January 6, 2024
Dear Friends,
Three years ago today, as my colleagues and I gathered to fulfill our constitutional duty to ratify the will of the people and certify President Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, our republic was nearly brought to its knees by an unprecedented assault on the U.S. Capitol and on democracy itself. I’ll never forget watching with horror from the House gallery as a violent mob of rioters tried to break down the chamber doors, or the mayhem that unfolded as we ducked for cover and raced to evacuate the building. And I’ll always remember the bravery of the Capitol Police officers who sprang into action that day, shouting to make themselves heard over the screams of the mob as they held the rioters at bay.
It is difficult to overstate the significance of the events of that dark day. More than 2,000 rioters ultimately broke into the Capitol, brutally assaulting more than 140 law enforcement officers as they vandalized and looted the building. Five people died as a result of the events on January 6th, including multiple Capitol Police officers. Hundreds more were injured, and countless others who were at the Capitol still bear the mental scars of that day. But despite this loss and pain, out of that darkness shone a light — our democracy prevailed. The light of our republic held, kept alive by the sacrifice and service of our law enforcement.
But while our republic survived that day, we cannot afford to be complacent. The effects of January 6th continue to ring through the halls of Congress and rattle the very foundations of our nation, and many of the same actors who made that unthinkable day possible appear eager to renew the same threats to our democratic system.
Former President Donald Trump, who played the leading role in launching and directing the January 6th attack, remains unrepentant about his conduct even as he faces multiple lawsuits and criminal charges over his actions that day. Encouraged by his continued boosting of baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud, his extremist supporters have intensified violent threats against election officials and state lawmakers. Just this week, eight state capitol buildings were evacuated or placed on lockdown due to bomb threats.
Perhaps most troublingly, these agents of autocracy and political violence still have powerful friends in Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson, the newest leader of the House Republican Conference, was a key architect of Trump’s plot to subvert our democracy and overturn the 2020 election, personally lobbying other Republicans and the Supreme Court to toss out the votes of millions of Americans. When House Republicans gathered for a press conference to announce Johnson as the new Speaker, they showed no regrets about their anti-democratic schemes, laughing and booing as they shouted down a reporter who asked about Johnson’s role on January 6th.
Despite the chaos and irresponsibility on the other side of the aisle, however, Democrats remain united in our efforts to safeguard our democracy. Last year on National Voter Registration Day, we introduced H.R. 14, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, to protect the right to vote for every American by restoring and modernizing the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Prompted by the Supreme Court’s decision ten years ago to gut the VRA and unleash a wave of discriminatory state laws to restrict voting access, this bill would prevent such laws from taking effect in states and localities with a recent history of voter discrimination. Even as extremists continue to chip away at our democratic system, the events of January 6th have only strengthened our resolve to reinforce the rule of law and the right to free and fair elections.
In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “We cannot escape history. We will be remembered in spite of ourselves...We hold the power and bear the responsibility.” In that spirit, it is incumbent upon all of us to learn the lessons of January 6th and do our part to protect this republic for generations to come. My Democratic colleagues and I know that in order to truly secure the foundations of our democracy, we must do more than paper over the cracks revealed on January 6th, 2021. Instead, we must keep working to strengthen those foundations so they can never be shaken so profoundly again.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from federal agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from federal agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes many provisions to lower out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries.
- Some of these policies have already taken effect, including a cap on insulin prices at $35 per month and free vaccines under Medicare Part D.
- Now, thanks to another provision of the IRA that took effect on January 1st, Medicare enrollees who use expensive drugs will pay less for out-of-pocket expenses!
- This new policy eliminates the 5 percent coinsurance requirement under Part D coverage for enrollees who meet a certain spending threshold, called catastrophic coverage.
- In 2023, patients receiving certain drugs for breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer paid between $11,400 and $12,500 out of pocket.
- Now, the out-of-pocket cap is now around $3,250 per year, and will drop to $2,000 per year in 2025.
- You can read more about this new provision HERE!
