WATCH: Sen. Schiff Reflects on January 6th Attack on U.S. Capitol 5 Years Later: “The Danger Has Grown”

Schiff: "Most astonishing to me after January 6, is that I would find our democracy in more danger today than I did on that day. The danger has grown, along with the denial, the danger has grown […] We thought democracy was inevitable. We were wrong."

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) spoke on the Senate floor, where he reflected on his experience during the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol to mark five years since the horrific assault on our democracy.

In his remarks, Senator Schiff recalled his vivid memories of that solemn day, remembering: "as I walked off the floor and through the tunnels that day, I remember thinking back to when I had first been elected, and a few months later was 9/11 and how we had gathered on the steps of the Capitol, Democrats and Republicans to sing God Bless America. That tragedy had been unifying for the country. And I remember thinking on January 6 as I walked through those tunnels that this tragedy would not be unifying."

Senator Schiff also highlighted the urgent moment we are in, calling on all Americans to fight to defend our democracy.

"As it turns out, every generation has its own struggle for democracy. Our parents and grandparents' generation went off to World War to defend our democracy. What we must do is, by comparison, so much less, but it is nevertheless so very important we have the same obligation as those that went before us to preserve this incredible legacy we've been given by our founders," said Senator Schiff.

Watch his full speech HERE. Download remarks HERE.

Read a transcript of his remarks as delivered below:

Mr. President, five years ago, our nation and democracy experienced one of its darkest days, a violent mob incited by President Trump ransacked the Capitol. Brave police officers were beaten, crushed, bear sprayed and maced while defending our democracy with their bare hands. The sacred halls of Congress, including the Senate floor, where we are standing today, desecrated, symbols of hate flown through these sacred halls and worse, blood and more smeared on the walls and floors. The certification of the election delayed. And later that night with blood still staining the Capitol grounds, many of the President's allies still, still voted against certifying the election.

I was in the House of Representatives on January 6. I was in the House of Representatives exactly five years ago. I was asked by Speaker Pelosi to be one of the managers of the floor debate that day, one of the manager's opposing efforts to decertify the electors. And I remember vividly what that day was like.

I remember being surprised, looking up from my notes where I was speaking and rebutting what others were saying, to see that Speaker Pelosi was no longer presiding in the chamber. She had been removed so quickly, I didn't even see her leave the chamber, and then I saw Capitol police come back onto the floor and grab our number two, Steny Hoyer, and whisk him off the floor. I noticed only peripherally, members were on their phones, and not in a way that they were texting, but rather they were watching. And what they were watching, of course, were hundreds and thousands of people outside the Capitol starting to beat their way into this building. And then I could hear them myself outside the chamber, banging on doors trying to get in.

I remember Capitol police officers coming back on the floor making sequential and more serious statements about the emergency that we needed to get out our gas masks. I remember grabbing one under my seat and the difficulty we all had just opening them. And I remember when the Capitol Police came back on the floor and said, you need to get out and you need to get out now. I remember waiting as members fled the floor, until two Republicans came up to me, and one said, "You can't let them see you."

They said, "That's right. I know these people. I can talk to these people. I can talk my way through these people. You're in a whole different category." And at first, I was moved by the revenue concern for my safety, and then my next thought was, if you hadn't been lying about the election, I wouldn't need to worry about my safety. None of us would.

And as I walked off the floor and through the tunnels that day, I remember thinking back to when I had first been elected, and a few months later was 9/11 and how we had gathered on the steps of the Capitol, Democrats and Republicans to sing God Bless America. That tragedy had been unifying for the country. And I remember thinking on January 6 as I walked through those tunnels that this tragedy would not be unifying.

But little could I have imagined that the person who incited that attack on this building, the person who led that first effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Little could I have imagined that he would once again be president, and that among his first acts in office would be to pardon hundreds and hundreds of violent attackers who beat the Capitol Police and metropolitan police who were defending us that day, or that we would hear the rampant kind of denials that we just heard from one of my Republican colleagues on this floor. This repugnant, this dangerous, this disgraceful effort to rewrite history, to pretend that this was somehow this misunderstood, peaceful gathering of tourists on January 6.

I was proud to serve on the January 6 committee. What really came home to me serving on that committee, more than anything else, is a large part of what saved us on that day. What saved our democracy on that day were Republicans of good faith who were willing to do their duty and uphold their oath. The Brad Raffensperger's, who said, when the President called and berated him for an hour, to find 11,780 votes that did not exist, that he would not do it. Or Rusty Bowers, the Republican Speaker in Arizona who said to Rudy Giuliani, when he was urging much the same, "What you're asking me to do is a violation of my oath," and he would not do it.

But now we are seeing a systematic effort to weed out anyone who defies the President's false narrative in hearing after hearing on the Senate Judiciary Committee, candidates for high office and for the federal bench cannot be confirmed if they admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump lost. It is a prerequisite to be nominated or confirmed that you must adhere to the big lie. And this is where we are.

Most astonishing to me after January 6, is that I would find our democracy in more danger today than I did on that day. The danger has grown, along with the denial. The danger has grown, along with efforts by this administration to try to succeed next time where it failed in overturning the election. By seeding within local elections, boards, die hard partisans who will ignore the law in favor of their favored partisan candidate.

Pushing out election workers trying to rewrite election laws, trying to see doubt in the election system, so that, if necessary, if they lose the next election, they can try to deny and overturn that too. This is the danger that we face. We thought democracy was inevitable. We were wrong.

As it turns out, every generation has its own struggle for democracy. Our parents and grandparents' generation went off to World War to defend our democracy. What we must do is, by comparison, so much less, but it is nevertheless so very important we have the same obligation as those that went before us to preserve this incredible legacy we've been given by our founders.

I'm grateful to Senator Padilla for organizing this special-order hour for us to remember the horrors of that day and rededicate ourselves to making sure that something like January 6 never happens in this country again. I thank you, and I yield back.

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