WASHINGTON—U.S. Representative Scott Franklin (R-FL) issued the following statement on the House of Representatives vote on the articles of impeachment:

“Last Wednesday, January 6th, will be remembered as one of the darker days in American history.  The violent attacks on our nation’s capital, THE symbol of American government and seat of our democracy, were deplorable and cannot be tolerated.  They were un-American, anarchist and counter to all that has made our country a “shining city on a hill” for the past 244 years.  There is never an excuse for the violence I experienced firsthand that resulted in the deaths of five Americans.

“However, impeaching the president with one week remaining in his term will only serve to create further division in an already painfully divided nation.  The peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next is a time-honored tradition that should be used as a time of healing and not as an opportunity to further flame our radical divisions.  The priority of Congress should be to investigate the lapse in intelligence and vulnerabilities on the Capitol complex to stop future incidents from occurring.

“Furthermore, the rush to impeach with no opportunity to conduct hearings, prepare a defense or follow due process is how rogue nations remove duly elected leaders of government, not the United States of America. Despite everything that has happened, our democracy has a sacred duty to rise above the passions of the moment and lead by example. This accelerated process to ignore constitutional due process on an outgoing president sets a dangerous precedent, simply for the sake of political opportunism.  Now is the time to unite Americans and move forward.  For that reason, I voted against the articles of impeachment.”

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