[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 30, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3322-H3335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1345
ESTABLISHING THE SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE JANUARY 6TH ATTACK
ON THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 504, I call
up the resolution (H. Res. 503) establishing the Select Committee to
Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, and
ask for its immediate consideration.
[[Page H3323]]
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 504, the
resolution is considered read.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 503
Whereas January 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days of our
democracy, during which insurrectionists attempted to impede
Congress's Constitutional mandate to validate the
presidential election and launched an assault on the United
States Capitol Complex that resulted in multiple deaths,
physical harm to over 140 members of law enforcement, and
terror and trauma among staff, institutional employees,
press, and Members;
Whereas, on January 27, 2021, the Department of Homeland
Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin
that due to the ``heightened threat environment across the
United States,'' in which ``[S]ome ideologically-motivated
violent extremists with objections to the exercise of
governmental authority and the presidential transition, as
well as other perceived grievances fueled by false
narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit
violence.'' The Bulletin also stated that--
(1) ``DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will
remain through early 2021 and some DVEs [domestic violent
extremists] may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach
of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target
elected officials and government facilities.''; and
(2) ``Threats of violence against critical infrastructure,
including the electric, telecommunications and healthcare
sectors, increased in 2020 with violent extremists citing
misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 for
their actions'';
Whereas, on September 24, 2020, Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation Christopher Wray testified before the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives that--
(1) ``[T]he underlying drivers for domestic violent
extremism - such as perceptions of government or law
enforcement overreach, sociopolitical conditions, racism,
anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, misogyny, and reactions to
legislative actions - remain constant.'';
(2) ``[W]ithin the domestic terrorism bucket category as a
whole, racially-motivated violent extremism is, I think, the
biggest bucket within the larger group. And within the
racially-motivated violent extremists bucket, people
subscribing to some kind of white supremacist-type ideology
is certainly the biggest chunk of that.''; and
(3) ``More deaths were caused by DVEs than international
terrorists in recent years. In fact, 2019 was the deadliest
year for domestic extremist violence since the Oklahoma City
bombing in 1995'';
Whereas, on April 15, 2021, Michael Bolton, the Inspector
General for the United States Capitol Police, testified to
the Committee on House Administration of the House of
Representatives that--
(1) ``The Department lacked adequate guidance for
operational planning. USCP did not have policy and procedures
in place that communicated which personnel were responsible
for operational planning, what type of operational planning
documents its personnel should prepare, nor when its
personnel should prepare operational planning documents.'';
and
(2) ``USCP failed to disseminate relevant information
obtained from outside sources, lacked consensus on
interpretation of threat analyses, and disseminated
conflicting intelligence information regarding planned events
for January 6, 2021.''; and
Whereas the security leadership of the Congress under-
prepared for the events of January 6th, with United States
Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton testifying
again on June 15, 2021, that--
(1) ``USCP did not have adequate policies and procedures
for FRU (First Responder Unit) defining its overall
operations. Additionally, FRU lacked resources and training
for properly completing its mission.'';
(2) ``The Department did not have adequate policies and
procedures for securing ballistic helmets and vests
strategically stored around the Capitol Complex.''; and
(3) ``FRU did not have the proper resources to complete its
mission.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is hereby established the Select Committee to
Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States
Capitol (hereinafter referred to as the ``Select
Committee'').
SEC. 2. COMPOSITION.
(a) Appointment of Members.--The Speaker shall appoint 13
Members to the Select Committee, 5 of whom shall be appointed
after consultation with the minority leader.
(b) Designation of Chair.--The Speaker shall designate one
Member to serve as chair of the Select Committee.
(c) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the Select Committee shall
be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
Consistent with the functions described in section 4, the
purposes of the Select Committee are the following:
(1) To investigate and report upon the facts,
circumstances, and causes relating to the January 6, 2021,
domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol
Complex (hereafter referred to as the ``domestic terrorist
attack on the Capitol'') and relating to the interference
with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and
causes relating to the preparedness and response of the
United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and
local law enforcement agencies in the National Capital Region
and other instrumentalities of government, as well as the
influencing factors that fomented such an attack on American
representative democracy while engaged in a constitutional
process.
(2) To examine and evaluate evidence developed by relevant
Federal, State, and local governmental agencies regarding the
facts and circumstances surrounding the domestic terrorist
attack on the Capitol and targeted violence and domestic
terrorism relevant to such terrorist attack.
(3) To build upon the investigations of other entities and
avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts by reviewing the
investigations, findings, conclusions, and recommendations of
other executive branch, congressional, or independent
bipartisan or nonpartisan commission investigations into the
domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, including
investigations into influencing factors related to such
attack.
SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS.
(a) Functions.--The functions of the Select Committee are
to--
(1) investigate the facts, circumstances, and causes
relating to the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol,
including facts and circumstances relating to--
(A) activities of intelligence agencies, law enforcement
agencies, and the Armed Forces, including with respect to
intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination and
information sharing among the branches and other
instrumentalities of government;
(B) influencing factors that contributed to the domestic
terrorist attack on the Capitol and how technology, including
online platforms, financing, and malign foreign influence
operations and campaigns may have factored into the
motivation, organization, and execution of the domestic
terrorist attack on the Capitol; and
(C) other entities of the public and private sector as
determined relevant by the Select Committee for such
investigation;
(2) identify, review, and evaluate the causes of and the
lessons learned from the domestic terrorist attack on the
Capitol regarding--
(A) the command, control, and communications of the United
States Capitol Police, the Armed Forces, the National Guard,
the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of
Columbia, and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement
agencies in the National Capital Region on or before January
6, 2021;
(B) the structure, coordination, operational plans,
policies, and procedures of the Federal Government, including
as such relate to State and local governments and
nongovernmental entities, and particularly with respect to
detecting, preventing, preparing for, and responding to
targeted violence and domestic terrorism;
(C) the structure, authorities, training, manpower
utilization, equipment, operational planning, and use of
force policies of the United States Capitol Police;
(D) the policies, protocols, processes, procedures, and
systems for the sharing of intelligence and other information
by Federal, State, and local agencies with the United States
Capitol Police, the Sergeants at Arms of the House of
Representatives and Senate, the Government of the District of
Columbia, including the Metropolitan Police Department of the
District of Columbia, the National Guard, and other Federal,
State, and local law enforcement agencies in the National
Capital Region on or before January 6, 2021, and the related
policies, protocols, processes, procedures, and systems for
monitoring, assessing, disseminating, and acting on
intelligence and other information, including elevating the
security posture of the United States Capitol Complex,
derived from instrumentalities of government, open sources,
and online platforms; and
(E) the policies, protocols, processes, procedures, and
systems for interoperability between the United States
Capitol Police and the National Guard, the Metropolitan
Police Department of the District of Columbia, and other
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies in the
National Capital Region on or before January 6, 2021; and
(3) issue a final report to the House containing such
findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective
measures described in subsection (c) as it may deem
necessary.
(b) Reports.--
(1) Interim reports.--In addition to the final report
addressing the matters in subsection (a) and section 3, the
Select Committee may report to the House or any committee of
the House from time to time the results of its
investigations, together with such detailed findings and
legislative recommendations as it may deem advisable.
(2) Treatment of classified or law enforcement-sensitive
matter.--Any report issued by the Select Committee shall be
issued in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex, a law enforcement-sensitive annex, or both.
(c) Corrective Measures Described.--The corrective measures
described in this subsection may include changes in law,
policy,
[[Page H3324]]
procedures, rules, or regulations that could be taken--
(1) to prevent future acts of violence, domestic terrorism,
and domestic violent extremism, including acts targeted at
American democratic institutions;
(2) to improve the security posture of the United States
Capitol Complex while preserving accessibility of the Capitol
Complex for all Americans; and
(3) to strengthen the security and resilience of the United
States and American democratic institutions against violence,
domestic terrorism, and domestic violent extremism.
(d) No Markup of Legislation Permitted.--The Select
Committee may not hold a markup of legislation.
SEC. 5. PROCEDURE.
(a) Access to Information From Intelligence Community.--
Notwithstanding clause 3(m) of rule X of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Select Committee is authorized
to study the sources and methods of entities described in
clause 11(b)(1)(A) of rule X insofar as such study is related
to the matters described in sections 3 and 4.
(b) Treatment of Classified Information.--Clause 11(b)(4),
clause 11(e), and the first sentence of clause 11(f) of rule
X of the Rules of the House of Representatives shall apply to
the Select Committee.
(c) Applicability of Rules Governing Procedures of
Committees.--Rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives shall apply to the Select Committee except as
follows:
(1) Clause 2(a) of rule XI shall not apply to the Select
Committee.
(2) Clause 2(g)(2)(D) of rule XI shall apply to the Select
Committee in the same manner as it applies to the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence.
(3) Pursuant to clause 2(h) of rule XI, two Members of the
Select Committee shall constitute a quorum for taking
testimony or receiving evidence and one-third of the Members
of the Select Committee shall constitute a quorum for taking
any action other than one for which the presence of a
majority of the Select Committee is required.
(4) The chair of the Select Committee may authorize and
issue subpoenas pursuant to clause 2(m) of rule XI in the
investigation and study conducted pursuant to sections 3 and
4 of this resolution, including for the purpose of taking
depositions.
(5) The chair of the Select Committee is authorized to
compel by subpoena the furnishing of information by
interrogatory.
(6)(A) The chair of the Select Committee, upon consultation
with the ranking minority member, may order the taking of
depositions, including pursuant to subpoena, by a Member or
counsel of the Select Committee, in the same manner as a
standing committee pursuant to section 3(b)(1) of House
Resolution 8, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress.
(B) Depositions taken under the authority prescribed in
this paragraph shall be governed by the procedures submitted
by the chair of the Committee on Rules for printing in the
Congressional Record on January 4, 2021.
(7) Subpoenas authorized pursuant to this resolution may be
signed by the chair of the Select Committee or a designee.
(8) The chair of the Select Committee may, after
consultation with the ranking minority member, recognize--
(A) Members of the Select Committee to question a witness
for periods longer than five minutes as though pursuant to
clause 2(j)(2)(B) of rule XI; and
(B) staff of the Select Committee to question a witness as
though pursuant to clause 2(j)(2)(C) of rule XI.
(9) The chair of the Select Committee may postpone further
proceedings when a record vote is ordered on questions
referenced in clause 2(h)(4) of rule XI, and may resume
proceedings on such postponed questions at any time after
reasonable notice. Notwithstanding any intervening order for
the previous question, an underlying proposition shall remain
subject to further debate or amendment to the same extent as
when the question was postponed.
(10) The provisions of paragraphs (f)(1) through (f)(12) of
clause 4 of rule XI shall apply to the Select Committee.
SEC. 6. RECORDS; STAFF; TRAVEL; FUNDING.
(a) Sharing Records of Committees.--Any committee of the
House of Representatives having custody of records in any
form relating to the matters described in sections 3 and 4
shall provide copies of such records to the Select Committee
not later than 14 days of the adoption of this resolution or
receipt of such records. Such records shall become the
records of the Select Committee.
(b) Staff.--The appointment and the compensation of staff
for the Select Committee shall be subject to regulations
issued by the Committee on House Administration.
(c) Detail of Staff of Other Offices.--Staff of employing
entities of the House or a joint committee may be detailed to
the Select Committee to carry out this resolution and shall
be deemed to be staff of the Select Committee.
(d) Use of Consultants Permitted.--Section 202(i) of the
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i))
shall apply with respect to the Select Committee in the same
manner as such section applies with respect to a standing
committee of the House of Representatives.
(e) Travel.--Clauses 8(a), (b), and (c) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives shall apply to the
Select Committee.
(f) Funding; Payments.--There shall be paid out of the
applicable accounts of the House of Representatives such sums
as may be necessary for the expenses of the Select Committee.
Such payments shall be made on vouchers signed by the chair
of the Select Committee and approved in the manner directed
by the Committee on House Administration. Amounts made
available under this subsection shall be expended in
accordance with regulations prescribed by the Committee on
House Administration.
SEC. 7. TERMINATION AND DISPOSITION OF RECORDS.
(a) Termination.--The Select Committee shall terminate 30
days after filing the final report under section 4.
(b) Disposition of Records.--Upon termination of the Select
Committee--
(1) the records of the Select Committee shall become the
records of such committee or committees designated by the
Speaker; and
(2) the copies of records provided to the Select Committee
by a committee of the House under section 6(a) shall be
returned to the committee.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution shall be debatable for 1
hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Rules or their respective designees.
The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) and the gentlewoman
from Minnesota (Mrs. Fischbach) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, 175 days ago, as we gathered here in this spot, the
House floor became a crime scene. The U.S. Capitol, this temple of
democracy, was ransacked. Property was damaged, and more importantly,
lives were lost.
Insurrectionists tried to stop our democracy in its tracks. A mob
wanted to prevent the certification of a free and fair election in
America, and they resorted to violence to do it.
I will never forget that day. I was one of the last Members off this
House floor, as we were being taken to a secure location away from the
mayhem.
As I was walking out, I looked over and saw these people--homegrown
terrorists, I call them--literally smashing the doors with their bare
fists and breaking the glass to try to get at us.
They weren't here to peacefully protest. They were fueled by rage and
here to cause harm. I looked in their eyes, and I saw hate.
Many of my colleagues feared for their lives. Some called loved ones
to say good-bye. The staff that worked here barricaded their office
doors. They ran down these marble halls, trying one door after the
next, just searching for safety. Others hid in closets, terrified.
When those of us who are elected to Congress put our names on the
ballot, we are prepared to take all kinds of incoming. But the staff
here--the cafeteria workers, the cleaning crew, the people who make our
democracy function day in and day out--they do not. But, still, they
found themselves in danger, afraid for their lives.
We must speak the truth of what happened that day, Madam Speaker.
Shockingly, there is an effort by some in this Congress to whitewash
and minimize what went on. One of my colleagues even suggested it was
somehow just a normal tourist visit, as if facts don't matter, as if we
all didn't see with our own eyes what happened.
History will judge how we respond to the events of that day, and the
glare of history should be cast most harshly on the minority leader,
who worked overtime to prevent a bipartisan, bicameral commission from
being formed to examine what happened on January 6.
A bipartisan commission emerged out of the Homeland Security
Committee with a bipartisan vote. Everything the minority leader asked
for in this commission, he got it. He got it all. But then, I guess,
Donald Trump called him, and he began walking back his support and
whipping against his own ranking member's bipartisan deal.
It has been 25 weeks since an insurrection in our country. A
commission should be already at work right now, getting the facts about
this attack on our democracy so it will never, ever, ever happen again.
Sadly, a majority of Republicans objected to that happening. Now,
they may have delayed uncovering the truth, Madam Speaker. But, Madam
Speaker, the truth will not stay buried forever. That is why we are
here today, because the facts matter.
[[Page H3325]]
A select committee will finally get to the truth about the events of
January 6. It is modeled after a select committee formed when my
Republican colleagues were in charge.
I hope I am wrong, but if past is prologue, many of my Republican
friends will stand up today and say no. They will oppose this select
committee and say they want a different approach.
Well, let me again remind them: We already gave them exactly what
they asked for with the commission, and even that wasn't good enough. I
think, for some on the other side, nothing that gets to the truth will
ever be good enough because they do not want the truth.
Michael Fanone, a Metropolitan Police Department officer for nearly
two decades, responded to the insurrection on January 6. In a letter
that he wrote to all of us, he said: ``I struggle daily with the
emotional anxiety of having survived such a traumatic event, but I also
struggle with the anxiety of hearing those who continue to downplay the
events of that day and those who would ignore them altogether with
their lack of acknowledgment. The indifference shown to my colleagues
and I is disgraceful.''
Madam Speaker, I include the full text of his letter in the Record.
May 5, 2021.
To All Elected Members of the United States Government, My
name is Michael Fanone and I have been a sworn officer with
the Metropolitan Police Department for almost two decades. On
January 06, 2021, I participated in the defense of the United
States Capitol and as a result of my efforts was severely
injured. I was pulled out into the crowd, away from my fellow
officers, beaten with fists, metal objects, stripped of my
issued badge, radio and ammunition magazine and electrocuted
numerous times with a Taser. I am writing to you so that you
may better understand my experience that day.
I am assigned to the First District's Crime Suppression
Team and while my daily responsibilities involve combating
violent crime and narcotics related offenses. I, like many
other officers, took it upon myself to respond to the
numerous calls for help coming from my colleagues at the
Capitol Complex. Upon my arrival my partner, Jimmy Albright,
and I searched for an area where we could be of most
assistance and eventually found our way to the West Terrace
Lower Tunnel entrance to the Capitol. The fighting here was
nothing short of brutal. I observed approximately thirty
police officers standing shoulder-to-shoulder maybe four or
five abreast using the weight of their own bodies to hold
back the onslaught of violent attackers. Many of these
officers were injured, bleeding and fatigued but they
continued to fight.
In the midst of this fighting, I observed Commander Ramey
Kyle, cool, calm, and collected giving commands to his
officers. ``Hold the line.'' It was the most inspirational
moment of my entire life. Even as I write this it brings me
to tears. I tried to render assistance to some of the injured
officers asking them if they needed a break. There were no
volunteers, only those that identified injured colleagues who
may be in need of assistance. I have never experienced such
bravery, courage and selflessness.
Since then I have struggled with many aspects of that day.
As the physical injuries gradually subsided in crept the
psychological trauma. In many ways I still live my life as if
it is January 07, 2021. I struggle daily with the emotional
anxiety of having survived such a traumatic event but I also
struggle with the anxiety of hearing those who continue to
downplay the events of that day and those who would ignore
them altogether with their lack of acknowledgement. The
indifference shown to my colleagues and I is disgraceful.
It has been 119 days since 850 Metropolitan Police (MPDC)
Officers responded to the Capitol and stopped a violent
insurrection from taking over the Capitol Complex saving
countless Members of Congress and their staff from almost
certain injury and even death. The time to fully recognize
these Officers actions is NOW!
Sincerely,
Michael Fanone.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I am tired of the delays. Quite frankly,
I am sick and tired of the fact that there are too many people in this
Chamber who continue to put party over country and propagate the lies,
distortions, and falsehoods that led to January 6. It is disgusting.
For Congress to do nothing in response to a literal insurrection
would allow our democracy to be chipped away at from the inside. Not on
my watch.
Our system of government is fragile. It is not a given; it is a
choice. Looking down on us from the gallery right now are
representatives of the D.C. Metropolitan Police and the U.S. Capitol
Police, and I want to thank them and their colleagues for their service
and for protecting us and our democracy on January 6.
To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are about to vote
``no'' on this, please, no lectures on respect for the police because a
``no'' vote is a vote to cover for those who brutally attacked the
police on January 6.
I say to my colleagues in this House, they will be watching as we
cast our votes. History will be watching. I pray that we have the moral
courage to do what is right, that we choose truth and that we choose to
defend our democracy.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 503,
and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
There is no doubt that what transpired on January 6 was a dark day,
but instead of a good-faith effort to reach an objective conclusion,
Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have placed partisan, divisive
politics ahead of the interests of the American people.
Most fundamental to any objective investigation is being free from
political influence and partisan bias. Unfortunately, this resolution
fails to meet that basic benchmark, as Democrats refuse to put together
a truly bipartisan commission, with equal authority given to all
members, not just the majority.
It appears my colleagues are more interested in reaching the
predetermined outcome of their own narrative than truly investigating
the January 6 attack. The resolution itself is full of charged language
that implies an outcome.
In fact, two bipartisan committees in the Senate have already
conducted wide-ranging investigations and issued their joint report.
Their report, which is more than 100 pages, outlines a timeline of
events and a series of recommendations for moving forward.
The Architect of the Capitol has also already been given $10 million
to investigate the security failures on January 6. Why are we
replicating that work?
The Department of Justice and the FBI have already arrested and
charged more than 500 people for crimes ranging from disorderly conduct
to theft of government property to assaulting a Federal law enforcement
officer. Those individuals are being adjudicated by the courts as we
speak. That process will continue for some time. That is the way it
should work.
Instead, Democrats are injecting partisanship into the equation,
hoping to stretch out an investigation long enough to distract from
their abject failure to govern, while the American people are left to
suffer the consequences of that failure.
While we spend time discussing this partisan committee, American
farmers are facing a severe drought, gas prices are going up, inflation
is rising, businesses can't find employees, and there is a crisis at
the southern border. We need to spend our time finding solutions and
helping Americans, not creating partisan commissions to do work that
has already been done competently by the U.S. Senate and by law
enforcement.
Not only would this select committee not prohibit interfering with
ongoing law enforcement investigations that are already yielding
significant results, but it would lack the enforcement powers of those
existing investigations. Even worse, Speaker Pelosi would have the
ability to handpick the entirety of the committee.
If Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats were serious about this, they
might have considered acting sooner than 6 months after the fact. The
standing committees of this body already have the jurisdiction and the
authority to investigate January 6, and the Speaker could have directed
them to open an investigation at any time.
But perhaps most important is our obligation to the brave men and
women of law enforcement who responded to the Capitol and surrounding
areas on January 6, members of the U.S. Capitol Police, the D.C.
Metropolitan Police, the National Guard, and the many other State and
Federal agencies who assisted in restoring order. We owe it to them to
ensure that any investigation we undertake is one that is fair,
bipartisan, and honorable, absent the ulterior motives and partisan
politics that so often plague us.
Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, H. Res. 503 falls far short. For that
reason,
[[Page H3326]]
I oppose the legislation, and I urge other Members to do so.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Oh, my God, I can't believe what I just heard. I mean, my Republican
colleagues are talking about the need for bipartisanship. We gave them
bipartisanship. The ranking Republican member on the Homeland Security
Committee endorsed a bipartisan commission, and my friends on the other
side, including the gentlewoman who just spoke, voted ``no'' on it.
Now, they are objecting to a select committee that we are forming
that is exactly like the select committee that they formed when they
were in charge. Give me a break.
This is clear--people should know this--they don't want to get to the
truth. But we will insist that we get to the truth.
Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi
(Mr. Thompson), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, who
did such an incredible job in negotiating a bipartisan commission.
{time} 1400
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding.
I rise in support of H. Res. 503, a measure Establishing the Select
Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States
Capitol.
Next week will mark 6 months since the world watched in horror as
Americans violently stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress
from carrying out its constitutional duty to certify a Presidential
election.
Like many of my colleagues, I had hoped that the Republican Senators
would put country over politics and support legislation to establish a
bipartisan, independent commission just as 35 House Republicans did in
May.
I had hoped they would do so, just as a previous generation of
Senators did in response to the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Instead, our bipartisan, good faith proposal was met with a
filibuster. Now that Senate Republicans have chosen to block the
formation of an independent commission, it falls to the House to stay
the course and get the American people the answers they deserve.
I commend the Speaker for introducing this measure and offering us a
way forward.
I believe that with the right Members, staff and resources, and
cooperation from Federal, State, and local partners and the private
sector, this select committee will be well-positioned to do vital
oversight work into why our information-sharing, counterterrorism, and
coordination efforts failed so catastrophically on January 6.
In addition to that, I salute the men and women who protected us on
that day. Some of us were in this very building at the time, some of us
in the gallery. I find it incomprehensible that people would deny what
occurred and now try to deflect by talking about other issues.
This is the citadel of democracy we are standing in right now. We
have to protect it. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to
protect this temple of democracy by voting in favor of H. Res. 503.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I will remind the gentleman from
Mississippi that it was not this body that stopped the commission. It
did not receive the required support from both sides of the aisle in
the Senate to move forward.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Burgess).
Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
This resolution establishes a select committee to investigate the
January 6 attack on the Capitol. After Speaker Pelosi's first attempt
at a commission failed to pass the Senate, she is now pushing a
resolution to create, what will be by its very nature, a very partisan
select committee.
The outcome of this investigation has, in fact, already been written.
The Democrats have been publicly excoriating President Trump for
months. They claim we need to understand the root cause of what
happened on January 6, but the truth is, they have already laid the
blame.
I was concerned that the commission that the Speaker previously
attempted to create would, in fact, have been very partisan in nature.
That is why I and many other Members of this body and Members of the
Senate voted against her resolution.
The Speaker attempted to establish what she claimed would be a
bipartisan commission to investigate the events of January 6 modeled
after the 9/11 Commission, but there are some key differences between
the two.
The 9/11 Commission focused on a foreign attack on the homeland. The
proposed January 6 commission would have focused on a purely domestic
event.
The fact pattern for these two events is entirely different. For the
9/11 Commission we did not definitely know at the outset who had
perpetrated that attack. Unfortunately, as we know, Democrats have
already laid the blame for the January 6 attack before any
investigative body has been established.
The staff composition for the Speaker's proposed January 6 commission
mirrored that of the 9/11 Commission, however, the January 6 commission
would have ultimately been one party investigating the other. The
biggest concern of Republicans is that only one staff would have served
the entire January 6 commission. In an inherently partisan
investigation, Congress should authorize two separate staffs to serve
the Members of each party. And, in fact, I attempted to amend that
original resolution at the Rules Committee but was turned away.
Whether or not you blame President Trump for the events of January 6,
the fact remains that the incident was a massive security failure.
Why were our United States Capitol Police Officers, who sacrifice
every day to protect us, caught so unprepared?
Why did the National Guard take so long to mobilize when the threat
was clear?
What was known by our intelligence agencies and the Sergeant at Arms
in the days leading up to January 6?
These are the questions that need answering if we are truly going to
be focused on preventing another security failure. And I won't
reiterate the litany that the gentlewoman from Minnesota has already
elucidated.
If we don't do it, it is not that there are no investigations; the
investigations are ongoing. The Department of Justice--the FBI has a
major investigation, as has already been pointed out. 500 people are
incarcerated and waiting adjudication, waiting for their day in court.
I am disappointed that the Democrats remain fixated on laying blame,
rather than investigating how we can better prepare our United States
Capitol Police and our other Federal response forces to face future
threats. There will be future threats. For these reasons, I urge
opposition to this resolution.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on the other side
to stop the lame excuses. Now they are blaming the Senate?
Let's go over the chronology: Leader McCarthy had a bunch of demands
in order that we move forward with a bipartisan commission. We gave him
every one.
And then what happened is, I guess, he didn't expect us to actually
work with him on this in a bipartisan way. There is a quote that
appeared in Politico from a Republican aide who said: ``I think Kevin
was hoping that the Democrats would never agree to our requests. That
way the commission would be partisan and we can all vote no and say
it's a sham operation.
``Because he knows Trump is going to `lose his mind over this
commission'.''
And then all the sudden, he comes out against it, and 175 of my
Republican colleagues voted against a bipartisan commission. They sent
a signal to the Senate to kill it.
So the idea that somehow they are washing their hands of any
responsibility, they were complicit in killing the bipartisan
commission.
And now they are here to try to kill a select committee modeled after
a committee that they established when they were in charge.
So enough of the lame excuses. We get it. You don't want to get to
the truth.
I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), the
distinguished chairman of the Democratic Caucus.
[[Page H3327]]
Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, the hypocrisy coming from some in this
Chamber is extraordinary. The radical right consistently claims to be
the party of law and order, but they refuse to sign off on an
investigation into the January 6 violent attack on the Capitol, which
embodied lawlessness and disorder.
They have chosen party over patriotism. They have chosen autocracy
over democracy. They have chosen the big lie over the rule of law. They
have chosen conspiracy theories over the Constitution. And, yes, they
have chosen the most corrupt President in American history over the
peaceful transfer of power.
But truth crushed to the ground will rise again, and we will uncover
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth whether you like
it or not.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman
from Texas (Ms. Van Duyne).
Ms. VAN DUYNE. Madam Speaker, I ran for Congress, like many of my
colleagues, to make change, to represent my district well, and to work
hard with my colleagues in a bipartisan way to deliver the solutions
that the American people expect from us.
Unfortunately, we are again here today using the taxpayers' time to
play a part in more political theater.
January 6 was a terrible day for this institution, for the Capitol
Police, the Members and the staff serving here, and the country. That
is why the Senate Rules Committee conducted a thorough investigation
into the events that day and publicly released their findings. That is
why there are still investigations going on at Federal agencies. That
is why the House Committee on Appropriations, Financial Services,
Homeland Security, Judiciary, and Oversight and Reform are still
conducting investigations.
The redundancy of another committee is not only unnecessary, but it
is a distraction. It is a distraction meant to mask humanitarian
failures at the border, massive spikes in crime in cities across the
country, and absolute inept leadership in confronting our foreign
adversaries.
The Speaker's obsession with dominating this investigation is
concerning. Her puppet committee has no prohibition on interfering with
ongoing law enforcement investigations, potentially distracting from
putting those responsible behind bars, because it is clear that this is
not the priority here. The only priority here is a self-serving agenda
to put D.C. politicians first and give them their cable news talking
points.
If we are going to spend time and resources on investigations, we
should be doing many things in this House that have been ignored by the
Democrats, like investigating the origins of COVID to hold China
accountable, cleaning up a humanitarian crisis at the border created by
Democrat policies. But there is no outrage on the left for half a
million people who died of COVID, for the countless children who have
been harmed at our border.
I will be voting ``no'' on this select committee.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I am sorry that the previous speaker
doesn't see the importance of trying to get to the bottom of an attack
on our democracy.
And by the way, for the Record, the gentlewoman voted against the
bipartisan commission.
I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B.
Maloney), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight
and Reform.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentleman for
yielding and for his leadership.
I rise today in strong support of Speaker Pelosi's resolution to
establish a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on our
Capitol. I thank the Speaker for her unwavering commitment to
uncovering the truth about what happened that day.
This select committee will be critical to fully understanding the
root causes of the attack on our Capitol and to passing reforms to
ensure that an insurrection never again reaches these Halls or
threatens our democracy.
Over the past 5 months, the Oversight and Reform Committee has made
substantial progress in investigating the attack on our Capitol.
The committee has asked why our Nation's law enforcement agencies
failed to anticipate a domestic terrorist attack that was planned right
out in the open on social media, television, and why critical
assistance took so long to arrive during the attack.
In the course of our investigation, the Oversight and Reform
Committee has found that officials made 12 urgent requests for security
assistance at the Capitol, yet the National Guard did not arrive until
more than 4 hours after the Capitol perimeter was breached and lives
were threatened.
We have found that warnings of the impending assault were passed
directly to the FBI in the weeks before the attack, including that
insurrectionists planned in writing to take the Capitol building. We
plan to take the Capitol building. Yet, in the face of these warnings,
we have found that our Nation's intelligence agencies failed to act.
Our work is far from done, and we must continue to seek the truth
about the January 6 domestic terrorist attack. I look forward to
supporting this select committee and its investigation and working
together to secure our democracy.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume. The gentleman from Massachusetts continues talking about how
this select committee has been modeled after the Select Committee on
Benghazi, but ``modeled'' is a very loose term, given that this
committee obviously has a far more skewed ratio than the Benghazi
committee did.
In addition to that, this committee can all be appointed by the
Speaker. In her own words, she agreed that, yes, she could appoint them
all. In the Select Committee on Benghazi, there were recommendations
taken from the minority to the majority in order to appoint that
membership.
So to say that this has been modeled after Benghazi, maybe because
they have the name ``select committee,'' and that is the model they
use, but certainly the membership and the makeup of this is not the
bipartisan issue that it was on the Select Committee on Benghazi.
Madam Speaker, I have been listening to some of my colleagues on the
other side, and you would think that nothing is being done to
investigate the January 6 attack, and that is wrong.
In addition to the bipartisan Senate investigation that has already
been mentioned, numerous other investigations are under way by both law
enforcement and congressional bodies.
{time} 1415
And as I have mentioned, we have already allocated $10 million for
the Architect of the Capitol to investigate what went wrong that day,
and law enforcement continues to conduct its investigation.
The majority ignores the fact that more than 500 individuals--which
has been mentioned several times--have been arrested or charged in
connection with the January 6 attack, and that investigation will
likely continue for some time.
Instead of ignoring legitimate investigations and launching one of
partisan politics, we ought to let the processes that are already
underway continue. If we don't, we risk undermining the work that is
already being done.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, the language on consultation is the
exact same language that was in the Select Committee on Benghazi.
Let's just be honest. My friends on the other side are not interested
in getting to the truth.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Swalwell).
Mr. SWALWELL. ``Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
the children of God.''
Madam Speaker, we are blessed today that joining us are some of the
heroes from the Metropolitan Police Department and Capitol Police, who
defended this Capitol on January 6. And the questions that they are
asking are the questions that our constituents are asking about January
6.
Will we investigate how our democracy was attacked, or will we send a
green light to allow it to be attacked again?
Will we stand with the cops, or roll with the cop killers?
[[Page H3328]]
Do we want the truth, or will we allow history to be erased?
Are we for the Constitution, or are we for chaos?
Madam Speaker, January 6 was a crime against our democracy and the
heroes of this Capitol. Now we must investigate it. Failing that, we
are lawless and lost.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).
Ms. DEAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, what are they afraid of? The truth?
On January 6, I came to this Chamber to try to understand why some of
my colleagues were engaged in a lie that the 2020 election was stolen
from their candidate. I never expected to finish that day forever
shaken and changed by what happened in this Chamber.
Madam Speaker, I was up in the Gallery, right up here. I remember the
terrifying banging on those doors as we were exited and wearing gas
masks--my fear for my colleagues, the staff, the press, the custodial
staff, the Capitol Police, and the anxiety that my family suffered with
their mom inside as they watched an insurrection on television,
wondering if we would make it out alive.
To be clear, this was a domestic terrorist attack on everyone who
works in this Capitol complex. It was an attack on democracy. It was an
attack on the peaceful transfer of power. It was an attack on our
Nation.
We need a select subcommittee to understand what happened on January
6, where many of our lives were at risk. We need to know the facts and
circumstances. We need to know the truth so that it never happens
again.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I wanted to comment a little on the
comments regarding the makeup of the select committee.
Madam Speaker, it is my understanding that when Speaker Pelosi was
asked if she could veto Republican picks for the select committee,
Speaker Pelosi responded: Yes, we will see who they nominate.
That opens the door for the committee's work to be corrupted even
before it begins, and she continues to have full control over the
members of that committee.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, let me again say it is the exact same
language that was in their Benghazi Select Committee. And I am more
than happy to send over a paper copy so they can see it.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Malinowski).
Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of what is now our
only remaining opportunity to understand the attack on the Capitol.
January 6 was a day when democracy in America almost gave way to
anarchy. It was also the worst day for law enforcement in America since
9/11.
Yes, the courts can tell us who brutally attacked our brave police
officers that day; who tried to stop, by violence, the peaceful
transfer of power from one President to another.
But they can't tell us why this happened; how and why did so many
ordinary Americans come to believe that storming our Capitol was a
perfectly normal thing to do; how did this movement become radicalized,
and what drives it to this day.
Because the lies are still being told, and I am not going to move on
from confronting a lie as others refuse to move on from promoting that
lie.
If somebody voted against a bipartisan commission and opposes this
select committee, it can only be because they don't want to know the
answers to the questions that still remain.
Madam Speaker, I am going to vote ``yes'' because I want to know
those answers so that this will never happen again.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).
Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the truth and justice.
Twenty years ago, we suffered the worst external terrorist attack in
our modern history. But the gravest attack ever on American democracy
came 175 days ago. That attack was borne of big lies; big lies about
the election, about voting, and about our democracy. The lies divided
our country. They spread like a plague.
On December 11, I warned of elected officials amplifying big lies.
The 14th Amendment is clear about traitors and seditionists on the day
the electors tried to do their job. Think about it. We must now hold
everyone responsible. We must know how the spark of insurrection was
ignited and document who fanned the flames.
Madam Speaker, we have a duty to history. Our review will guide
future generations.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
the U.S. Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).
Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill.
On January 6, we witnessed one of the darkest days in our history, a
violent attack on the U.S. Capitol during the formal counting of the
votes on the election of a President. They attempted to destroy our
House, the people's House.
As the elected stewards of this House, it is our responsibility to
investigate the breakdowns and breaches in security that failed us,
that led us to January 6.
It is our collective responsibility to use the authority given to us
for a select panel devoted solely to the proper and thorough
investigation of the facts and causes of the attack; not just the
attackers, but the conspirators and the enablers.
If you can't protect the people's House, God help your family's house
if the former President wishes to loot that as well.
Madam Speaker, consideration and passage of this resolution today is
timely, as Americans across the Nation prepare to celebrate Fourth of
July, the signing of our Declaration of Independence. Our country was
founded on a democratic process of fair elections. I cannot think of a
more genuine celebration of our independence than the commitment to
protect our democracy.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Takano), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs.
Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman McGovern for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Resolution
503, to establish a select committee to investigate the January 6
attack on the United States Capitol.
On January 6, 2021, Americans watched as the U.S. Capitol was overrun
by a violent mob of Trump supporters on a mission to stop the
certification of the electoral college votes. Lawmakers were in this
very Chamber carrying out their constitutional duty when this mob,
incited by then-President Trump, forced them into lockdown. Many feared
for their lives. Our democratic process came to a halt, and,
unfortunately, a Capitol Police officer lost his life.
Madam Speaker, this was an attack on our democracy. We must shine a
light on the truth to prevent something like this from ever happening
again and to hold those responsible for inciting this insurrection
accountable for the damage they have caused.
For the sake of our democracy, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes''
to establish the select committee.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, our country is facing enormous challenges, but instead
of addressing those challenges, we are focused on duplicating work that
has already been done. And I have to repeat that. These investigations
have been done and are ongoing. And it appears as though this select
committee is being done purely for political purposes.
In early June, two Senate committees issued a joint report focusing
on ``security, planning, and response failures related to the violence
and unprecedented attack on January 6.''
[[Page H3329]]
That report was signed by Democrats and Republicans, and it included
a comprehensive audit of the security, intelligence, and authority
failures of that day. It also included substantive recommendations for
moving forward, including tangible action items that can be addressed
by this Congress.
But instead of working in tandem with our Senate counterparts,
Democrats want to politicize this issue even further. At a time when
the American people have little trust in the government, we need to be
working to restore that trust. Unfortunately, this kind of partisan
move will not advance that shared goal.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
Madam Speaker, I was one of the last people off this House floor.
When I walked into the Speaker's lobby, I saw this mob smashing the
window, trying to get at us. And we were protected because of the
Capitol Police and the D.C. police who were here. They protected my
life. They protected your life.
And to them: I apologize that you have to hear this kind of debate, a
partisan attempt to try to undermine a committee that is aimed at
getting at the truth of what happened. You deserve better.
The people who work up here deserve better. Our democracy deserves
better.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs.
Demings).
Mrs. DEMINGS. Madam Speaker, my colleagues way on the other side of
the aisle asked a question: How can we better protect our Capitol
Police?
Well, as a former police chief, let me tell you how.
First, do not replace truth with lies.
Second, uphold the law yourselves.
Third, hold those who beat the police down accountable.
How can you do that without knowing the complete truth, without a
thorough investigation?
My colleagues way on the other side of the aisle brought up the 9/11
Commission being about foreign actors.
Well, let me remind you that the oath that we took says that we will
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all
enemies, foreign and domestic.
Madam Speaker, did they forget? Did they ever really know? Or were
they simply too afraid to care?
Well, I care, and so do my brothers and sisters in blue. We will not
forget, and we will not let you forget either.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
General Leave
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on H.
Res. 503.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding,
and I thank my friend who is managing on the other side.
Madam Speaker, I wanted to come just for a brief minute to clarify
what I heard on this floor. There is not a self-serving mindset today.
There is a serving of the American people, because the American people
have cried out for the reasons why domestic terrorists attacked this
place.
So I say that the Speaker worked bipartisan with Mr. Katko and Mr.
Thompson and gave us an independent commission, but that was not
accepted. So, today, we come because it is not our voices that are
demanding it, it is the American people.
Madam Speaker, I just want to say that I was here for September 11,
and it was the Democrats who had to push for the 9/11 Commission. But
even on that day, there were no Republicans or Democrats. There were no
Northerners or Southerners or West Coast or East Coast. We were not red
State or blue State. We were all simply Americans. And that is where we
find ourselves today.
Madam Speaker, I experienced at that time a gamut of emotions, as I
did on January 6. Because of the Constitution, it is necessary that we
move on this bill today.
Madam Speaker, as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime,
Homeland Security, and Terrorism, and a senior member of the Homeland
Security, and Budget Committees, I rise in strong support of H. Res.
503, which establishes a Select Committee to Investigate the January 6
Attack on the Capitol Complex Act and charged with investigating and
reporting upon the facts and causes of the January 6, 2021 attack on
the U.S. Capitol as well as the influencing factors that may have
provoked the attack on our democracy.
Specifically, the Select Committee's mandate includes:
1. examining and evaluating evidence developed by relevant Federal,
State, and local governments, in a manner that is respectful of ongoing
investigations, regarding the facts and circumstances of the attack;
2. building upon other investigations regarding the attack and
targeted violence and domestic terrorism related to such attack; and
3. reporting its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for
corrective measures taken to prevent future acts of targeted violence
and domestic terrorism and improves the security posture of the United
States Capitol Complex in a manner that preserves the accessibility of
the Capitol Complex for all Americans, and strengthen the security and
resilience of nation and American democratic institutions against
domestic terrorism.
H. Res. 503 establishes a 13-person committee appointed by the
Speaker, with five members appointed after consultation with the House
Republican Leader.
The Select Committee is authorized to issue subpoenas to secure
information to carry out its investigation and is be required to issue
a final report with findings regarding the facts and causes of the
attack, along with recommendations to prevent future attacks on our
democratic institutions .
Like September 11, 2001, we cannot and must not ever forget the
existential threat faced by our democracy on January 6, 2021, when
thousands of domestic terrorists inspired by the 45th President stormed
the U.S. Capitol in a violent, crazed, and desperate effort to disrupt
the Joint Meeting of Congress prescribed by the Constitution to tally
the votes of presidential electors and announce the results to the
nation and the world.
Madam Speaker, the morning of September 11, 2001 is, and will always
be, a day like no other.
It is a day all living Americans will remember because not since
Pearl Harbor had there been such a dastardly and deadly attack on
American soil.
My heart still grieves for those who perished on flights United
Airlines 93, American Airlines 77, American Airlines 11, and United
Airlines 175.
When the sun rose on the morning of September 11, none of us knew
that it would end in an inferno in the magnificent World Trade Center
Towers in New York City and the Pentagon and in the grassy fields of
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Madam Speaker, as hard as it is to believe, out of a tragedy so
overwhelming and horrific, something good and great emerged in the
aftermath of September 11.
On that day there were no Republicans or Democrats; there were no
Northerners or Southerners or West or East Coasters.
We were not Red State or Blue State; we were all simply Americans.
On that day, we were united in our shock and anger and sadness and in
our resolve to defend our country and protect the freedoms that has
made America the greatest country in the history of the world.
I experienced the same gamut of emotions on January 6: grief, hope,
resolve, and fierce commitment to protect our country.
Madam Speaker, the assault on the U.S. Capitol by domestic terrorists
and insurrectionists rightly takes its place as one of the darkest
moments in our nation's history since the Civil War.
Madam Speaker, the January 6 insurrection caused tragic loss of life
and many injuries, while leaving behind widespread physical damage to
the Capitol Complex and emotional trauma for Members, Congressional
employees, and the Capitol Police.
It bears repeating often that the Congress and the nation owe undying
gratitude to the men and women who answered the call of constitutional
duty and heroically won the day on that bloody and deadly afternoon.
That is why I introduced H. Res. 169, a resolution commending the
officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, the
Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC, and other law
enforcement personnel for their selfless and heroic service in defense
of American democracy in responding to the assault on the United States
Capitol by domestic terrorists on January 6, 2021.
H. Res. 169 notes that the January 6, 2021 siege of the Capitol
assault resulted in one of the worst days of injuries for law
enforcement in the United States since the September 11,
[[Page H3330]]
2001, terrorist attacks but that the officers of the United States
Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department of
Washington, DC, and other uniformed law enforcement officers stood
their ground in defense of American democracy while being attacked
metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants, and other weapons.
The resolution conveys the thanks and appreciation of a grateful
nation to them for their selfless and heroic service, encourages all
educational and media institutions throughout the United States to
teach and celebrate the story of their heroism and patriotism; and
calls upon all Americans to read, celebrate, and revere the
Constitution of the United States, fidelity to which is the surest best
means of forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, ensuring
domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the
general welfare, and securing the blessing of liberty to them and their
posterity.
Madam Speaker, the domestic terrorists and seditionists who attacked
the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 were not, as some of their
ardent defenders and apologists across the aisle have stated falsely,
on a ``normal tour visit''; nor was their effort to lay siege to the
Capitol and disrupt the processes of government an act of persons who
love their country.
And it is absurd to suggest that it was a celebration of the United
States and what it stands for when the leading edge of terrorists
desecrated the Capitol by offensively parading the treasonous
Confederate flag through the building and when, because of their
insurrection, several members of law enforcement made the supreme
sacrifice and scores more were seriously injured.
Madam Speaker, I would like to take a few moments to explain why the
intended purpose of the January 6 insurrection--to disrupt the Joint
Meeting of Congress to tally the votes of presidential electors and
announce the results to the nation and the world--was the greatest
threat to the American Experiment since the Civil War when the
proslavery forces would rather make war than let the nation survive and
the pro-freedom forces would accept war rather than let the nation
perish.
Madam Speaker, the Framers had first-hand experience with the types
of abuses and usurpations committed by political leaders who ruled them
but were not accountable to them and detailed many of those wrongs in
the Declaration of Independence.
The Framers understood and declared to the world that democratic
governors derived their powers from the knowing and voluntary consent
of the governed as expressed in free, fair, and unfettered elections
unmarred by the influence or sabotage of any foreign country or entity
not a member of the political community.
The Framers understood that if elections are influenced by foreign
actors or authoritarian forces within, then voters are reduced from the
great role of citizens to mere subjects, and government for and by the
people is a sham.
The most important feature of a democracy is that it is the voters
who alone can confer the legitimate consent and authorization necessary
to govern upon the governors who are then duty-bound to represent the
voters' interests, and only their interests.
Madam Speaker, the fundamental democratic compact between the
governed and the governors is that the latter's authority and
continuance in office comes exclusively from the governed and
allegiance is owed exclusively to the governed.
This agreement can only be reached through free and fair elections, a
breach of which threatens the vitality and viability of the social
contract upon which democratic self-rule of, by, and for the people
depends.
Madam Speaker, President Lincoln called the United States the ``last
best hope of man on earth'' and stated at Gettysburg the importance of
finishing the work we are in to ensure that ``government of the people,
for the people, by the people does not perish from the earth.''
By our actions in voting to establish and empower a Select Committee
to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol Complex, we are
taking an indispensable step in ensuring the preservation of our
democracy, which has been the envy of the world for than 240 years.
I urge all Members to join me in voting for H. Res. 503, establishing
a Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol
Complex Act.
{time} 1430
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Speier).
Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
My heart is racing right now, and I am trembling, in part because I
am recalling what happened to me on January 6, when I was in that
gallery and had to climb around the other side and then lie there on
the floor. Then, I heard a shot ring out, and it took me back over 40
years ago, lying on an airstrip in Guyana about to lose my life. I
thought, at that moment: My God, I survived Guyana, but I am not going
to survive this, in the house of democracy in the country in which I
was born.
For the Members on the other side of the aisle to call this
political, let me remind you, it was political because the President of
the United States at the time thought it was fun and an act of great
patriotism to come up here and try to overturn the election.
So, you may call it political; it was political. But we are going to
find out why it happened, and we are going to make sure it never
happens again.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the bipartisan
Senate Homeland Security report.
Examining the U.S. Capitol Attack: A Review of the Security, Planning,
and Response Failures on January 6
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
U.S. Senator Gary Peters, Chair,
U.S. Senator Rob Portman, Ranking Member.
Committee on Rules and Administration
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Chair,
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, Ranking Member.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On January 6, 2021, the world witnessed a violent and
unprecedented attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Vice President,
Members of Congress, and the democratic process. Rioters,
attempting to disrupt the Joint Session of Congress, broke
into the Capitol building, vandalized and stole property, and
ransacked offices. They attacked members of law enforcement
and threatened the safety and lives of our nation's elected
leaders. Tragically, seven individuals, including three law
enforcement officers, ultimately lost their lives.
Rioters were intent on disrupting the Joint Session, during
which Members of Congress were scheduled to perform their
constitutional obligation to count the electoral votes for
President and Vice President of the United States and
announce the official results of the 2020 election. Due to
the heroism of United States Capitol Police (``USCP'')
officers, along with their federal, state, and local law
enforcement partners, the rioters failed to prevent Congress
from fulfilling its constitutional duty. In the early hours
of January 7, the President of the Senate, Vice President
Pence, announced Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris as the
President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United
States.
This report addresses the security, planning, and response
failures of the entities directly responsible for Capitol
security--USCP and the Capitol Police Board, which is
comprised of the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms and the
Architect of the Capitol as voting members, and the USCP
Chief as a non-voting member--along with critical breakdowns
involving several federal agencies, particularly the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (``FBI''), Department of Homeland
Security (``DHS''), and Department of Defense (``DOD''). The
Committees also made a series of recommendations for the
Capitol Police Board, USCP, federal intelligence agencies,
DOD, and other Capital region law enforcement agencies to
address the intelligence and security failures.
The Committees' investigation uncovered a number of
intelligence and security failures leading up to and on
January 6 that allowed for the breach of the Capitol. These
breakdowns ranged from federal intelligence agencies failing
to warn of a potential for violence to a lack of planning and
preparation by USCP and law enforcement leadership.
The federal Intelligence Community--led by FBI and DHS--did
not issue a threat assessment warning of potential violence
targeting the Capitol on January 6. Law enforcement entities,
including USCP, largely rely on FBI and DHS to assess and
communicate homeland security threats. Throughout 2020, the
FBI and DHS disseminated written documents detailing the
potential for increased violent extremist activity at lawful
protests and targeting of law enforcement and government
facilities and personnel. Despite online calls for violence
at the Capitol, neither the FBI nor DHS issued a threat
assessment or intelligence bulletin warning law enforcement
entities in the National Capital Region of the potential for
violence. FBI and DHS officials stressed the difficulty in
discerning constitutionally protected free speech versus
actionable, credible threats of violence. In testimony before
the Committees, officials from both FBI and DHS acknowledged
that the Intelligence Community needs to improve its handling
and dissemination of threat information from social media and
online message boards.
USCP's intelligence components failed to convey the full
scope of threat information they possessed. Although USCP
mainly relies on the FBI and DHS for intelligence and threat
information, USCP has three components responsible for
intelligence-related activities. These components, and the
materials they produce, are supposed to inform USCP's
security and operational planning. This, however, was not the
case for January 6.
[[Page H3331]]
USCP's lead intelligence component--the Intelligence and
Interagency Coordination Division (``IICD'')--was aware of
the potential for violence in the days and weeks ahead of
January 6. It received information from a variety of sources
about threats of violence focused on the Joint Session and
the Capitol Complex and the large crowds expected to gather
in Washington, D.C. on January 6. Yet, IICD failed to fully
incorporate this information into all of its internal
assessments about January 6 and the Joint Session. As a
result, critical information regarding threats of violence
was not shared with USCP's own officers and other law
enforcement partners.
USCP's preparations for the Joint Session also suffered
because of the decentralized nature of its intelligence
components. On January 5, an employee in a separate USCP
intelligence-related component received information from the
FBI's Norfolk Field Office regarding online discussions of
violence directed at Congress, including that protestors were
coming to Congress ``prepared for war.'' This report, similar
to other information received by IICD, was never distributed
to IICD or USCP leadership before January 6.
USCP was not adequately prepared to prevent or respond to
the January 6 security threats, which contributed to the
breach of the Capitol. Steven Sund, the USCP Chief on January
6, and Yogananda Pittman, who was designated as Acting Chief
after Steven Sund announced his resignation on January 7,
both attributed the breach of the Capitol to intelligence
failures across the federal government. USCP leadership,
however, also failed to prepare a department-wide operational
plan for the Joint Session. Similarly, USCP leadership did
not develop a comprehensive staffing plan for the Joint
Session detailing, among other things, where officers would
be located. USCP could not provide the Committees any
documents showing where officers were located at the start of
the attack and how that changed throughout the attack.
USCP leadership also failed to provide front-line officers
with effective protective equipment or training. Although
USCP activated seven specialty Civil Disturbance Unit
(``CDU'') platoons in advance of the Joint Session, only four
of those platoons were outfitted with special protective
equipment, including helmets, hardened plastic armor, and
shields. The many other USCP officers who fought to defend
the Capitol were left to do so in their daily uniforms. Many
of those front-line officers had not received training in
basic civil disturbance tactics since their initial Recruit
Officer Class training. While some CDU officers were issued
special protective equipment, the platoons were not
authorized to wear the equipment at the beginning of their
shifts. Instead, USCP staged equipment on buses near the
Capitol. In at least one instance, when the platoon attempted
to retrieve the equipment, the bus was locked, leaving the
platoon without access to this critical equipment. USCP also
failed to provide equipment training to support the CDU
platoons and did not authorize CDU platoons to use all
available less-than-lethal munitions, which could have
enhanced officers' ability to push back rioters.
These operational failures were exacerbated by leadership's
failure to clearly communicate during the attack. USCP
leadership gathered in a command center, blocks away from the
Capitol building. Two incident commanders identified as
responsible for relaying information to front-line officers
were forced to engage with rioters during the attack, making
it difficult for them to relay information. As a result,
communications were chaotic, sporadic, and, according to many
front-line officers, non-existent.
Opaque processes and a lack of emergency authority delayed
requests for National Guard assistance. The USCP Chief has no
unilateral authority to request assistance from the National
Guard; the USCP Chief must submit a request for assistance to
the Capitol Police Board for approval. Steven Sund never
submitted a formal request to the Capitol Police Board for
National Guard support in advance of January 6. Instead,
Steven Sund had informal conversations with the House
Sergeant at Arms, Paul Irving, and the Senate Sergeant at
Arms, Michael Stenger, regarding the potential need for
National Guard support. No one ever discussed the possibility
of National Guard support with the Architect of the Capitol,
the third voting member of the Capitol Police Board.
The members of the Capitol Police Board who were in charge
on January 6 did not appear to be fully familiar with the
statutory and regulatory requirements for requesting National
Guard support, which contributed to the delay in deploying
the National Guard to the Capitol. In their testimony before
the Committees, Paul Irving and Steven Sund offered different
accounts of when Steven Sund first requested National Guard
assistance during the attack. Phone records reveal a number
of conversations between Steven Sund and Paul Irving on
January 6. However, because there is no transcription of the
conversations, there is no way for the Committees to
determine when the request was made. National Guard
assistance was delayed while Steven Sund attempted to contact
the Capitol Police Board members and obtain the required
approvals. Regardless of what time the request was made, the
need to await Capitol Police Board approval during an
emergency hindered the ability to request District of
Columbia National Guard (``DCNG'') assistance quickly.
The intelligence failures, coupled with the Capitol Police
Board's failure to request National Guard assistance prior to
January 6, meant DCNG was not activated, staged, and prepared
to quickly respond to an attack on the Capitol. As the attack
unfolded, DOD required time to approve the request and
gather, equip, and instruct its personnel on the mission,
which resulted in additional delays. Prior to January 6, USCP
informed DOD officials on two separate occasions that it was
not seeking DCNG assistance for the Joint Session of
Congress. The D.C. government, by contrast, did request
unarmed troops for traffic support, and on January 6, 154
unarmed DCNG personnel were staged at traffic control points
throughout the city. As the attack unfolded, USCP and the
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
(``MPD'') both pleaded with DOD officials for immediate
assistance. DOD officials claimed they received a
``workable'' request for assistance from USCP at
approximately 2:30 p.m. The request was presented to the
Acting Secretary of Defense and approved at approximately
3:00 p.m. For the next ninety minutes, DOD officials ordered
DCNG personnel to return to the Armory, obtain necessary
gear, and prepare for deployment as leaders quickly prepared
a mission plan. Miscommunication and confusion during
response preparations, demonstrated by conflicting records
about who authorized deployment and at what time, contributed
to the delayed deployment. DCNG began arriving at the Capitol
Complex at 5:20 p.m.--nearly three hours after DOD received
USCP's request for assistance and more than four hours after
the barriers at the Capitol were first breached.
The Committees' Recommendations
Based on the findings of the investigation, the Committees
identified a number of recommendations to address the
intelligence and security failures leading up to and on
January 6. Recommendations specific to the Capitol Complex
include empowering the USCP Chief to request assistance from
the DCNG in emergency situations and passing legislation to
clarify the statutes governing requests for assistance from
executive agencies and departments in nonemergency
situations. To address the preparedness of the USCP, the
Committees recommend improvements to training, equipment,
intelligence collection, and operational planning.
The Committees further recommend intelligence agencies
review and evaluate criteria for issuing and communicating
intelligence assessments and the establishment of standing
``concept of operation'' scenarios and contingency plans to
improve DOD and DCNG response to civil disturbance and
terrorism incidents. These scenarios and plans should detail
what level of DOD or DCNG assistance may be required, what
equipment would be needed for responding personnel, and the
plan for command-and-control during the response.
The Committees' Investigation
Two days after the January 6 attack, the Senate Committee
on Rules and Administration and Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee announced a joint bipartisan
oversight investigation to examine the intelligence and
security failures that led to the attack. On February 23,
2021, the Committees held the first public oversight hearing
on the attack. The hearing, entitled Examining the January 6
Attack on the U.S. Capitol, featured testimony from the USCP
Chief, House Sergeant at Arms, and Senate Sergeant at Arms in
charge on January 6. The Committees also heard testimony from
the Acting Chief of MPD. One week later, on March 3, 2021,
the Committees held a second oversight hearing, which
included witnesses from DOD, DCNG, FBI, and DHS.
As part of their investigation, the Committees reviewed
thousands of documents. The Committees also received written
statements from more than 50 USCP officers about their
experiences. In addition, the Committees interviewed numerous
current and former officials from USCP, Senate Sergeant at
Arms, House Sergeant at Arms, Architect of the Capitol, FBI,
DHS, MPD, DOD, and DCNG. Most entities cooperated with the
Committees' requests. There were notable exceptions, however:
the Department of Justice and DHS have yet to fully comply
with the Committees' requests for information, the Office of
the House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms did not comply
with the Committees' information requests, and a USCP Deputy
Chief of Police declined to be interviewed by the Committees.
The Committees will continue to pursue responses from those
who have failed to fully comply. The oversight of events
related to January 6, including intelligence and security
failures, will continue.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I know we do live in a highly polarized time, but
despite the partisanship that so often plagues the House of
Representatives, there is no reason this select committee should not be
wholly bipartisan. In fact, that is what the American people demand.
Unfortunately, the resolution ensures that bipartisanship will not
happen. The result will be a divided report focused more on a narrative
than a solution, and that is why I asked that we
[[Page H3332]]
submit that Senate report as part of the Record.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I have great respect for the gentlewoman. We serve on
the Rules Committee together, and she has a tough job here today. But,
I mean, come on. Give me a break.
I mean, we had a bipartisan commission, equally divided, equal
subpoena power, and they voted against it. The minority leader of this
House whipped against it and fought against it and convinced the Senate
to try to kill it.
I have noticed that there is a lack of Republicans who have the
backbone to come down here and explain to the American people why they
won't support the bipartisan commission or this select commission,
because they don't want to be on record as defending a position aimed
at not getting to the truth.
This is a moment that, quite frankly, people are going to remember. I
best point that out because it is stunning to me.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, the American public watching this debate
must think that some of the verbiage was written by Lewis Carroll.
Lewis Carroll, of course, wrote ``Alice in Wonderland,'' where up was
down, black was white, left was right, and right was left.
There is an advantage, I would tell you, of not having served here
for some time because you don't know what happened in the past. The
gentlewoman who represents the Rules Committee said, gee, there have
been other investigations.
I remember how outraged I was when the Republicans had the eighth
investigation of Benghazi, outraged not only because, as it has been
opined by the gentlewoman, that, oh, we looked at this, but because for
the first seven times, they found nothing there, ``they'' being the
Republicans. And so, they logically concluded, we need to have another
study until we get the answer we want.
Lo and behold, the investigator, Mr. Gowdy, felt to be a person of
extraordinary intellect, which he was, had a study, a partisan study,
and found exactly the same outcome.
The studies to date have found that there were many things done
wrong, but they were limited in their scope, which is, of course, the
one thing that the Republicans wanted to do with the bipartisan
commission they asked for, that the Speaker gave them: five Democrats,
five Republicans; equal power over subpoenas. And the staffing,
clearly, had been worked out on the Senate side.
In the final analysis, the issue was really: See no evil, hear no
evil, speak no evil.
Madam Speaker, like many of our colleagues and many Americans, I had
hoped that Congress would establish a bipartisan commission to
investigate the terrible, tragic, almost unthinkable events of January
6, when we saw Americans assault this Capitol, these Representatives on
this floor and the floor down the hall, calling for the death of the
Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House, one
of the most tragic events in the history of our country.
The House brought a bill to this floor. The Speaker brought to this
floor what the minority leader asked for, except for one thing, scope,
the fear that we would look at the very essence of what January 6 was
about.
Yes, some accuse us of concluding that, because the President
recruited people to come to Washington, incited them in a fiery speech,
and then deployed them to the Capitol of the United States, Heaven
forbid that we would look at him as being a cause of that event. That
is only three things that he did.
The House voted on May 19 to do exactly that. And then what happened?
Well, the Republicans all voted against it. Not everyone, strike that.
There were a few courageous souls that did vote for it because they
wanted to see the truth and get the truth. In fact, some of them
articulated the truth, and to that extent, their party kicked them out
of the leadership.
That is what they said: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. The
Bible says the truth shall set you free, and the people need to know
the truth because that is what will keep them free.
We voted, with hopes that the Senate would concur in the House's
judgment, that a bipartisan commission consistent with what Leader
McCarthy asked for, except for scope--we wanted the commission to be
able to look at the event that was the cause of the commission's
creation. Afterward, however, the former President tweeted:
``Republicans in the House and Senate should not approve the Democratic
trap of the January 6 commission.''
What was the truth? That was the trap. That was the trap that the
President feared. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
The Senate was forced to choose between a bipartisan process that
many Republicans had earlier supported--you remember, of course, that
the ranking member of the committee that reported out the commission
bill supported it and urged his colleagues to do so as well. It was not
a partisan effort; it was a bipartisan effort. But, of course, Mr.
Trump hadn't spoken at that point in time.
They were forced to choose between the President and the truth.
Sadly, they chose former President Trump, not truth.
However, the American people are still demanding answers and
accountability, and they deserve both. They want to know that steps are
being taken to understand what happened and take measures to ensure
that it never happens again. It had never happened before, and we don't
want it to happen again.
Just like after the 9/11 attacks, we need to come together, as we did
after 9/11, to ensure that a full investigation is conducted on an
independent and bipartisan basis.
Now, yes, this select committee is not even, as other investigative
committees have not been even. We would prefer even, which is why we
brought it to the floor. Mr. Katko preferred even, which is why we
brought it to the floor. Mr. McCarthy had asked for even, which is why
we brought even to the floor. Sadly, House and Senate Republicans made
it impossible to establish a commission on a bipartisan basis because
you have reached your conclusion. And your conclusion is: Let's move
on. Let bygones be bygones. Let the past be forgotten.
Who said that? John Thune. He said: We don't want to--the gentlewoman
has said it. All they want to do is drag this on because we don't want
it to adversely affect our election. That is what was said. Senator
Thune essentially said that.
Notwithstanding that, the House is going to do its job, and we are
going to create this select committee to achieve the goal of truth. We
will do it on behalf of the people we represent, who watched in horror
as their Capitol was assaulted by a violent mob bent on overturning a
United States election. That is insurrection.
The people who thought it was a tourist visit I don't think were on
the floor. You heard the gentlewoman from California talk about her
experience. It was not a tourist experience.
I hope my Republican friends will participate in this committee's
work in good faith with their Democratic colleagues to carry out its
mission. If they see things being done that are not the truth, then
they ought to tell the truth. They ought to bring up the facts as they
see them.
That is what our adversary system is. We have an adversary system
here in this House. We have an adversary system in our legal system.
Engage, be involved, raise the flag as you see it.
{time} 1445
I hope we can come together to create the bipartisan commission so
many have sought and still seek. The launching of this new select
committee will not preclude the alternative objective.
So I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this resolution today,
and I hope we can begin to uncover exactly what happened and take
responsible steps to prevent the events of January 6 from reoccurring,
and, yes, find out who is responsible.
Who is responsible for inciting a mob to come to the Capitol of the
United States to overturn the election of the President of the United
States?
That was their stated intent.
[[Page H3333]]
Madam Speaker, I urge a strong vote for this select committee
Americans deserve and want and let us pray they get the truth.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup).
Mr. WENSTRUP. Madam Speaker, I have heard it mentioned here today
Democrats telling us why we voted against the bill. They didn't ask us.
I can tell you why I voted against the bill before. And I think it is
known by the other side, because I offered an amendment to this bill
for a commission, that if you are very serious and curious about the
defense posture of this building and the posture of those who work in
it, then would you please include in this commission to investigate and
look at the events of June 14, 2017, at the baseball field?
Do you know what, Madam Speaker?
There weren't any Democrats there that day except for one, the one
that tried to kill us.
Madam Speaker, you talked about an insurrection. If not for the
Capitol Police being there that day, 20 to 30 Members of Congress from
the House of Representatives on the Republican side may have been
assassinated that day changing the balance of power in this Congress.
That is an insurrection.
Why is it the Democrats voted that down to include that as part of
the commission?
No one could explain that. It has all got to be about one event.
I do not condone for one second what happened here on January 6--not
for one second--but if you are serious, Madam Speaker, about looking at
what we need and what goes on and what inspires people to attack this
building and the people who work here, then let's take a look at
everything.
Why aren't we including the event on Good Friday when the gentleman
drove up and killed a Capitol Policeman?
He could have had a car full of explosives and pulled a Timothy
McVeigh-type of event.
Why are we not looking at that as well?
This is incomplete, and it is insufficient.
After the events on June 14, 2017, Speaker Paul Ryan stood in this
Chamber and got applause from both sides of the aisle when he said:
``An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.''
We didn't hear that this time, did we?
No, we did not.
This has been created as a partisan issue at a time when it should
not be partisan. If you are not partisan, Madam Speaker, then you
include all the things that threaten us, that threaten this body, that
threaten this building, and that threaten the people who work in it.
Let's be serious. If you are serious, be inclusive, be complete, and
do the right thing.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Mr. McGOVERN. May I inquire of the gentlewoman how many speakers
remain on her side.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, that is it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I have one additional speaker.
Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I want to just correct the Record on what the previous
speaker has just said. The bill that he referred to was not written by
Democrats. The bill that he referred to, the bipartisan commission, was
written by Democrats and Republicans. It was written in consultation by
the minority leader's designee, Mr. Katko. It was presented to the
Rules Committee in a bipartisan way. This was a bipartisan product.
I share the gentleman's outrage over the attack against the shooting
of Republican Members, including the distinguished minority whip,
during that baseball practice. But I would just say to the gentleman,
respectfully, my friends on the other side of the aisle were in charge
of this institution then. They could have called for an independent
committee to look into that, and I think all of us would have supported
that.
Let me just say, Madam Speaker, that I assume many of my colleagues
on the other side of the aisle are getting their talking points from
the minority leader.
I have to tell you, Madam Speaker, I get why the mother of Officer
Sicknick who lost his life defending us on January 6 said yesterday
that she was disappointed with her meeting with Minority Leader
McCarthy.
I was hoping that maybe the minority leader would come to the floor
and explain to us why he objected to the bipartisan commission, why he
objects to the select committee, and why he objects to getting to the
truth. But apparently he is not coming. Because, Madam Speaker, there
was no rational explanation for putting up roadblocks to get to the
truth unless you are trying to keep it hidden.
I am reminded of that old line: If you have got nothing to hide, you
have got nothing to fear.
So what are my Republican friends so afraid of, Madam Speaker?
Does a defeated and disgraced President hold so much sway that they
are forever unwilling to investigate what happened here?
There was an insurrection in the United States of America, and each
of us not only has the ability to figure out what happened, but we have
an obligation to do so. An obligation that is more important than party
and should come before the whims of any one man, and that includes the
former occupant of the White House. So I urge my colleagues to uphold
that solemn duty today.
Our system of government isn't guaranteed. It is a choice. Keeping it
takes work, and it is time we finally did the work of defending our
democracy after a literal insurrection and allow the process of getting
to the bottom of what happened on January 6 commence.
I was here. I was presiding over the House when this attack happened.
I assumed the chair after the Speaker left. I went out into the
hallway, and I saw these people who were crazed trying to get at us. My
colleagues were here. Our staff was here. The people who support this
campus were here.
The Capitol Police protected us. I mean, I get it. My friends have
turned this into some sort of partisan issue. It isn't.
Please, I hope everybody before they vote will think of not just
Donald Trump or not just what the minority leader instructs them to do,
but think of our police who defended us, think of their staff who put
their lives at risk, and think of everybody who works on this campus.
They deserve a hell of a lot better than what they are getting here
today.
So, Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the
select committee, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time
to close.
Madam Speaker, I oppose H. Res. 503. The events of January 6 were
tragic in so many ways and certainly demand a real investigation, but
bipartisan investigations have already taken place in the Senate, and
law enforcement also continues to investigate.
We all share the concern for what happened here in Washington, D.C.,
on that day, and it can never happen again. But unless Democrats
abandon their desires for a predetermined outcome, we are doing the
American people a disservice.
Moving forward and making sure that it never happens again requires a
fully bipartisan solution, not a partisan committee rigged from the
start. This resolution is rife with partisan politics at its worst.
Madam Speaker, I urge Members to oppose H. Res. 503, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for
his bringing this important legislation to the floor. I thank our
distinguished majority leader for his clarity in presenting the case
for this legislation and all of our colleagues who have come to the
floor on the Democratic side in the search of truth, justice, and
security for our country.
Madam Speaker, I particularly thank Mr. McGovern because on the night
of this insurrection, I was in the chair, the security came and pulled
me out. He took the chair. He risked his life to take the chair as the
assaulters of our Capitol were out to get me with a bullet in the head
or to hang the Vice
[[Page H3334]]
President of the United States, assault the lives of Members of
Congress, traumatize our staff, and disrespect the workers in the
Capitol.
It was not an ordinary tourist day in the Capitol as the Republicans
have characterized. Republicans have characterized it as a normal day
in the Congress, when we have pictures of those very same people
pushing furniture against the door to keep the intruders out.
We are under the dome of the Capitol, a dome that was built by
Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War when people said to him: No, we
need the steel, the this and the that to fight the war.
He said: No, we need to show our determination.
Madam Speaker, 1 year into the devastation of the Civil War,
President Abraham Lincoln sent a message to Congress imploring Members
to join as one to save the Union.
He said: ``Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this
Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of
ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one
or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us
down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.''
Madam Speaker, today we go on record. We too have a responsibility,
as was described by President Lincoln. We too cannot escape history. We
have a duty to the Constitution and to the American people to find the
truth of January 6 and to ensure that such an assault on our Democracy
can never happen again.
Rather than being frivolous with the facts, we are going to be
prayerful and patriotic and honor the concerns of the American people
by seeking and finding the truth to protect our country from any future
or similar assault.
As has been said many times, that day, January 6, was one of the
darkest days of our history. For the Members, the police officers, the
staff, the press, and the support workers who were there, the memory of
that day remains seared in our memory: the sounds of glass shattering,
officers fighting, rioters chanting, the smell of teargas and the taste
of smoke in the air and the sight of people fleeing the Capitol or
barricading doors as Republicans and Democrats did that night, and the
sense of terror, hundreds of people fearing for their lives.
In the aftermath, over 140 members of law enforcement were physically
and seriously harmed, five people died, and staff, workers, press, and
Members were and still remain traumatized by the experience.
The sheer scale of the violence of that day is shocking. But what is
just as shocking is remembering why this violence occurred: to block
the certification of an election and the peaceful transfer of power
that is the cornerstone of our Democracy. It was a date actually
required by the Constitution. It was not just another tourist day in
the Capitol.
Congress returned to the Capitol that same night to accomplish our
constitutional duty--that same night. Thanks to the workers, the
maintenance people here, the Capitol Police, and the rest, we were able
to return and send a message to the world that this Congress would
honor its constitutional duties regardless of the assault that was made
on it.
This was important, and it was bipartisan in the decision. Mr. Hoyer
and Mr. McConnell agreed that we would come back.
Where others were saying: Go to an undisclosed location; we said: No,
we are going to the Capitol.
Congress returned to the Capitol, as I said, to honor that
responsibility. We showed the insurrectionists, the country, and the
world that we would not be diverted from our duty. We could do that
because of the courage of the Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police,
and other law enforcement, some of whom are with us today.
{time} 1500
I especially want to recognize Gladys Sicknick, the mother of Brian,
who gave his life; and Sandra Garza, his friend and partner.
But it is clear that January 6 was not simply an attack on the
Capitol building. It was an attack on our democracy. Every Member here
knows that January 6 was an attempt to subvert our democracy.
But many across the aisle refuse to admit the truth. They refused to
admit the truth when they voted against certifying President Biden's
election that night. They refused to admit the truth when they voted
against the creating of a bipartisan commission to investigate the
attack. They refused to admit the truth when they called that day a
``normal tourist visit.''
And, today, when many will vote against establishing a select
committee to investigate that day, they will, again, refuse to admit
the truth. But they did that; 100 percent of them voted ``no'' against
putting resources to ensure the security of our Capitol Police and the
security of this building. 175 Republicans voted ``no'' when it came
time for the commission, 35 ``yeses'' on the Republican side.
I am heartbroken that we don't have the bipartisan commission. We
yielded on every point.
Numbers, as Mr. Hoyer said, the numbers, the process for subpoenas,
the timing, and further yielded on the Senate side on timing again, as
well as clarification on staffing, that was never in doubt, but they
wanted further clarification.
They thought--the Republican Senators thought that they could win the
day over there. They thought they could. And they thought they had the
votes, until the Minority Leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, asked
them to do him a personal favor and vote against the commission.
Too many of them chose to do Mitch McConnell a personal favor rather
than to perform their patriotic duty. And, hence, despite the fact that
seven Republican Members either voted or said they would vote for the
commission, it was defeated.
They said: Give us another week; give us another week; give us
another week; give us another week.
Now it is almost--well, it is 4\1/2\ weeks, and we must go forward.
It does not appear at this time that we can have a bipartisan
commission, outside commission. Hopefully, that could still happen.
But, in the meantime, we will have a select committee.
This is not unlike what happened in 2001, at the time of the 9/11
Commission. 9/11 happened exactly then, 9/11/2001. It took more than 1
year to get the commission. It was signed into law by the President on
November 27, 2002.
In the meantime, there was a Congressional investigation, which was
useful to the commission when they finally were formed. So perhaps we
can still hope for that, but we cannot wait for it.
To do that, we believe that Congress must, in the spirit of
bipartisanship and patriotism, establish this commission. And it will
be conducted with dignity, with patriotism, with respect for the
American people so that they can know the truth.
It is a funny thing about Mitch saying he wanted them to do him a
personal favor. Oh, my goodness.
We had a commission on this side of the Capitol. Bennie Thompson, our
distinguished chair of the Homeland Security Committee, working with
the ranking member of the committee, Mr. Katko, put together a
bipartisan commission. Only 35 Republicans voted for it, even though we
responded to every one of their concerns, except, as Mr. Hoyer said,
scope. Scope. They just did not want to go to the truth, sadly.
That is why there will be--and, today, we are establishing--a select
committee on the January 6 insurrection. It will investigate and report
upon the facts and causes of the attack. It will report on conclusions
and recommendations for preventing any future assault. And it will find
the truth, which, clearly, the Republicans fear; but, hopefully, not
across the country.
This committee is about our security, ensuring that a future attack
does not happen. It is about patriotism and democracy, ensuring that
Congress can continue to serve the American people.
Mr. Hoyer rightfully pointed out that, as the other side likes to
say, oh, the Senate did a bipartisan--they were very limited in what
they were allowed to do. They were only allowed to investigate the
security of the building, not the cause of it, not the fact that it was
an insurrection incited by the executive branch. None of that was
allowed.
So don't use that as an excuse not to have a fuller investigation of
the underlying causes of what happened, the underlying causes of white
supremacists and anti-Semites; one man with a
[[Page H3335]]
Camp Auschwitz shirt on: Six million are not enough.
You would think they would reject that. Not just a normal day of
tourism in the Capitol.
In that message to the Congress that I quoted in the beginning from
President Lincoln, it concluded by clearly declaring: ``We shall nobly
save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth. The way is plain,
peaceful, generous, just--a way which, if followed, the world will
forever applaud, and God must forever bless.''
He also said: ``We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do
know how to save it. We . . . hold the power, and bear the
responsibility.''
Today, we, too, hold the power and bear the responsibility. Let all
Members do what is right and vote for this legislation. We will be
judged by future generations as to how we value our democracy. Let's be
on the right side not only of history, but the right side of the
future.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``aye.''
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 504, the previous question is ordered on
the resolution and the preamble.
The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 222,
nays 190, not voting 19, as follows:
[Roll No. 197]
YEAS--222
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Auchincloss
Axne
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Bourdeaux
Bowman
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brown
Brownley
Bush
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson
Carter (LA)
Cartwright
Case
Casten
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cheney
Chu
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Craig
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Davids (KS)
Davis, Danny K.
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Fletcher
Foster
Frankel, Lois
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Golden
Gomez
Gonzalez, Vicente
Gottheimer
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Harder (CA)
Hayes
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jacobs (CA)
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Jones
Kahele
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim (NJ)
Kind
Kinzinger
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Leger Fernandez
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lieu
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Manning
Matsui
McBath
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Mfume
Moore (WI)
Morelle
Moulton
Mrvan
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Newman
Norcross
O'Halleran
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Ross
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Sewell
Sherman
Sherrill
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (WA)
Soto
Spanberger
Speier
Stansbury
Stanton
Stevens
Strickland
Suozzi
Swalwell
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres (NY)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wexton
Wild
Williams (GA)
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NAYS--190
Aderholt
Allen
Amodei
Armstrong
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Barr
Bentz
Bergman
Bice (OK)
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (NC)
Boebert
Bost
Brady
Brooks
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Calvert
Cammack
Carl
Carter (TX)
Cawthorn
Chabot
Cline
Clyde
Cole
Comer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Curtis
Davidson
Davis, Rodney
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Donalds
Duncan
Dunn
Emmer
Estes
Fallon
Feenstra
Ferguson
Fischbach
Fitzgerald
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franklin, C. Scott
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garbarino
Garcia (CA)
Gibbs
Gimenez
Gonzales, Tony
Gonzalez (OH)
Gooden (TX)
Gosar
Granger
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Greene (GA)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hagedorn
Harris
Harshbarger
Hartzler
Hern
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Hill
Hinson
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Jacobs (NY)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Katko
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
Kim (CA)
Kustoff
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
LaTurner
Lesko
Letlow
Long
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Mace
Malliotakis
Mann
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClain
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
Meijer
Meuser
Miller (WV)
Miller-Meeks
Moolenaar
Mooney
Moore (AL)
Moore (UT)
Mullin
Murphy (NC)
Nehls
Newhouse
Norman
Nunes
Obernolte
Owens
Palazzo
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Posey
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (SC)
Rodgers (WA)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rosendale
Rouzer
Rutherford
Salazar
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sessions
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spartz
Stauber
Steel
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Stewart
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Timmons
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Van Drew
Van Duyne
Wagner
Walberg
Walorski
Waltz
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Young
Zeldin
NOT VOTING--19
Arrington
Banks
Carter (GA)
Cloud
Fulcher
Gohmert
Good (VA)
Herrell
Higgins (LA)
Issa
Jackson
Johnson (LA)
Miller (IL)
Pfluger
Rose
Roy
Tiffany
Weber (TX)
Williams (TX)
{time} 1545
Mrs. KIM of California and Mr. VAN DREW changed their vote from
``yea'' to ``nay.''
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress
Babin (Nehls)
Boebert (Gosar)
Cardenas (Gomez)
Cawthorn (Nehls)
Cohen (Beyer)
Comer (Cammack)
Fallon (Nehls)
Gallego (Gomez)
Garcia (TX) (Jeffries)
Grijalva (Stanton)
Horsford (Jeffries)
Jacobs (NY) (Garbarino)
Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)
Kirkpatrick (Stanton)
Lawson (FL) (Evans)
Leger Fernandez (Jacobs (CA))
Lieu (Beyer)
Long (Fleischmann)
Lowenthal (Beyer)
McClain (Bergman)
Meng (Jeffries)
Mullin (Lucas)
Napolitano (Correa)
Norman (Wilson (SC))
Owens (Stewart)
Payne (Pallone)
Ruiz (Aguilar)
Rush (Underwood)
Sewell (DelBene)
Steube (Franklin, C. Scott)
Strickland (DelBene)
Timmons (Gonzalez (OH))
Wilson (FL) (Hayes)
Young (Mast)
____________________