[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H2427-H2428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            WAKE UP, AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Walberg) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, what in the world is happening in our God 
blessed country? A lengthy pandemic decimating our economy and taking 
over 121,00 precious American lives, followed by the horrific murder of 
Mr. George Floyd by a bad cop, leading to nationwide protests and 
demonstrations of people wanting to be heard.
  Sadly, all of this has been overshadowed by the violence, looting, 
destruction, and lawless mayhem in America's major cities.
  We have even seen weak and feckless Democrat government leaders 
acquiesce to anti-American warlords setting up their own countries at 
the expense of residents and shopkeepers.
  This is taking place under the influence of shadowy, anti-American 
organizations and individuals. We know who they are, so I will not 
distinguish them by saying their names.
  America is awake and willing to address major concerns.
  Despite the hundreds of heroic police officers who have been injured, 
paralyzed, or killed just doing their jobs for us, violent punks 
continue hijacking the sad event that began all this foment we grieve 
over. Their goal is to literally tear down and destroy our history and 
freedoms.

  America is under attack. We must wake up before it is too late. These 
evil forces of destruction are showing us that we can't stop them. Or 
can we?
  John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, said 
this: ``A republic once equally poised, must either preserve its virtue 
or lose its liberty.''
  I don't know his position on slavery at that time, though even as a 
minister and President of Princeton, I am sure he had his flaws. Yet 
this message rings true as we view in live time our Nation's loss of 
virtue and liberty.
  The key purpose of government is to reward the doer of good and 
punish the doer of evil.
  Today, the forces of division and anarchy are rejecting this purpose, 
calling for the defunding and/or ending of police.

[[Page H2428]]

  While Republicans are offering workable and commonsense justice 
reform, the Democrat leadership digs in saying ``no'' to any 
negotiation. Yet they continue to support or remain silent about the 
senseless destruction of our cities and history.
  Chances are if you were to list the greatest Americans, you may think 
of George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ulysses Grant, men who have 
made tremendous positive impacts on our country, and in doing so, the 
entire history of humanity. Yet this week, enlightened leftists have 
gone after statues of these men, attempting to rewrite history and 
tarnish America's overwhelmingly positive legacy for humanity.
  As with other humans, these men are not perfect, but none of these 
monuments were erected to honor their shortcomings or faults; they were 
erected to honor their extraordinary contributions to society.
  These men are responsible for some of the most important 
distinctives: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the ending of 
slavery, victory over the Confederacy, and conservation of America's 
greatest natural treasures.
  Ironically, the rights these vandals and anarchists enjoy, like the 
right to assemble, would not be possible if not for the very men they 
ignorantly tear down.
  Even the Lincoln Memorial was vandalized recently, the Great 
Emancipator, who was the first President nominated and elected by the 
party formed in my district in 1854 Under the Oaks in Jackson, 
Michigan, the Emancipation/Republican Party.
  Make no mistake: this is an attack on America itself, not an attempt 
to make reforms or anything else the defenders of these cowardly acts 
may claim.
  Few in the Democratic Party have spoken out against these acts, which 
leads me to wonder, at what point did pride in America become a 
partisan issue?

                              {time}  0945

  Is it because these anarchist acts are taking place in Democrat-run 
cities?
  Is it because these are the same people that they have directed all 
of their so-called antipoverty, social welfare, Big-Government-will-
take-care-of-you programs toward?
  Or is it because Democrat leadership fears crossing the big-moneyed, 
sinister individuals and organizations masterminding radical societal 
change?
  What exactly is the endgame of these attempts to erase and rewrite 
history? Could it be the destruction of the American idea or America 
itself?
  I call for my colleagues, Democrat and Republican, and America-loving 
patriots to stand with me as proud Americans in our fight against 
anarchy and ignorance. May we be people who, with courage and humility, 
echo the words of our Framers in pledging ``our lives, our fortunes, 
and our sacred honor'' to defending and perfecting America.

                          ____________________