[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 88 (Thursday, May 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3173-S3174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          JANUARY 6 COMMISSION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, January 6 was only a few months ago. 
The memory is still fresh for all of us who experienced it firsthand.
  A violent mob stormed the citadel of democracy, assaulted our Capitol 
police, and tried to halt the peaceful transfer of power. One hundred 
forty officers were injured. Five people would eventually lose their 
lives in connection to the attack.
  I was within 20 feet of these hooligans.
  It was one of the darkest moments in American democracy--the first 
time the Capitol was breached since the War of 1812, over 200 years 
ago. And yet, not 5 months later, many on the Republican side are 
trying to whitewash what happened.
  Here is what one Senate Republican said about the attack last night: 
``By and large, it was peaceful protests . . . except for a few 
agitators,'' he said. ``Even calling this an insurrection'' was wrong.
  If there was ever a justification for creating a bipartisan 
Commission to study and report on the truth behind the attack of 
January 6, the comments of that Senator provide it.
  Republicans in both Chambers are trying to rewrite history in fealty 
to or in fear of the former President, Donald Trump. Republicans in 
both Chambers are trying to erase the memory of January 6 and 
perpetuate the Big Lie. They are now likening the mob on January 6 to a 
group of ``normal tourists.'' Anyone who has seen the pictures of them 
breaking through the Capitol barriers knows that these weren't normal 
tourists.
  They are calling the mob, not the police, the victims of the attack. 
We have dead and injured police officers, and they are calling the mob 
the victims?
  Only a week ago, the House Republicans fired Congresswoman Cheney for 
the crime of merely repeating the truth about the election. It 
certainly wasn't about policy. Congresswoman Cheney voted with 
President Trump far more than the Member who replaced her. She was 
fired because she stood up to the Big Lie. It was a Thomas More moment 
here in 2020, and all of the shameful comments by Republicans

[[Page S3174]]

reveal that a bipartisan Commission is even more necessary than it once 
was.
  We always needed to look into it, but the fact that there is such 
denial, there is such lying, and there is such obeisance to Donald 
Trump's Big Lie and to his fundamentally dishonest personality, makes 
the need for the truth, for a Commission greater than it ever has been. 
For the sake of our democracy, it is crucial to end the poison of the 
Big Lie, to establish an independent and trusted record of what 
transpired, and to make sure an event like January 6 never, never 
happens again.
  Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed legislation 
establishing just such a Commission with a strong bipartisan vote. 
Thirty-five Republicans joined Democrats in approving the measure, 
defying their leadership, who turned tail at the eleventh hour in an 
act of utter spinelessness.
  Last night and now--just now--I began the rule XIV process that would 
make this legislation available for consideration on the floor of the 
Senate. I just moved to place the legislation for a Commission on the 
floor under rule XIV. It is my intention to bring the bipartisan 
legislation for the January 6 Commission up for a vote.
  My Senate Republican colleagues must now ask themselves: Are they 
going to join us in pursuing the truth or are they going to cover for 
Donald Trump and his Big Lie? I understand the Republican leader has 
decided to oppose the bill. The Republican leader, who called the 
January 6 attack a ``disgrace,'' who said he believed there was ``no 
question'' Donald Trump was ``morally responsible'' for the attacks, 
now finds this whole endeavor unnecessary.
  Of course, that wasn't always the case. In the aftermath of the 
Capitol attack, the Republican leader, Senator McConnell, said we 
needed a ``serious and thorough review'' of the attacks, but very 
quickly the goalposts started to move. A few weeks after the attack, 
Republicans started complaining that the Democratic proposals for 
establishing a Commission were too partisan. When Democrats accepted 
all the changes--all the changes--requested by House Republicans, the 
Senate Republican leader said that his conference was undecided but 
``willing to listen.'' But now, once again, the goalposts have shifted. 
Now the Republican leader believes we don't need a bipartisan 
Commission at all.
  Let me be very clear to my Republican colleagues: There is no good 
justification for opposing the Commission. The Commission is not 
partisan. It will have a 50-50 split of Democrats and Republicans with 
subpoena powers requiring cooperation from both sides. It was 
negotiated on a bipartisan basis by both the chairman and the ranking 
member of the House Homeland Security Committee. It won the support of 
35 Republicans on the House floor.
  The Commission is not duplicative. The scope of the investigations 
into January 6 by our Senate committees is very focused. We need a 
dedicated bipartisan Commission to look at the whole picture. The fact 
that our committees can investigate didn't stop Congress from 
establishing a 9/11 Commission. A January 6 Commission is necessary for 
the same reasons that the 9/11 Commission was necessary.
  The real reason it seems Republican leaders are suddenly opposed to 
this bipartisan Commission is they don't want to talk about the Big Lie 
at all. They don't even want to investigate how former President Trump 
instigated an attack on our democracy because he was angry about losing 
the 2020 election and lied to the American people about the results.
  Even now, 5 months to the day after he left office, the Republican 
Party is still so terrified of Donald Trump that they are apparently 
willing to abandon the truth and the safety of our democracy on into 
the future.
  Maybe, despite the opposition of the Republican leader--the 
unfortunate and sad opposition of the Republican leader--enough of my 
Republican colleagues will step up and join with Democrats to establish 
the Commission. They will get a chance to do so very soon

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