White Plains, NY --  One year ago today, we joined the rest of America in watching with horror, anger, and sadness as an insurrectionist mob attempted to overturn a free and fair election in an effort to dismantle our nation's centuries-old rule of law, our commitment to a peaceful transition of power, and the  foundation of our way of government through the consent of the governed.

As we recall the events of that day, our abhorrence is as great as it was a year ago, but so too is our resolve to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, as we are sworn to do as elected officials.

No lie -- no matter how big, no matter how loudly it is shouted, no matter the messenger -- will dissuade us from that solemn responsibility.

Although the January 6, 2021 insurrection failed, the forces that powered it persist -- seeking to divide us from one another, to replace our democracy and its institutions with demagoguery and manipulation driven by a will for power at any cost.

This day, and every day after it, let us as Americans commit to the preservation of our democracy.  Its functioning has never been perfect, but its framework for working towards a more perfect union is greater than any one person or any one moment. It is a framework that is delicate, but not fragile – as the events of last January showed.

Leaving the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was famously asked what form of government the delegates had given the people. "A republic, if you can keep it," Franklin replied.  The work of keeping it belongs to us now more than ever.