[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           January 6 Pardons

  Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to share a 
little bit of maybe a reflection on the pardons of last week.
  Part of the reason why I do, after the President issued the pardons 
for all of the January 6 protesters, I had a friend of mine call me up 
because I had said that some of the protesters probably got swept up in 
the events of the day. But some of those protesters harmed police 
officers, and I can't support that. I said, when I say I wear this pin 
almost every day and when I say I back the blue, I back the blue, 
period.

  I back them when they are beaten by people who came into this Capitol 
on January 6. I back the blue because I am endlessly--over the last 10 
years, I have been to this floor numerous times to mourn the loss of 
more than 80 police officers in North Carolina alone who died in the 
line of duty. I do this time after time after time.
  The Republican Party is the party that stands for law and order and 
law enforcement, in my opinion. I have seen people excuse the protests 
in Kenosha and Portland as just mostly peaceful protests. The amazing 
thing was, when you see this on TV or you see it in the papers, they 
are saying mostly peaceful protests in Portland and Kenosha, and there 
is a building on fire in the background in and around a police 
precinct.
  And in Washington, Federal agents were injured by law enforcement 
officials during the Biden administration. Every single one of us said 
that is inappropriate and those people need to be brought to justice.
  Now, on January 6 of 2021, I was standing right over there in the 
middle of that aisle. My seat was right there. So when we were doing 
the certification of the election, you could hear people had breached 
the building. They were running around the Capitol. They were banging 
on doors. And, finally, my chair being right next to that door, we 
heard a loud crash. And I saw Capitol Police officers say, ``Secure 
that building,'' and run up there to protect the Members who were in 
the Chamber. And we were all here.
  I saw some people immediately go to the Capitol Police so that they 
could take them to safe refuge, and they are the same people who have 
fundraised on a website that is called ActBlue. Fortunately, it has 
been taken down because I ranted enough. After a year, they finally did 
it. But they had a run for justice, 13.12. The alphabetic analog is 
ACAB, which translates into their slogan: ``All Cops Are Bastards.''
  How does this relate? They raised money on it. In fact, they even 
encouraged people to do their 13-mile run around police stations to 
disrupt and intimidate police officers.
  Now, how does this relate to everything that is going on here? I was 
the last Senate Member out of this Chamber on that day. In fact, it was 
one of the Vice President's details whom I happen to know that came 
back to me and said, Now you have really got to go. I walked through 
that hallway, down the stairwell that is over there, into the train 
tunnel, and what I saw were police officers who were bleeding; they 
were bruised; and they were beaten down.
  The people who did that were pardoned last week. To those people--and 
I will give the President the benefit of the doubt. I support pardons 
for people who should have never come into the building. I don't know 
if I were President, if I would have pardoned them. But I can actually, 
at least, understand the rationale for those. But I think if you back 
the blue, there can be no equivocation on any exception for someone who 
assaults or murders a police officer.
  The funny--not funny thing. The tragic thing is I just filed two 
bills that would increase the penalties for assaulting a police officer 
and increase the penalty for murdering a police officer as a Federal 
crime up to and including the death penalty. I want to send a message 
to those folks in blue that I, as an elected official and Member of the 
U.S. Senate, will never equivocate when it comes to backing the blue.
  I would argue that if anybody has a problem with them, then call 911 
and tell them you never want them to show up to your door when you are 
in trouble because most people know that the police officers who serve 
us and protect us in this building are great people.
  I have this ask to those who have been pardoned--the QAnon Shaman who 
sat in that chair that the gentleman from Indiana is sitting in now and 
boasting over how he came into this Chamber, do you know what his 
social media tweet was when President Trump gave him a chance and gave 
him a pardon? Now I am going to go buy me some F'ing guns.
  For the others who have been pardoned, be like a handful of some who 
have refused the pardon because they felt like they deserved the 
punishment.
  For those who have received a pardon, view it as the gift that it is. 
Apologize to these police officers for what you did to them. If you do 
that, then I will feel like maybe President Trump gave you a chance to 
redeem yourself.
  But if you come and spike the football in this Capitol Building and 
you pretend like what you did was right, righteous, or justified, 
please do not come anywhere near me.
  It is important, for the past week I have told the police officers 
when I entered the building, I thought the pardons of those who 
assaulted police officers were wrong. I told every one of them. I said, 
I know you shouldn't react to it because you have to be apolitical. But 
I am a political person. I can say whatever I want to and then answer 
to the people of North Carolina.
  But I thought it was important for me to come to the floor and record 
this in the Congressional Record: Particularly, the challenge to the 
people who assaulted police officers, show that you are remorseful. 
Demonstrate that you were wrong. Don't pretend that that pardon means 
that what you did was right.
  For that reason, I felt compelled to come to the floor and make this 
statement because where I come from and where I have been my entire 
public service career, I will never stop backing the blue.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.