I should have forfeited my self-respect had I failed to resent such an injury by calling the offender to a personal account. It was a personal affair; I meant no disrespect to the Senate or this House. I announce that I am no longer a member of the Thirty-fourth Congress.
Original passage & context
"I should have forfeited my own self-respect, and perhaps, the good opinion of my countrymen, if I had failed to resent such an injury, by calling the offender in question to a personal account. It was a personal affair, and in taking redress into my own hands, I meant no disrespect to the Senate of the United States, or to this House. [...] And now, Mr. Speaker, I announce to you and to this House, that I am no longer a member of the Thirty-fourth Congress."
The arc's coda, disclosed exception (July 14): the expulsion vote (121-95) fell short of two-thirds; Brooks resigned in defiance instead — and South Carolina's Fourth District re-elected him within weeks. Fragments joined with [...].