Ngày nay, đất nước chúng ta đang đi theo một hướng khác – và chúng ta hoan nghênh sự thay đổi. Ngày nay, đất nước dưới thời Tổng thống Joe Biden và Phó Tổng thống Kamala Harris đã vạch ra một lộ trình mới cho khát vọng và hy vọng cho mọi người dân Mỹ bất kể màu da của họ hay họ đã bỏ phiếu cho ai vào Ngày bầu cử. Chúng ta đã quay lưng lại với một lộ trình sai lầm làm suy yếu các chuẩn mực dân chủ, chân lý, giá trị, thể chế và pháp quyền của chúng ta.

We know the challenges ahead are daunting.  Our nation must now address the grave public health and financial crises facing every American – crises that for too long have been denied and manipulated in an attempt to gain partisan advantage. The new administration has already issued a schedule of current and upcoming Executive Orders and actions — including an executive branch ethics order that will begin to drain the toxicity from our democracy by mandating executive branch ethics rules to restore balance and lessen the stranglehold of wealthy special interests. Other orders will better ensure the equitable treatment of every American, support a full and accurate census, restore the immigration policies that have allowed our nation to thrive; and work toward rebuilding our country’s standing internationally.

We will once again begin listening to the scientists, the experts, and the professionals rather than the sycophants and the profiteers. Political expediency and disinformation must no longer be the driving force behind our policies. Today, the world has witnessed an inaugural ceremony that displayed the rich diversity of our nation’s people, the lodestar of our nation’s promise, and the compassion of a leader who recognizes how critically important it is to acknowledge that millions of Americans are currently in mourning. We can, indeed, work together to form a more perfect union, but only if we acknowledge our history and our present in a truthful way.

As we move forward and begin working to address the crises and problems we face together as a nation, we must also ensure that those who facilitated and staged a violent insurrection in the United States Capitol two weeks ago are held accountable. Our democracy was attacked by insurrectionists seeking to overturn a free and fair election and harm our elected leaders. This cannot be tolerated and must be addressed head-on.

Our nation at its best can and must be a nation that gives every American a voice in our government. Democracy reforms must play a key role as we work to build a nation that serves We The People, all The People. Great damage has been done to our democracy, and it has not yet lived up to its full promise.

We have learned important lessons about our democracy and the tough work we have to do to root out systemic racism and white supremacy. We have also learned about the power of wealthy special interests funding lies for profit and the outsize damage this can do to our democratic institutions. It is time for healing, accountability and intentionality as we build strength and resiliency into our democratic system so that the people’s voice is the ultimate source of government power.