those with power and influence want to sell off our rights and freedoms to enrich themselves then Americans should make it clear that cowardice and greed will fail them. 

We will not shop at your stores. We will not tune into your TV and radio stations. We will not send our kids and our money to your universities, or use your services if you are going to enable our slide to authoritarianism.  

What makes their cowardice and greed so stark, is the courage we’ve seen from everyday citizens. 

When ICE agents started interrogating kids on a baseball diamond in Harlem, Coach Youman Wilder was the only thing that stood between those agents and his young players. Despite threats, he stood up and told the agents that they had no right to speak to those kids. The agents left. In the moment, Wilder told himself he was willing to die to make sure those kids got home. 

In Twisp, Washington, a small rural town that Trump won last November, hundreds of residents gather every Saturday, to protest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Cuts that will devastate their community. One resident, a school teacher of over 30 years, said they protest because “Democracy only works if we work it.”

In April, millions took to the streets to peacefully protest. We saw massive demonstrations nationwide, in cities big and small. In Cortez, Colorado, a population 9,000, 600 people showed up. In Gardiner, Montana, population 800, 75 people made their voices heard. And in Daleville, Alabama, home to 5,000, 100 members of the community showed up and spoke out. 

Here in Washington, D.C., as the National Guard is patrolling, and ICE agents are dramatically ramping up raids across the city, citizens are starting Instagram pages and Facebook groups to inform fellow citizens of their rights. Parents are patrolling schoolyards to protect the rights of students and other parents. 

And around the country, journalists are investigating and relentlessly searching for and reporting the truth, despite threats to them and their family. 

There is courage everywhere we look. We have not yet lost our power. 

So many Americans have been sounding the alarm bell for a long time, and they have been right. 

We have now reached the inflection point. Now is the time to stand firm. And for us to stand with them. And for us to stand with all those defending democracy. 

Defending free speech.

Defending freedom of religion.

Defending due process.

Defending the rule of law.

Defending the right of schoolchildren to learn without fear of being shot.

Defending government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

I have taken many oaths to protect and defend our country and our Constitution, first as a soldier and now as a member of Congress. 

I often think back to the start of my service to this nation. As a young paratrooper, leading an infantry platoon in the invasion of Iraq. I think about the faces of those young men I was responsible for. Black, White, Asian, Hispanic. From the North, from the South, East, and West. From farms and from cities. Rich and poor. 

When I think of America, I still think of those young paratroopers. How we came together, despite our differences, we served together, we fought together, we found great strength in one another. 

That is America.

There’s a tradition in the paratroopers, that the leader of the unit jumps out of the plane first and then the others follow.

I’m ready to jump.