Larson Applauds and Echoes President Obama’s and General Mattis’ Call for Unity

Hartford, CT – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) applauded former President Obama's remarks today in a town hall reminding Americans that our country started as a protest and former Defense Secretary General James Mattis' statement calling for unity and condemning the use of military force in response to the protests over the murder of George Floyd and racial justice.

"During his town hall today, President Obama reminded us: ‘This country was founded on protest — it is called the American Revolution…. Every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals have been won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable.'

"General Mattis in a statement today also drew upon our history as a united nation and said: ‘We must reject any thinking of our cities as a "battlespace" that our uniformed military is called upon to "dominate"….Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society…. We can unite without him [Trump], drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.'

"Both of these leaders and patriots have struck the right tone," said Larson. "All Americans should take heed and listen to President Obama who nobly led our country for eight years, and to a true American patriot, General Mattis, a man has no vested interest except to his country and his oath to the Constitution.

"Over the past week we have seen protests in response to the horrific and unjust murder of George Floyd. I stand with these protesters. For far too long we have done too little to address systemic racism in this country. I echo President Obama and General Mattis' calls," Larson continued. "We must unify and stand for what is right. We can do this by listening to Black Americans and standing by them as we strive to live up to the nation's promise of justice for all."