WHEREAS, On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected to become the 45th President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Since the election President-elect Trump has consistently attempted to call into question the institutions and values that preserve American democracy, whether its freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or the right to vote; and
WHEREAS, President-elect Trump’s recent claim alleging massive voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election, without evidence, sow doubt about the integrity of America’s elections and, subsequently, the creation of discriminatory voting laws to suppress the vote; and
WHEREAS, Over the last decade Republicans throughout the country, despite the lack of any systematic evidence of voter fraud, have enacted and/or proposed measures on the state and local level creating voter ID laws, limiting early voting hours and polling locations, and requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote; and
WHEREAS, The nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, who has a troubling record on voting rights, signals a lack of commitment to federal enforcement of civil rights laws under a Trump administration, which is further compounded by an appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court that could potentially undermine voting rights; and
WHEREAS, Another recent statement by President-elect Trump calling for revocation of citizenship and jail time for individuals engaging in flag burning, in spite of two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that protect the act under the First Amendment as a form of free speech; and
WHEREAS, The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees due process of law, does not empower Congress or the president to strip an individual of citizenship in our democracy; and
WHEREAS, These statements provide further evidence of President-elect Trump’s tendency to address differences and disagreements within American society by suggesting new limits on their expression, violating democratic norms, and questioning long-held and sacred constitutional protections; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby condemns the recent statements of President-elect Donald J. Trump which undermine faith in America’s democratic institutions, constitutional values and individual rights.
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