[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 15, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING THE TRUTH ABOUT JANUARY 6

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, last week the House and Senate oversaw 
the certification of the 2024 election. It was a quick, smooth process. 
There were no riots, no violence. We completed the peaceful transfer of 
power as the Founding Fathers envisioned it.
  Now compare last week's election certification with what we witnessed 
4 years ago. Thousands attacked the Capitol. They shattered windows, 
smashed down doors, assaulted police officers. It was a violent mob and 
people died as a result. It was all in an attempt to stop the 
certification of a legitimate election.
  The insurrectionists and rioters threatened Vice President Pence and 
referred to him as ``dead man walking'' if he didn't illegally reject 
the election results.
  Directly following January 6, leaders on both sides of the aisle 
spoke out against the antidemocratic acts of the day. Former Speaker 
Kevin McCarthy said the violence, destruction, and chaos we saw earlier 
was unacceptable, undemocratic, and un-American. It was the saddest day 
I have ever had serving as a Member of this institution.
  Former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was even more clear in 
his condemnation and assignment of blame. He said: ``There's no 
question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally 
responsible for provoking the events of the day,'' and, ``It was a 
violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful 
transfer of power.''
  Now, 4 years later, there is a concerted effort to rewrite history. 
Our incoming President has called January 6 ``a day of love,'' and 
others have claimed it was a legitimate form of protest.
  Well, I was here. I saw the violence with my own eyes, and the scenes 
we witnessed will haunt this institution forever.
  We need a clear accounting of what happened and a clear 
accountability to ensure this never happens again. Unfortunately, under 
this incoming President, it appears we will get neither.
  The President-elect has said he wants to pardon the rioters. These 
are folks who have been convicted in a court of law. In a dark twist on 
accountability, the President-elect is threatening retribution against 
Democrats and Republicans who served on the committee that investigated 
January 6. They should go to jail, he said, of Members of Congress who 
sought to uncover the truth about January 6.
  Let's recap. The people who broke into the Capitol, and injured 147 
officers, and threatened to kill the Vice President should be pardoned, 
and the elected officials who performed their constitutional duty to 
investigate the largest mass assault of law enforcement officers and 
the greatest assault on our democracy should be jailed.
  This is a perversion of the truth and justice.
  For those of us who were here on Capitol Hill that day, who saw the 
violence, smelled the pepper spray, and heard the screams, we have an 
opportunity to remember that day for what it was: a dark stain on our 
Nation's history.
  We have an opportunity to commemorate those in uniform who bravely 
stood up to the rioters. They didn't just protect me; they protected 
our Republic.
  In 2022, Congress commissioned a memorial to be installed on the 
front of the Capitol listing the names of those who defended the 
Capitol on that fateful day. Three years later, it has yet to be 
mounted.
  We should expect more. If we can't be honest about what happened on 
that day, if we can't, at a minimum, come together to put up a plaque 
commemorating those who protected us and some who gave their last full 
measure of devotion, then perhaps we should install a plaque like the 
one from ``Dante's Inferno,'' ``Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.''

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