We can never forgive Congress for looking away
The U.S. Constitution requires that all senators and representatives take an oath of office to support the Constitution. The language of the oath is very powerful: “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
U.S. law requires that elected individuals must take the oath of office before they can take their seats as members of Congress.
Keeping this in mind, let’s look at recent events: All 17 national intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russians have interfered in U.S. elections and continue to be a threat to our democracy and the nation’s infrastructure through hacking. Identity information of about 500,000 U.S. citizens has been captured by Russian agents, threatening their personal security. The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee has agreed with the intelligence agencies that our elections have been hacked and continue to be vulnerable to future tampering.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 12 Russian government agents with overwhelming details and evidence of their interference in our elections. Dan Coates, the director of national intelligence, concurred that there is Russian tampering in our elections. Former heads of the CIA have stated that our democracy is in jeopardy.
President Donald Trump was briefed prior to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where no formal record of their discussion and agreements are known, even weeks after the meeting. Trump even said the suggestion by Putin that members of the Russian intelligence community should work within our FBI and intelligence agencies is a good idea and something that he might consider.
Trump has ignored the real and dangerous tampering in our elections and refuses to direct any of the intelligence agencies to take steps to protect us against future tampering and cyberattacks. In the meantime, the House refused to renew funding for election security. Trump seriously threatened our relations with all our European allies and our commitment to NATO. Such a weakening of U.S.-European alliances is exactly what Putin and Russia want.
In light of all that has happened, I ask all members of Congress to live up to their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Can they continue to ignore what is going on and do nothing? What steps are they prepared to take in the days and weeks ahead to defend our democracy?
If their answer is “nothing,” then they have clearly violated that sacred oath of office and should step down, if they have any honor or integrity at all. How dare they continue to deny what is going on in this country and do nothing to protect us?
History will record their cowardice and we will never forgive members of Congress for their indifference and their unwillingness to defend our democracy and the Constitution.
Thomas DiRuggiero is a retired associate commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation and lives in Santa Fe.