Madison Cawthorn releases statement on impeachment vote

Statement from Rep. Madison Cawthorn: 

 NC-11 Congressional Representative Madison Cawthorn released the following statement today:

Our country and the six people who died last week, including two Capitol Hill police officers, deserve a full and complete investigation into every dimension of the attack on our Capitol. Because it is impossible to conduct an investigation of that magnitude in a few days, I intend to vote against impeachment. And, unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi has decided to block Republican attempts to even consider other options. This is a time of choosing for our country, our party, and the conservative movement. In the wake of last week’s events, we need to define clearly what it means to fight.

Fighting does not mean flinging our fists. Ours is a battle of words, not of weapons. Those who espouse violence do not stand with true conservatives.

Let me define the direction I choose.

Fighting means standing up for my constituents in NC-11, even when the principled stances I take can be harmful to my career. Going to Washington is not a career for me. It is a calling issued by the people of WNC for such a time as this.

Fighting means offering a health care plan that can defeat Medicare for All in the hearts and minds of Americans.

Fighting means persuading people in my generation that innovation and conservative policies will do more to promote our natural and economic environment than the Green New Deal.

Fighting means keeping taxes low and trusting American workers and small businesses to spend their money more wisely than politicians in Washington.

Fighting means reducing our national debt, offering smart cuts, and opposing the far left’s schemes to waterboard future generations with new spending we can’t afford.

Fighting also means investing in things that will grow our economy and create jobs like basic research and development, infrastructure, and broadband access, all while paying for that by reducing waste.

Fighting means putting American interests first while declaring that European nationalism is as anti-American as European socialism.

Fighting means rebuilding the Shining City on Hill and remembering that Reagan was not xenophobic when said that the city must have doors, and walls. And fighting means declaring that we need secure, transparent, and fair elections. I believe fighting for these principles will unite Republicans and conservatives.

Now, I don’t apologize for fighting for election integrity. I objected to the electoral votes not in support of a president, but in support of my oath to uphold the Constitution. Left uncorrected, there were irregularities that could affect the outcome of future elections in our closely divided country. I understand that principled conservatives cast a different vote and believe it’s important that we respect each other’s motivations. I’m committed to reapplying Reagan’s wise counsel that the person who agrees with me 80 percent of the time is not my 20 percent enemy but my 80 percent friend. I haven’t been in office long, but I’ve learned that the easiest thing to do in politics is tell people what they want to hear. Cicero figured that out 2,000 years ago when he said, “men prefer a false promise to a flat refusal.” Our supporters deserve better than that. False promises are abusive to the voters we represent and corrosive to American democracy. As conservatives, we don’t need to offer false hope when the truth is our ally.

I’m committed to continuing President Trump’s goal of draining the swamp. To me, draining the swamp means draining it of pandering and opportunism and filling it in with the fertile soil of freedom. If we want our politics to be different, we need to be different. During my convention speech, I said we’re in the midst of a “digital dark ages, a time of information without wisdom and tribalism without truth.” Sadly, last week’s events showed that to be the case. But darkness also creates an opportunity to be a light. If we don’t like the tone of our politics – and none of us do – we, as Members of Congress, have a moral responsibility to change it. We need liberals to be liberals and we need conservatives to offer better solutions and win the argument. I ran for Congress to help create a new town square where you don’t have to apologize for your beliefs or cower to a mob, where you can kneel before God, but stand for our flag. At its core, our flag – and our Constitution – stands for a nation that resolves to govern itself and settle our differences peacefully. We have had peaceful transfers of power for our entire history, even during the Civil War. That enduring example is unusual in history. It gives hope to people who love freedom all over the world and strikes fear in the hearts of tyrants. The America my ancestors fought for in the Revolutionary War will not go quietly in the night. I say to tyrants around the world who celebrated last week’s events: Make no mistake, a new generation is ready to keep America exceptional.