John —

Four years ago this evening, I was looking forward to certifying the results of a fair, free election.

But as I stood on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 6th, 2021, I had to be ready to fight. A lot of people have asked me what that day was like, so I’ll share some of my thoughts with you here.

First, as a Marine Corps veteran, I never imagined having to use my training to protect myself and my colleagues on the House floor.

I never imagined teaching my House colleagues how to put on a gas mask and regulate their breathing.

I never imagined I’d be helping frightened colleagues move to safety as insurrectionists started streaming into the Capitol.

I never imagined I’d stay behind after the Capitol security came in to do one more sweep for colleagues who might have frozen and gone to cocoon somewhere hard to find.

I never imagined I would ever have to teach my staff how to knock on the door of our office a certain way to signal it was them and not some attacker — something we did in the Marine Corps when surrounded by insurgents and you didn’t know who was good and who was bad.

And I never imagined I’d have to text members of the House and urge them not to get on buses ready to evacuate us from the Capitol because if we left we’d lose the building to the coup.

The truth is, I was ready to fight that day to protect our democracy.

Reflecting on that day, I’m proud that my party has done what we could to further protect and strengthen our democracy after January 6th. But that fight will have to continue.

And as someone who joined the United States Marine Corps to defend this country and protect our democracy, you can count on me to be on the front lines of that battle.

Thanks for reading,

Ruben Gallego

Paid For By Gallego for Arizona

Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense.

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