[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 129 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5031-S5032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CAPITOL POLICE

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, this has been one of the most difficult 
years ever for the Capitol Police here in Washington. These are men and 
women who have worked in this building and nearby in our office 
buildings and protect us to make sure we can come safely to work every 
single day and our staff and our visitors and tourists who come to the 
Capitol Building. These men and women are amazing.
  We know that January 6, 2021, is a date that they will never forget. 
They were on the front lines of the violent January 6 insurrection that 
shocked this building, our Nation, and the world. Hundreds of Capitol 
Police literally fought for hours that day to protect this building and 
to protect me and other Members of the U.S. Senate.
  The attack left one Capitol officer, Brian Sicknick, dead and more 
than 140 total officers from the Capitol Police and DC Police injured. 
Some members said it was the most savage fighting they have ever 
witnessed or been part of. Many of them thought they would die that 
day, yet they were back at their post the very next day and the day 
after that, and the day after that, and this morning too.
  On April 2, the Capitol Police were still struggling to heal from the 
insurrection when their department suffered another devastating loss. A 
driver rammed his car into a barricade just outside the Capitol, a 
barricade I go through every morning. And one officer was injured and 
another officer, Billy Evans, was killed--killed. The memorial to him 
is still out at that barricade.
  Only once before in the 193-year history of the Capitol Police had 
the department lost two members in the line of duty in the same year. 
That was on July 24, 1998. This coming Saturday is the anniversary of 
that event, the 23rd anniversary of the murders of Capitol Police 
Officers Jacob ``J.J.'' Chestnut and Detective John Gibson.
  It happened on a Friday afternoon. I remember the day. Most Members 
of Congress had already gone home for the weekend, but the Capitol was 
still filled with staff and tourists. Officer Chestnut was at his post 
guarding an entrance on the east front of the building when a man with 
a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and a history of serious mental 
illness walked in and shot him point-blank in the back of the head. The 
shooter then ran to the nearest opened door, seeking to escape.
  On the other side of that door, Detective Gibson just warned 
congressional staffers to hide under their desks, and he was face-to-
face with that shooter. For the first time in his career, Detective 
Gibson fired his weapon in the line of duty, hitting the man four 
times. The man shot back, hitting Detective Gibson twice. Both officers 
died.
  John Gibson had 18 years with the Capitol Police. J.J. Chestnut, a 
Vietnam veteran, had 20 years in the Air Force before joining the 
Capitol Police. He was ready for retirement. He thought he was going to 
be able to take time off with his family, but he lost his life that 
day.
  They became the first civilians ever to lie in honor in the Capitol 
Rotunda. Today, the Capitol Police headquarters is named after them.
  Their murders remained the darkest days in the history of the Capitol 
Police until January 6, 2021, until a defeated and bitter President 
Donald Trump incited an angry mob and sent them to this Capitol to try 
to overturn a Presidential election.
  The images from that day are sickening and we have seen them over and 
over. On February 3, Brian Sicknick became the third Capitol Police 
officer to lie in honor in the Rotunda.
  I had a chance after that to speak to his parents. They were so proud 
of him and they thought he had a safe job as a policeman. Working at 
the U.S. Capitol, that has to be a safe place to work. Among the 
mourners paying their respect in the Rotunda that day were President 
Biden and the widow of Officer Chestnut
  Mr. President, the men and women who safeguard this Capitol deserve 
more than words from us, more than speeches. They protect us with their 
courage and they stand up and fight for us whenever they are called on.
  Men and women in law enforcement are on the front lines when it comes 
to the Nation's gun violence epidemic. So far this year, at least 36 
police officers in the city of Chicago have been shot or shot at. It is 
too easy for convicted felons and people with serious mental illness to 
get their hands on guns and use them.
  More than 90 percent of the American people--all political faiths--
believe we should have serious background checks to keep guns out of 
the hands of people who will misuse them: Convicted felons, mentally 
unstable people.
  The House passed a bill, H.R. 8, in March that would fortify this 
effort to keep guns out of those hands. Senators Murphy and Manchin 
have been leading the negotiations. They are not coming along very 
well. I wish they were. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us 
in supporting that.
  In the meantime, I hope that we don't allow the events of January 6 
to just become a matter of history. There are still important questions 
we need to answer.
  And the Capitol Police have done something unusual, maybe the first 
time in memory. They have written us a letter and begged us to have a 
commission to really look into and investigate what happened on January 
6. They had so much at stake that day. They risked their lives for us. 
And, sadly, Senator McConnell is not agreeing to move forward on a 
bipartisan commission. Speaker Pelosi is trying to put one together now 
and it is not easy. I commend her for her effort.
  It would be a shame for us to walk away from the events of January 6 
because of worries about political consequences. We owe it to the 
American people. We owe it to the Capitol Police.

[[Page S5032]]

We owe it to the families of those who were injured and those who died 
to do our part to get to the bottom of what led up to January 6.
  If we want this Capitol to be available for future generations to 
visit peacefully in a positive way, let's do our part to make sure we 
get to the bottom and answer that fundamental question.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Booker). The Senator from South Dakota.

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