Yesterday, the sun dawned on what I knew would be a historic, albeit challenging, day. I would join my colleagues in the House and Senate for the formal counting of the electoral votes.

I knew that some Republicans would object to the process and that that would be challenging.

And then, suddenly, when the rioters breached the walls of the Capitol, when we were urged to take cover, our democracy faced a threat we had not faced in many years.

Make no mistake: This is on Donald Trump and all who have enabled him in his lies and attacks on our laws and institutions. He is a demagogue, a liar, and an authoritarian. His instincts are deeply un-American. He should be removed from office immediately and held criminally responsible for his crimes.

But this attack on our democracy isn't just on Trump. Yesterday was an attempted coup -- by a rioting mob and by members of Congress objecting to lawful votes -- both trying to overturn an election because they didn't like the winner.

Republicans have been attacking our democracy for years. With dark money, voter suppression, and gerrymandering they have been working to manipulate elections to hold power in spite of -- not because of -- the will of the People.

The good news is now we have a chance to do something about it, to fight back. Thanks to your extraordinary efforts and the efforts of so many organizers on the ground in Georgia, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will soon be joining us in the U.S. Senate.

Our agenda is long -- beating back the virus and helping working families and essential workers, tackling the climate crisis, fighting for racial justice, bringing down drug costs, and so much more -- but our first order of business needs to be rebuilding our democracy.

This is a multi-pronged effort inside and outside Washington, DC. I will introduce the For the People Act, comprehensive legislation to restore our elections and campaign finance systems to our We the People vision.

And we must continue to organize. What happened in Georgia wasn't an overnight miracle -- it was the product of phenomenal organizing by Stacey Abrams and so many others over years. We cannot simply wait until election season to defend our democracy. In 2021, we must organize and build so that in 2022 we can defend our victories and win new ones.

Let's get started right now. I'm asking you to donate right now to my Blue Wave Project and to Stacey Abrams's Fair Fight Action. (After all, Georgia will remain the center of the political universe in 2022 -- to defend Raphael Warnock's Senate seat and elect Stacey as Governor!)
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Keep working. Keep organizing.

Onward!

Jeff

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Paid for by Jeff Merkley for Oregon.