Cheney Stresses Importance of Defending Democracy in Awards Speech
On Sunday, Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney gave a speech about the importance of protecting democracy in the U.S. after being one of five people to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
Besides Cheney, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Arizona Representative Russell Bowers, and Former Elections Department employee in Fulton County, Georgia Wandrea’ ArShaye Moss, also received the award.
According to a profile of Cheney on the John F. Kennedy website, she was given the award because she "stood against the lawlessness and violence of January 6th, and voted to impeach President Trump," and "remains a consistent and courageous voice in defense of democracy."
Since the events of January 6, Cheney voted to impeach Trump, was subsequently removed from her position as number three in the House leadership, and will face off in a primary against Harriet Hageman, who has been backed by Trump, in August.
Cheney said, in part:
"I have found myself, especially since January 6 thinking often of my great-great-grandfather and of the Union he fought to defend. And this was never more true than on the night of January 6 itself. That night the House returned to the chamber around 9 o'clock. Furniture that had been used as a barricade was still stacked against the walls. The glass in the chamber doors was shattered. Containers that had held gas masks were strewn around...That night, law enforcement officers in black tactical gear were sitting on the floor, leaning up against the statues, exhausted from the brutal hand-to-hand combat in which they had been engaged for hours. Water bottles with water they had been drinking and using to wash away the chemical spray deployed by the rioters littered the floor. These men and women had spent hours battling a violent mob, a mob of our fellow countrymen, attempting to stop the transition of presidential power. For profiles in courage, we need look no farther than those men and women. It is no exaggeration to say that their courage likely saved our lives and our democracy. I tried to thank them, but my words that night seemed inadequate...Standing on the east front of the United States Capitol on a snowy morning in 1961, President Kennedy said: 'In the long history of world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.' Today, that role is ours as we face a threat we have never faced before -- a former president attempting to unravel our constitutional republic. At this moment we must all summon the courage to stand against that. The question for every one of us is in this time of testing, will we do our duty? Will we defend our Constitution? Will we stand for truth? Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics? Or will we look away from danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies, and enable the liar?.. As citizens, every one of us has a duty to set aside partisan battles and stand together to perpetuate and preserve our great republic. Ladies and gentleman, we are engaged in a battle we must win, and with courage and clarity and grit, it is a battle we will win."