FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 6, 2021
Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The following is a speech U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will be giving today from an undisclosed location:
 
“I wrote a speech today.
 
“I was planning to say I fear the chaos of establishing a precedent that Congress can overturn elections.
 
“Boy, was I right.
 
“Chaos. Anarchy. It’s wrong and un-American.
 
“The vote we are about to cast is important.
 
“Now more than ever.
 
“The question is:
 
“Should Congress override the certified results from the states and nullify the states’ right to conduct elections?
 
“The vote today is not a protest; the vote today is literally to overturn the election!
 
“Voting to overturn state-certified elections would be the opposite of what states’ rights Republicans have always advocated for.
 
“This would doom the electoral college forever.
 
“It was never intended by our founders that Congress have the power to overturn state-certified elections.
 
“My oath to the Constitution doesn’t allow me to disobey the law. I cannot vote to overturn the verdict of the states.
 
“Such a vote would be to overturn everything held dear by those of us who support the rights of states in this great system of federalism bequeathed to us by our founders.
 
“The electoral college was created to devolve the power of selecting presidential electors to the states.
 
“The electoral college is, without question, an inseparable friend to those who believe that every American across our vast country deserves to be heard.
 
“If Congress were given the power to overturn the states’ elections . . . what terrible chaos would ensue.
 
“Imagine the furor against the electoral college if Congress becomes a forum to overturn states’ electoral college slates.
 
“It is one thing to be angry. It is another to focus one’s anger in a constructive way. That hasn’t happened today, to say the least. We simply cannot destroy the Constitution, our laws, and the electoral college in the process. I hope as the nation’s anger cools, we can channel that energy into essential electoral reforms in every state.
 
“America is admired around the world for our free elections. We must, we absolutely must, fix this mess and restore confidence and integrity to our elections.”

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