Resolution Condemning QAnon

Remarks by Congressman McClintock on Resolution Condemning QAnon:

Resolution Condemning QAnon
October 2, 2020

I rise in strong support of this resolution, which condemns an extremist group known as QAnon. I must admit that I had only recently heard of this group but didn't know any details of their beliefs or tactics until this resolution was brought to us today.

From what I have read, they are a delusional group that began with an Internet post in 2017 and hold the bizarre belief that the federal government is infested with Satanic pedophiles who are busy running a global child sex-trafficking ring when they are not plotting against President Trump. I'm tempted to say, "You can't make this stuff up," but obviously somebody did make this up, and given the reach of the Internet, it is apparently being taken seriously by some extremists who are turning to violence.

Lest it get out of hand, it is appropriate for the House speak with one voice on behalf of all our communities across this great nation in condemnation of QAnon and its conspiracy theories. It should be clear to every man and woman of goodwill in this country that this group seeks only to further roil our society and divide our citizens along lines of race, religion and politics.

Even in this highly polarized political climate we can all agree on this.

Let me ask us all to do so without attempting to smear any party or candidate with the ravings from this, the "lunatic fringe" of our society.

That term – lunatic fringe -- was popularized by Theodore Roosevelt. He wrote in his autobiography:

"Then, among the wise and high-minded people who in self-respecting and genuine fashion strive earnestly for peace, there are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it—the men who form the lunatic fringe in all reform movements."

We have seen that borne out in the turbulent period of history we now occupy, and how we deal with it will determine whether we can calm the political waters and restore peace and tranquility to our cities and civil discourse to our conversations.

And in that regard, it is important to note that QAnon and the lunatic fringe on the right no more speak for the right than Antifa and the lunatic fringe on the left speaks for the left. Both are poisonous to our democratic institutions and both are destructive of what Lincoln called the "mystic chords of memory" that should unite us as a free people.

So, allow me to voice my hope that we will see similar condemnations of the lunatic fringe that has been given free rein to rampage, loot, vandalize and burn so many of our towns and cities across America. QAnon and its allied groups are real. Antifa and its allied groups are real. Both are direct threats to democracy because both threaten or employ violence for political ends and that is the very definition of terrorism. No free society can long endure if their acts of violence are excused, ignored or tolerated.

Lincoln said it best: There is no grievance that is fit object for redress by mob law.

To that, I would add this observation: without law enforcement, there is no law, and without law, there is no civilization.

I would express the fervent hope that before we adjourn, we will entertain condemnations of all groups on all sides that employ violence for political ends.

Wednesday night, the Rules Committee rejected a motion on a party-line vote that would have brought to the floor a resolution condemning Antifa and its allied groups concurrent with this resolution. That would demonstrate that this House speaks clearly and stand united against all such groups that have wrought such division and destruction to our communities.

That is especially important when we survey the violence perpetrated by the lunatic fringe in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., Louisville, Minneapolis and even Kenosha, Wisconsin. It is especially important when the mayors of these cities have withheld police protection from their own citizens, leaving innocent and peaceful shopkeepers and residents to the mercy of mob law, and when prosecutors have refused to hold accountable those who have perpetrated this violence upon the American people.

People can see with their own eyes where the violence on our streets is coming from – and I deeply regret that the majority is not willing to call out by name such groups as Antifa – or to acknowledge that such evil forces even exist. We must speak out together against all such groups – and I am deeply troubled that for some reason, we cannot.

We need to know who is funding these groups. We already can see with our own eyes who is encouraging them. We can see with our own eyes those mayors who have deliberately withheld police protection from their citizens as these extremist-driven mobs run rampant in our communities. We can see with our own eyes those politicians calling for defunding police departments that are the only means of defense that our citizens have. And we can see with our own eyes those prosecutors who have refused to hold accountable those who perpetrate violence in our communities and who instead prosecute citizens trying to defend themselves.

There is precious little time before the election for the House to take a stand clearly and unambiguously against all political violence, and, with one voice, to stand with the rule of law and not the rule of the mob. If we could speak together, on this most important issue, maybe we could start to find our way back to other fundamental principles and institutions that have always united us as a people and made America, in Lincoln's words, "the last best hope of mankind on this earth."

Please, my Democratic friends, do not squander this fleeting opportunity to turn back from the perilous road we are on and to re-claim the precious legacy our forefathers left us.

House Floor Remarks pt. 1

House Floor Remarks pt. 2