Glen Cove, New York – Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) issued the following statement on the attack on the U.S. Capitol, January 6^th, 2021:

Inspired by FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech of December 8, 1941

In 1991, on the fiftieth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I asked my mother and my father-in-law about their recollections of that day.

Then living in Chicago, my mother said that she stayed in her bed all day, fearful that the Japanese Imperial Army was already on the city’s west side.

My father-in-law’s reaction was decidedly different. A Brooklynite, he never doubted that the industrial strength of the United States would prevail. Days later, he enlisted in the United States Army. He would see the war end on Guam as a Sergeant in charge of maintaining B-29 bombers. He remained proud of his service for the rest of his life, and rightly so.

Their recollections have been on my mind since the vicious attack on the United States Capitol a year ago, as they were after September 11. But the January 6 attack was unique in that it was an act of rebellion committed by our fellow Americans.

Borrowing heavily from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s historic “Day of Infamy” remarks to Congress and the American people on December 8, 1941, it is time for another call to arms:

January 6 – a date that will live in dishonor and disgrace – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by our own citizens.

We were at peace, having just celebrated the most secure election in our history.

The orderly transfer of power following an election is an essential element of American Democracy.

Those viciously attacking our Capitol were tyrannical, fascistic and un-American forces determined to defeat that orderly transfer.

They must be recognized for what they are – perpetrators of treason.

The attack on our cathedral of freedom has caused severe damage to our nation.

These seditionists have therefore taken up arms against our nation.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our nation is in grave danger.

With confidence in the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God!

Let us recognize that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, a state of conflict now exists between American Democracy and those who wish to abolish it.

Each of us, to save America, must commit to civic engagement. To be sure, we will fight for our families. To be sure, we will fight for our communities, which are the organizational extensions of our families. And, to be sure, we must commit ourselves to fight for our Constitution and for our government, which is nothing more than the organizational extension of our communities.