Sen. Mike Lee,
I was the person, sitting in the front row, taking your picture at the Utah State Bar Annual Convention when you spoke with Sen. Cory Booker, who appeared virtually. I asked whether the cooperation that the two of you spoke of could go further than the issues that the two of you had mentioned, which, as I recall, had something to do with mayonnaise.
I’m not belittling the efforts of you and Booker for your efforts to come together regarding mayonnaise. Little agreements can lead to dialogue, dialogue leads to understanding, and understanding leads to big agreements. I do belittle the mayonnaise compromise if that’s the extent of the agreements that can be reached.
Senator, I’m a lawyer, as are you. I work for my clients, but you work for me and all other Utahns. And here’s what I ask you to do. Please rise on the Senate floor, and say the following:
I rise today as a proud Republican and conservative, but more as a proud American. I owe my ability to speak today, and my place in this reverent chamber, to the people of Utah, just as all assembled today owe our attendance in this hallowed body to the people of our respective states.
We have all been elected by the people we represent. Honest and fair elections as decided by the people we represent. And we are all the children of the law, the law of the United States. I, quite literally, am a child of the law, my father having served as the solicitor general of the United States. Although I am a Republican, we must, as children of the law, as servants to the law, as representatives of the people, we must ensure respect for law and confidence in our elections.
We must not be persuaded or prejudiced by unfounded conspiracies even if those conspiracies support a preferred candidate. The candidate of my party appears not to have been elected. The candidate of another party has been determined by the people of the United States to be their representative, and we must respect that.
As many, if not most, of us are lawyers, we know the importance of evidence. There is no credible evidence of substantial election fraud. We senators must come together as Americans, as representatives of a proud people, representatives of a society governed by law and of respect for the law, we must work together to make certain that the elected representative of the people is allowed every opportunity to succeed in his vision.
We must, and I ask all of you, Republicans, Democrats, to work to ensure the smooth transition of government, a government of the people for whom we strive.
Harry Caston
Harry Caston is an attorney practicing in Salt Lake City.
