Our Country Needs Unity, Not Divisiveness 

"Now, we must move forward to focus on the tasks facing our nation; defeating COVID-19, rebuilding our economy and getting back to normal as quickly as possible."

Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – (THE WOODLANDS, TX) - The attacks on the U.S. Capitol this month were devastating. And make no mistake – they were attacks. While I fully support the First Amendment and every American’s right to protest peacefully, these violent actions were unacceptable and un-American, and I implore all to remember that violence overshadows the message of justice. We as a nation are better than this. We as a nation must be better than this. 

Despite the assault that Wednesday, our democracy refused to be disrupted, and Congress voted to certify Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. Due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, I was unable to be present on the House floor and could not participate in the vote. However, as your Representative in Congress, I feel it is my responsibility to share with you how I would have voted, and to explain why.

If I were able to participate in the Joint Session, I would have remained true to the conservative constitutional principles of states’ rights, limited Congressional power over presidential elections, and the Electoral College by accepting the Electoral College votes as legally certified by each state.

Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment are clear. As angry as we may be about this election, we do even more harm if we weaken the Constitution, allow Congress to seize more power to choose future presidents, and undermine the Electoral College. If either party in Congress can simply ignore the elected slate of a state for political reasons, aren’t we replacing 150 million votes with 535 in Congress? Doesn’t that change “We the People” to “We the Congress”? Democrats in the past have blatantly attempted to use Congress to overturn elections and the will of the American people, and we cannot allow these aggressive actions and power grabs to continue.

Similarly, I do not support any efforts to impeach President Trump or invoke the 25thAmendment. In fact, those calling for these actions in response to President Trump’s rhetoric are themselves engaging in actions that are equally irresponsible and could well incite further violence. Neither party should place a desire for vengeance above the best interests of the country. This most recent Impeachment effort is only more rhetoric without action, and it will only succeed in driving our nation further apart. Instead, both parties must come together to unite our country so that we may heal, grow stronger, and address the problems we are facing together.

I am proud to have worked side-by-side with President Trump to enact historic tax reform, free and fair trade with Mexico and Canada, the repeal of the ObamaCare mandate and taxes, a ban on surprise medical bills, and the first reform of the IRS in two decades. His policy achievements have lifted working families across America. Now, we must move forward to focus on the tasks facing our nation; defeating COVID-19, rebuilding our economy and getting back to normal as quickly as possible. I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress and President-Elect Biden to do just that.