There had been much rancor and raised voices on the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives. As the chairman of the committee opened the debate on the Articles of Impeachment, he told the members that they could each have five minutes to make an opening statement. Many of the Democrats chose to speak about how they felt compelled to do their duty to uphold their oath of office, to defend the Constitution of the United States and preserve our democracy.  One Congressman talked about the story of Esther in the bible standing up to the king, others related that they were doing this for their grandchildren or for all the girls and boys in the country. One Congresswoman said she wanted children to know that it was important when you take an oath to follow it. Many of the members talked about growing up poor or coming to this country as immigrants and how honored and proud they were to be citizens of the the United States and elected to Congress. Congresswoman Lucy McBath shared her life story of wanting so much to be a mother and finally having a son. She dreamed of her son growing up and having a happy life. He was in a car with his friends when a man drove up, said their music was too loud, and fired 10 shots into the car killing her only child. She had come to Congress to work for gun control and other issues important to her community.  Listening to these men and women, some of my representatives, renewed my faith. They are some of the best of us.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is to use a word that means ‘loud.’

Featured image Photo by Carol Highsmith of detail of mural ‘Government’ by Elihu Vedder via Wikimedia.org