betty thompson, chairman of the january 6th 2021 committee. i was born, raised and still live in mississippi. a town with a population of 521, which is midway between jackson and vicksburg, mississippi. and the mississippi river. i'm from a part of the country where people justify the actions of slavery, the ku klux klan and lynching. i am reminded of that dark history as i hear voices today trying to justify the actions of the insurrection on january 6th, 2021. over the next few weeks, hopefully you will get to know the other members, my colleagues up here, and me. we represent a diversity of communities from all over the united states, rural areas and cities, east coast, west coast, and the heartland. all of us have one thing in common, we swore the same oath. that same oath that all members of congress take. and afterwards, every two years that they are reelected. we swore an oath to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. the words of the current oath taken by all of us that nearly every united states government employee takes have their roots in the civil war. throughout our history, the united states has fought against foreign enemies to preserve our democracy, electoral syste