[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E836-E837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RAISING CONCERNS WITH EVIDENCE SELECTION BY THE JANUARY 6TH SELECT 
                               COMMITTEE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PAUL A. GOSAR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 28, 2021

  Mr. GOSAR. Madam Speaker, I rise to address matters concerning the 
House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the 
United States Capitol. Others have addressed how the Committee was 
formulated, and how the Democrats vetoed all the Republican nominees 
for the Committee, and instead chose two jack-Republicans. Allowing the 
Democrats to control who the Republicans can pick to serve on their 
side is like having the Milwaukee Bucks choose the starting lineup of 
the Phoenix Suns. That is not my concern today.
  Today, I want to point out the travesty of evidence selection. If we 
want the American public to get to the truth of January 6th, you must 
be able to handle the truth, that means all the truth, including facts 
you don't like or facts that may reflect poorly on people you like.
  In that regard, I object to the failure to release all the evidence 
regarding January 6th. The 14,000 hours of surveillance video has been 
suppressed. Thousands of hours of body camera footage has been 
suppressed. Video and still photographs from official and home security 
systems have been suppressed that would have, and did, record the 
Republican National Committee pipe bomber. The investigation and report 
of the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt has been suppressed. 
All we have seen is one video, which clearly shows an unlawful killing 
by the officer. If there are other videos exonerating him, why haven't 
they been released? We know that Rep. Mullins has stated publicly that 
the officer who unlawfully shot Ashli Babbitt felt remorse and guilt 
for his wrongful actions. But we do not have his own words of 
contrition. Moreover, many criminals show remorse and guilt after the 
event, yet we still prosecute them.
  That brings me to the most well-funded per capita police force in the 
world, the United States Capitol Police. With 2,500 officers, 
protecting the Capitol should have been obtainable. What happened? Why 
were there so

[[Page E837]]

many breaches so quickly? Well, we know that the rank-and-file officers 
want to tell us why, but they were not invited to testify. We need the 
truth, and these men and women need to be able to tell their stories, 
the story of how their own leadership, and the political leadership in 
Washington, D.C., failed them and led to the breaches. I include in the 
Record the press release dated July 28, 2021 from the Capitol Police 
Labor Committee whose voice, like so many, has been silenced by this 
Committee. They need to be heard and the truth needs to come out, even 
if the truth makes political leadership look inept.
       Capitol Police Union to House Committee: ``Hear All Our 
     Voices''
       United States Capitol Police Labor Committee
       Washington, D.C.--Capitol Police Officers are suffering a 
     whole-of-force effect from the January 6th attacks on the 
     U.S. Capitol, says the union representing those officers.
       The Capitol Police Officers' Union welcomed today's 
     testimony from two Capitol police officers and two MPD 
     officers to the House Committee investigating the Jan 6th 
     insurrection.
       Union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said: ``Their testimony is 
     a crucial start to understanding the broad and far-reaching 
     effects on all our officers from the violence that day.''
       ``In support of all our officers, our Union stands ready to 
     provide the Committee with the depth needed to fully grasp 
     the enormity of the events that day and provide the context 
     for how events went so terribly, and tragically, wrong.''
       ``The police response to January 6th represents a 
     disastrous collapse of leadership that was not simply an 
     aberration confined to that one day. It was months and years 
     in the making.''
       ``To fully understand why our officers felt so abandoned, 
     requires an understanding of how they came to be left 
     uninformed and lacking in defenses when it mattered most--
     when an attack on the U.S. Capitol was being fully 
     realized.''
       ``Most importantly, we arrived at that position of 
     vulnerability because the voices of the rank-and-file-
     officers had been ignored for years. There was no 
     collaboration from Capitol Police leaders with the frontline 
     officers, instead it was a top-down approach that left a void 
     of information and planning. As an officer working that day, 
     I can attest, there was NO plan, and certainly no contingency 
     plans by the Chiefs.''
       ``That lack of leadership had tragic consequences. The 
     riots led to the deaths of officers, and injuries to an 
     estimated 140 Capitol Police and MPD officers, some of whom 
     will never return to service.''
       ``As individual officers testified today, they did their 
     best and succeeded in their mission to protect all members of 
     Congress and their staff that day. The Committee needs all 
     the facts to understand why the U.S. Capitol was so 
     vulnerable, and why it will remain vulnerable if the broader 
     rank-and-file officers are not heard.''
       ``The most urgent challenge, is to keep the officers we 
     have right now and that requires a renewed faith in their 
     mission and a restored belief that Congress has their 
     backs.''
       ``Poor morale, inequitable pay and conditions, and a 
     leadership that refuses to engage--these are contributing 
     factors to the events of January 6th and they remain factors 
     still, today.''
       ``The Union asks that the Committee listen to the active-
     duty police officers who have been chosen by the rank and 
     file to represent them.''

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