[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S27-S37]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Anniversary of January 6

  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today joined by Democratic Leader 
Schumer and so many of our colleagues in raising our voices on this 
fifth anniversary of a dark day in American history. Yes, it has been 5 
years, and some on the other side of the aisle may ask, Why are we 
still talking about this? I think we just witnessed why it is important 
to keep talking about this--because the lies continue, the conspiracy 
theories continue, and the truth must be told. We will not let history 
be rewritten.
  The truth is that 5 years ago today, insurrectionists stormed the 
Capitol in an unprecedented attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of 
power. The truth is police were beaten as a violent crowd surged 
forward. The truth is there were Members of Congress literally running 
for their lives, rushed out of this very Chamber and told to hide and 
barricade themselves.
  It was an attack instigated and fueled by lies, a coordinated 
campaign by President Trump to overturn the outcome of the 2020 
Presidential election.
  Now, even on that day, as rioters threatened to hang Vice President 
Pence, Trump tweeted a message to them that the election had been 
stolen; that they were ``patriots''--his words, not mine--that he 
``loved them'' as the violence erupted.
  Special Counsel Jack Smith recently testified that President Trump 
was the ``most culpable and most responsible person'' in this January 6 
conspiracy. He continued, ``These crimes were committed for his 
benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol does not happen 
without him.''
  Now, despite the President's attempts to rewrite history, today, for 
the sake of our democracy and for the sake of future generations, we 
remember and highlight the truth. See, we all vividly remember where we 
were 5 years ago. Unlike most of my colleagues who will speak out, I 
was not in this Chamber 5 years ago. I was still serving as California 
Secretary of State at the time, where I had spent years working to keep 
our elections, not just accessible for all eligible voters, but safe 
and secure, which they have always been despite the claims of the 
President.
  On November 3, 2020, it was my privilege to serve as the chief 
elections officer in the Nation's most populous and diverse State. I 
assure you that, even under the best of circumstances, election 
administrations are complex operations, but in 2020, our election 
workers faced the additional and unprecedented challenge of a global 
health crisis. Those election workers stepped up. They rose to the 
occasion. As a result, California election officials and volunteers 
administered an extremely accessible, secure, and safe election that 
drew an historic turnout, and we saw similar electoral performances 
across the country. By every objective measure, the 2020 election was a 
success.
  But, furious at his loss, none of that mattered to President Trump. 
He didn't just refuse to concede the election; he filed and lost more 
than 60 frivolous lawsuits that challenged the election. He personally 
called State elections officials, including, as I know the Presiding 
Officer will remember, the Georgia secretary of state, asking him to 
find more votes. He also called State legislature leaders in Michigan, 
in Arizona, and in Pennsylvania, trying to pressure them to change the 
official vote results; and he lied to the American people, denying his 
loss. He lied to them again just this morning, to a roomful of House 
Republicans, calling the 2020 Presidential election rigged.
  Online and across the country, President Trump's Big Lie caught fire, 
and, clearly, it is still burning. Sadly, many Republicans participated 
in fanning the flames by spreading false claims of voter fraud for 
political gain. Others stood by silently as President Trump radicalized 
his supporters with these lies. They chose loyalty to Trump over the 
truth, and our Nation paid the price.
  On January 6, we saw, we witnessed, we lived through what was once 
unthinkable--an unprecedented attack on this Capitol by violent 
extremists who were incited by the President. He told a crowd that was 
gathered outside the White House to ``fight like hell'' or ``you're not 
going to have a country anymore.'' Then he pointed them directly at the 
Capitol.
  Armed rioters brutally beat police officers and stormed this 
building. For the first time in our Nation's history, the Confederate 
flag flew inside the Halls of this Capitol. Members of militarized hate 
groups searched the hallways with the intent to kill Democratic- and 
Republican-elected leaders. They found their way to the House floor and 
to this very Chamber to try and stop the certification of the 
Presidential election.
  The deadly January 6 attack will forever remain an ugly stain on 
American history. But, yes, thanks to the bravery of the U.S. Capitol 
Police and other law enforcement officers who risked their lives, 
including five officers who tragically lost their lives, the assault on 
our democracy failed. Still, Speaker Johnson refuses to install a 
plaque--required by law--honoring the police officers who defended the 
Capitol that day. Even this morning, the President is shamefully 
blaming officers for, as he said, deliberately escalating the violence 
that day. But thanks to the strength of the American people and our 
institutions, our democracy has survived. It continues to be tested, 
but it has survived.
  In the aftermath, Congress enacted meaningful changes through the 
Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act.
  Despite this action, we are still not out of the woods. Clearly, 
President Trump's attacks on the right to vote and the very foundation 
of our democracy have continued. In one of his first acts in his second 
term, Trump issued a blanket pardon of more than 1,500 of the 
defendants charged with attacking the Capitol, including more than 
1,200 who were convicted--1,200 convicted. Upon hearing the news of the 
pardon, one of the Capitol Police officers injured that day who 
testified against the rioters felt Trump was ``trying to erase what 
[he] did.'' Not satisfied with that, the January 6 convicts are now 
seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in payouts of taxpayer money.
  Mr. President, I would like to share with all of you that Senator 
Whitehouse and I are introducing new legislation today to bar these 
payouts.
  But this is about more than just payouts and pardons. Trump doesn't 
believe he has done anything wrong. The President continues to work to 
undermine the midterm elections in a desperate attempt to hold onto 
power.

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  Five years after January 6, Trump continues to double down on the Big 
Lie conspiracy. He has already issued an Executive order that threatens 
to seize authority over State elections administration. Thankfully, 
much of it has been blocked by Federal courts, but he is threatening 
more of the same or even a phony national emergency while he tries to 
disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. He has staffed the White 
House, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland 
Security with known election deniers. In 2020, he was trying to make 
calls to Georgia, demanding 11,000 more votes, but now Trump is 
pressuring States to redraw congressional districts to tilt the scales 
before the upcoming midterm elections.
  I refuse to stay silent while Trump tries to rig the next election 
and continue to lie about the last election. We will fight for the 
future of our free and fair elections in this country.
  Mr. President, Senator Whitehouse and I are also leading the No 
Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act to forbid payouts to January 6 
rioters.
  I will continue to press the Office of Special Counsel to investigate 
the many brazen Hatch Act violations related to partisan political 
campaigns being waged from the current Oval Office and the current 
Department of Justice.
  We must defend bipartisan State election administrations in this 
country and take to the floor to warn Americans about the Trump 
administration's efforts to rig election rules ahead of this year's 
midterm elections. American democracy was here long before Trump came 
into power, and it will be here long after he is gone because we will 
continue to fight every anti-voter, undemocratic action this White 
House rolls out.

  I thank my coalition for participating in the floor block this 
afternoon.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. President, 5 years ago, our Nation and democracy 
experienced one of its darkest days when a violent mob--incited by 
President Trump--ransacked the Capitol.
  Brave police officers were beaten, crushed, bear-sprayed, and maced 
while defending our democracy with their bare hands. The sacred Halls 
of Congress, including the Senate floor, where we are standing today, 
were desecrated. Symbols of hate were flown through these sacred halls. 
Worse, blood and more was smeared on the walls and floors. The 
certification of the election was delayed, and later that night, with 
blood still staining the Capitol Grounds, many of the President's 
allies still--still--voted against certifying the election.
  I was in the House of Representatives on January 6. I was in the 
House of Representatives exactly 5 years ago. I was asked by Speaker 
Pelosi to be one of the managers of the floor debate that day, to be 
one of the managers opposing the efforts to decertify the electors, and 
I remember vividly what that day was like.
  I remember being surprised to look up from my notes from where I was 
speaking and rebutting what others were saying to see that Speaker 
Pelosi was no longer presiding in the Chamber. She had been removed so 
quickly that I didn't even see her leave the Chamber. Then I saw the 
Capitol Police come back onto the floor, grab our No. 2, Steny Hoyer, 
and whisk him off the floor. I noticed only peripherally Members were 
on their phones and not in a way that they were texting but, rather, in 
that they were watching. What they were watching, of course, were 
hundreds and thousands of people outside the Capitol who were starting 
to beat their way into this building. Then I could hear them myself 
outside the Chamber as they were banging on doors and trying to get in. 
I remember Capitol Police officers coming back on the floor, making 
sequential and more serious statements about the emergency and that we 
needed to get out our gas masks. I remember grabbing one under my seat 
and the difficulty we all had in just opening them.
  I remember when the Capitol Police came back on the floor and said: 
You need to get out. You need to get out now.
  I remember waiting, as Members fled the floor, until two Republicans 
came up to me.
  One said: You can't let them see you.
  The other said: That's right. I know these people. I can talk to 
these people. I can talk my way through these people. You're in a whole 
different category.
  At first, I was moved by their evident concern for my safety. Then my 
next thought was, if you hadn't been lying about the election, I 
wouldn't need to worry about my safety. None of us would.
  As I walked off the floor and through the tunnels that day, I 
remember thinking back to when I had first been elected and how, a few 
months later, it was 9/11 and how we had gathered on the steps of the 
Capitol--Democrats and Republicans--to sing ``God Bless America.'' That 
tragedy had been unifying for the country, and I remember thinking, on 
January 6, as I walked through those tunnels, that this tragedy would 
not be unifying.
  But little could I have imagined that the person who incited that 
attack on this building--the person who led that first effort to 
prevent the peaceful transfer of power--would once again be President 
and that among his first acts in Congress would be to pardon hundreds 
and hundreds of violent attackers who beat the Capitol Police and 
Metropolitan Police who were defending us on that day or that we would 
hear the rampant kind of denials that we just heard from one of my 
Republican colleagues on this floor--this repugnant, this dangerous, 
this disgraceful effort to rewrite history; to pretend that this was 
somehow this misunderstood, peaceful gathering of tourists on January 
6.
  I was proud to serve on the January 6 Committee. What really came 
home to me while serving on that committee, more than anything else, 
was a large part of what saved us on that day--what saved our democracy 
on that day--which were Republicans of good faith who were willing to 
do their duty and uphold their oath: Brad Raffensperger, who said, when 
the President called him and berated him for an hour to find 11,780 
votes that did not exist, that he would not do it; or Rusty Bowers, the 
Republican speaker in Arizona, who said to Rudy Giuliani, when he was 
urging much the same, that what you are asking me to do is a violation 
of my oath, and he would not do it.
  But now we are seeing a systematic effort to weed out anyone who 
defies the President's false narrative. In hearing after hearing on the 
Senate Judiciary Committee, candidates for high office and for the 
Federal bench cannot be confirmed if they admit that Joe Biden won the 
2020 election and Donald Trump lost. It is a prerequisite to be 
nominated or confirmed that you must adhere to the Big Lie. This is 
where we are.
  Most astonishing to me after January 6 is that I would find our 
democracy in more danger today than I did on that day. The danger has 
grown along with the denial. The danger has grown along with efforts by 
this administration to try to succeed next time where it failed in 
overturning the election by seating within local elections boards 
diehard partisans who will ignore the law in favor of their favored 
partisan candidate; by pushing out election workers; by trying to 
rewrite election laws; by trying to sow doubt in the election system so 
that, if necessary, if they lose the next election, they can try to 
deny and overturn that too. This is the danger that we face.
  We thought democracy was inevitable. We were wrong. As it turns out, 
every generation has its own struggle for democracy.
  Our parents' and grandparents' generations went off to world war to 
defend our democracy. What we have to do is by comparison so much less, 
but it is nevertheless so very important. We have the same obligation 
as those that went before us to preserve this incredible legacy we have 
been given by our Founders.
  I am grateful to Senator Padilla for organizing this special order 
hour for us to remember the horrors of that day, and we dedicate 
ourselves to making sure that something like January 6 never happens in 
this country again.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, my husband and I sheltered in place right

[[Page S29]]

here in this building and prayed that our lock would hold. Five years 
ago, we had to hunker down in the Capitol as alarms blared, glass 
shattered, and rioters stormed the Halls of this building chanting 
``hang Mike Pence.''
  We heard them just outside the room I was in, feet away from this 
Chamber. They were looking for any lawmaker they could find, screaming 
``kill the infidels.'' We felt them bashing against our door trying to 
get in. We held our breath and waited for what seemed like forever.
  And this time every year, it feels like I am still holding my breath 
because I know it wasn't just my husband and I that were in danger that 
day and it wasn't just the windows that were shattered. It was our 
democracy that was under attack--our democracy--and the very idea that 
we use our voices and our votes in this country, not violence.
  And the same forces that ignited the insurrection 5 years ago are 
still here. The same lies are still being spread about the 2020 
election--you just heard some of them--by the same bad actors; the same 
President who told the crowd just hours before that violent 
insurrection that he would march to the Capitol with them is now 
accusing Democrats of treason and sharing calls to execute them.
  And the same violent people--the people who stormed and battered our 
Capitol Police, the people who brought bats and knives and zip ties, 
the people who left blood and feces and broken glass littered 
throughout the Halls of this building--they are walking free today 
because President Trump thinks they were the victims.
  On his first day in office, Trump pardoned rioters who assaulted 
officers with pepper spray and metal poles. Trump pardoned people who 
crushed police with riot shields. Trump pardoned an insurrectionist who 
violently punched, slapped, and swatted police and even choked one 
officer to the ground. Trump pardoned someone who plunged a stun gun 
into a Capitol Police officer's neck.
  Trump pardoned those people and many like them with no care for how 
dangerous or violent they were.
  He even let the leader of the Proud Boys out of prison.
  The story doesn't end there because several people that Trump let out 
of prison are now back in jail for other crimes: gun charges, breaking 
and entering, burglary, a fatal drunk driving accident, child 
pornography, aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault--even plotting to 
kill the FBI agents who investigated them.
  Months after Trump pardoned Christopher Moynihan--one of the first 
rioters to breach the police barricades--he was arrested again for 
threatening the life of Leader Jeffries.
  Make no mistake: Trump's mass pardons were a dangerous endorsement of 
political violence, telling criminals you can beat cops within an inch 
of their life as long as it is in service to President Trump.
  They are also part of an all-out effort by the President and his 
allies to rewrite the history of the insurrection of that day. 
President Trump's Justice Department just took down the public database 
that laid out the thousands of investigations.
  He just put up a website that blames Capitol Police for escalating 
the situation. Seriously. Trump isn't just siding with the rioters; he 
is trying to blame our law enforcement.
  And President Trump's allies in Congress, to this day, have refused 
to hang a plaque honoring our Capitol Police officers for their 
sacrifice.
  We lost a Capitol Police officer that day. Several others took their 
lives in the trauma that followed. Capitol Police officers suffered 
severe injuries--cracked ribs, smashed spinal discs, brain injuries, 
even the loss of an eye--and yet, Speaker Johnson has turned a plaque 
that was meant to be proof of their bravery into proof of his own 
cowardice.
  No matter how many criminals Trump pardons, no matter how many lies 
he tells, and no matter how loudly he tells them, no President can 
rewrite history unless we stand by and let him.
  I, for one, am never forgetting the truth of that day. It is burned 
into my brain, and I am never letting our country forget it either. 
This is a battle I have no doubt we can win. But the challenge before 
us at this moment is greater than just fighting for truth and history.
  It is not enough to make sure that we simply remember the truth of 
the January 6 insurrection. The real fight is to ensure we learn the 
lesson of the January 6 insurrection because there is no reason to 
think the same insurrectionists that are now free and the same 
President--now bolder than ever in challenging our laws and our 
Constitution--won't try once again to get their way through threats and 
through violence.
  Trump has already made clear where he stands on democracy. He made it 
clear 5 years ago when he promised to march on the Capitol. He made it 
clear last year when he pardoned everybody that did storm the Capitol. 
He makes it clear every single day.
  That is why it is incumbent on all of us in this country to be just 
as clear where we stand on democracy, especially when it comes to 
standing up to Trump. Our government of the people, by the people, for 
the people is an amazing accomplishment, but it is not automatic or 
inevitable. It takes work. It takes people speaking up. It takes 
Congress listening and acting.
  At the end of the day, our democracy is only as strong as our 
resolve. It is as enduring as our courage. January 6 was a day that 
tested that resolve. It was a day that tested that courage.
  Frankly, some people in this body failed that test, but 5 years ago 
today, as I sheltered in place steps away from right here, it wasn't 
just the locks that held. The courage of our Capitol Police held. And 
most importantly, the resolve of some leaders to put country before 
party held.
  To my colleagues and to the American people: I know we can continue 
to protect this democracy, but only if we tell the full truth about the 
threat that we faced 5 years ago and the challenges we face today.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise with my colleagues and thank them 
for gathering to talk about this most important anniversary. I think 
all of us are used to giving speeches on the Senate floor to an empty 
Chamber.
  When you grow up and you learn about the Senate, you generally think 
people are here listening to one another, but when you come to the 
Senate, you find that is usually not the case.
  One of the things about January 6, 2021, that was very memorable in 
my mind was that we were all together. We were all here in the midst of 
a most momentous occasion--the certification of the 2020 election 
result--looking each other in the eye. And we all experienced the 
confusion of the Vice President being ushered away and those doors 
shutting--first the glass doors, and then the wooden doors--as the 
Sergeant at Arms told us that the Senate was under attack. We remember 
sheltering here for 45 minutes to an hour before a path had been 
cleared where we could go elsewhere to be safe.
  We remember the brave Senate staff as we were exiting remembering to 
pick up the wooden boxes that contained the certifications from the 
various States so that we could actually complete the work of that day 
and not see those boxes burned by the rioters out on the grounds of the 
Capitol.
  We were all together.
  It somehow seems fitting that as we gather 5 years later, it is an 
empty Chamber again because many want to forget or pretend or ignore 
what happened that day.
  I express my thanks to my colleague from Washington and others to 
make sure that even if we stand in this Chamber virtually alone, we are 
not going to forget, and we won't be silent about what occurred.
  I want to mention three things as I think about those days. Only one 
is a memory that I have, but I want to begin with just telling you the 
names of the five police officers who lost their life defending this 
Capitol. All five were residents of Virginia.
  Brian Sicknick was a member of the Capitol Police, from Springfield, 
VA. He was 42 years old. He had served with the Capitol Police for 13 
years. He was attacked directly by that mob on January 6, and 1 day 
later, on January 7, he died from multiple strokes that occurred just 
hours after that attack.
  Brian Sicknick, 42 years old.

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  It is a little painful to say that the other four names that I am 
going to now read to you and describe were four police officers who 
lost their lives by suicide--who were here defending this Capitol, 
defending us, defending me--and were so traumatized by this seat of 
democracy being attacked by a mob that they lost their lives by suicide 
in the days and weeks after the attack.
  The first was a friend of mine--and I suspect a friend of many--who 
were here: Howie Liebengood, a Capitol Police officer who grew up in 
Vienna, VA. He was 51 years old. He was a 15-year veteran of the U.S. 
Capitol Police.
  Howie was an interesting guy because of his tie to the Senate. His 
father had worked for the Senate during Howie's entire life. This was 
his family. It wasn't just his job. He grew up coming to work with his 
dad. He grew up knowing the Halls of this Capitol as if it was his 
backyard.
  When he graduated from college, he actually tried to break into being 
a NASCAR driver, which was his passion and his dad's passion. But after 
a few years of finding that that was hard to do, he went into the 
family business; he came to the family office, which was the U.S. 
Capitol.
  Most of us remember Howie because he usually worked at the Delaware 
door into the Russell Building where folks come in, that door that 
staff and Senate visitors come in too. And I would see Howie every 
morning. My office is in the Russell Building, one floor up from that 
door where he would be every morning.
  He would be this cheerful guy, greeting you, greeting your staff, 
making a joke, and always quick with a smile and quick with some funny 
quip. Howie just seemed like that kind of classic definition of just 
the hail fellow well met. He didn't ever meet a stranger. He loved this 
place as if it were his home.
  He was here protecting the Capitol on January 6. He saw this place 
that had been his home under attack. This home of democracy, his 
personal home for him, everything in his life--his dad's career, his 
own career, his love for this institution, his love for the people in 
the institution--he saw it under attack by those trying to disrupt our 
democracy.
  His wife Serena, who has also gotten to be a friend, said that Howie 
went into a deep depression. After this, a few days later, he came back 
to work and he actually was in an accident in one of the Capitol Police 
vehicles because his attention was elsewhere.
  One day shortly after that accident, he came home and Serena said he 
seemed to be in a very distant mood, and he went upstairs and, a few 
minutes later, died by suicide.
  I worked with Serena and other Senators, and I do thank Senators for 
this because there was a provision in the benefit for Capitol Police 
officers that, frankly, was a national provision for most that you 
could receive a benefit if your death was in the line of duty. You had 
to prove that it was in the line of duty. If it was during a traffic 
accident or summer vacation, you didn't get a line-of-duty death 
benefit, but there was an exclusion if you died by suicide.
  You weren't even allowed to prove that the mental health or 
depression or the pressure that drove you to die by suicide was 
connected to the line of duty, and that was a bar that was common in 
law enforcement agency benefits packages all over the United States, 
including the Capitol Police.
  I worked with Senator Duckworth and Senate colleagues, and we got 
that law changed, so that law enforcement officers who died by suicide 
after a traumatic event, such as that attack, at least tried to make 
their case that that death was not in vain, but it was a death that was 
connected to your law enforcement career.
  And I worked with Serena on that, and we were able to get the law 
changed in a way that affects Capitol Police and others, that corrects 
an arcane or old-timey view of what suicide is. I think of Howie every 
time I walk in that door. That is the door I come into work every day. 
I have been here for 13 years now. It has been 5 years since January 6, 
2021. But when I walk in that door, and Howie Leavengood is not there, 
I think of him.
  Jeffrey Smith was a Metropolitan Police Officer and lived in Fairfax. 
He was 35 years old. He was a 12-year patrolman with the Metropolitan 
Police Department. Like Howie, he died shortly after the attack by 
suicide.
  Kyle DeFreytag was a Metropolitan Police officer from Alexandria, VA. 
He was 26 years old, had his whole life before him. He was a 5-year 
veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department. He died after the 
attack--after defending this Capitol, after defending us--by suicide.
  Finally, the fifth was Gunther Hashida, who was also from the 
Metropolitan Police, lived in Dumfries, VA, longtime resident of 
Northern Virginia, 43 years old, an 18-year veteran of the Metropolitan 
Police Department, also took his life after the attack by suicide.
  These were law enforcement officers who are tough people who see a 
lot of tough stuff, but they weren't prepared. They weren't prepared to 
deal with an attack on the Capitol motivated by the President of the 
United States, and that caused them to spiral into a depression. And 
they are no longer with us as a result.
  I just felt like it was important that we tell their stories. They 
are Virginians. Their families are Virginians. Their names should not 
be forgotten. Their names should be displayed in the Capitol.
  The second thing I want to say is just one memory from that day, and 
then I will conclude with something that motivates me.
  There was only one thing that day that happened that gave me some, I 
don't know, glimmer of hope, I guess. And I think we all know in life 
that sometimes in dark moments you can get a glimmer of hope, and 
sometimes in really good moments there can be a worm in the apple too. 
It is one of the mysteries of life.
  We were gathered in a room after we had been escorted from this 
Chamber. It was during the thick of COVID, packed full of Senators and 
staff. Everybody but one person, as I recall, was wearing a mask, 
packed together for hours and hours and hours. And we were told by 
Senate officials that the room had been equipped so that we could 
complete the electoral college count and certification in that room.
  And I give some credit to my Senate colleagues because it was 
interesting, without even discussing it, all 100 people looked at each 
other and just said: We are not doing it here. You are going to get the 
Chamber clear. We don't care how many hours it takes, and we are going 
to go back. And we will complete this business in the full view of the 
American public. And we did. But we had to wait for hours to do that 
because it took hours to suppress the attack.
  TV monitors were wheeled into the room so that we could watch what 
was happening. Here was the only thing that happened that put a smile 
on my face that day, and it made me reflect upon who we are as a nation 
and gave me a sense of hope.
  As the Capitol Police, together with the Metropolitan Police, were 
battling to stop the attack, a few hours in, the television showed 
Virginia State police cruisers arriving so Virginia officers could help 
defend democracy.
  And I went over to Senator Warner, my colleague and friend of now 46 
years, and I said: Mark, the last time there was an insurrection 
against the government of the United States, 160 years ago, Virginia 
was leading it. Virginia was leading it. And here we are, and the 
Virginia State Police are arriving at the Capitol to save the Union 
from an insurrection fomented by the Commander in Chief of the United 
States. There was a tragedy in that statement, but there was also 
something positive about the arc of history in a Virginia that had led 
an insurrection and was now so committed to the Union that the first to 
respond, other than those immediately here on the campus, were the 
Virginia State Police.
  The last thing I will say is this, a motivation, because you have got 
to look for motivation on days like this, and you have got to look for 
motivation when you think nobody really cares about what you are 
talking about.
  Senators usually wear Senate pins. I generally don't wear mine 
because I lose everything, and the Senate pin that we wear is actually 
kind of valuable. And I was told when I got here, if you lose it, it 
costs $400 to get a new one. So I have it in a special place, and I 
don't wear it. And I hope I may be

[[Page S31]]

able to give it to one of my kids one day. But this year, 2026, 250 
years of American democracy, I am wearing a different pin, and I have 
been wearing it most days. And it is the Virginia State seal.
  And I will just tell you about the seal quickly. I have talked about 
it once or twice on the floor, but I just feel motivated to talk about 
it again.
  Mr. President, 250 years of American democracy, July 4, 1776, we know 
what happened in Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence. On July 
5, 1776, now on the Fourth, there were a lot of Virginians in 
Philadelphia like Thomas Jefferson and others. The A team was in 
Philadelphia. The B team was in Williamsburg, the Virginia B team.
  And on July 5, 1776, here is what they did: They wrote the Virginia 
bill of rights and passed it. They passed the Virginia Constitution, 
the first constitution. They elected Patrick Henry the first Governor 
of the Commonwealth, and they passed and embraced a draft of a State 
seal that had been designed in 3 days by a four-member committee, 
including George Wythe, who was the dean of the William & Mary Law 
School.
  The seal is an interesting one. It is a woman, an Amazon, sometimes 
controversial because one breast is exposed--it is a figure from Roman 
mythology--standing on top of a deposed Monarch with his crown falling 
off with the motto ``Sic Semper Tyrannis,'' ``Thus be it always to 
tyrants.''
  Of all the States, every State has a motto, but Virginia's is the 
only one that is kind of a warning. New York has a good one, 
``Excelsior,'' ``Onward.'' Most States have great--``Ad Astra Per 
Aspera,'' Kansas, ``To the stars through adversity.'' Michigan is a 
funny one. ``If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.'' I have 
always wondered about that one.
  But Virginia's motto is the only one kind of a warning or rebuke: 
``Thus be it always to tyrants,'' ``Sic Semper Tyrannis.'' And those 
who put this together, they used the future verb tense. They didn't 
say: We don't like tyrants; down with tyrants; King George is a tyrant. 
``Semper'' means always. They used the future verb tense because they 
knew tyranny was not something that was just in the rearview mirror.
  Virginia has never changed its motto. We have never changed our flag. 
We continue to hold out the sad reality that tyranny is a fact of human 
nature, not just a form of government. It is a fact of human nature. 
And the woman standing atop the tyrant in Roman mythology represents 
virtue, and virtue is a permanent factor of human nature as well.
  The Founders believed we had to be on guard against tyranny. The 
Founders also believed, with confidence, that virtue would prevail over 
tyranny but not without our effort. And so standing in a nearly empty 
Chamber today on a day that has meaning to me, and maybe not to a whole 
lot of other people, I just say I am motivated by this. I am motivated 
by the notion that if we put our shoulders to the wheel in this great 
democracy, at 250, we can win out over tyranny. We can turn this year 
of 250 into a celebration of American democracy, not a requiem, not a 
wake, not a saying goodbye but a revitalization.
  And with that, I thank you for your indulgence.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you to my friend Senator Kaine of Virginia for his 
good words, and I thank Senator Padilla for organizing this floor 
block, and all of my colleagues who have come to the floor today. I see 
Senator Peters is waiting.
  Why are we here to speak on this difficult and somber day? Because 5 
years ago today, down to this very hour, the temple of democracy was 
turned into a snake pit of mob violence. Its windows were smashed. Its 
offices vandalized. Lawmakers and our staffs--everyday citizens who 
love their country and work here every day--hid beneath desks and 
feared for their lives.
  Nearly 140 police officers were injured as 5 people lost their lives. 
It is like yesterday to me. I was sitting right at this desk. I had 
just known on January 5, the day before, that I was becoming majority 
leader because we had won the seats in Georgia. And I am sitting there 
and looking at something, and all of a sudden, I feel a hand on my 
collar. It was Michael Lanczycki, the head of my security team. He 
said: You are in danger. We have got to get out of here. I looked up at 
my desk, and I saw Pence being rushed off the platform.
  We went out the door. We made a right turn. We opened another door, 
and we were within 20 feet of these hooligans, one of whom recognized 
me and said: Let's get him.
  Because of the bravery of the Capitol Police officers, nothing bad 
happened to us, but it was a horrible day. Five years later, I want to 
thank my detail, but all the members of the Capitol Police, the DC 
Police, our servicemembers, and all the first responders who helped us. 
You are heroes. On that day, you were the first line of defense for 
democracy--the first line of defense for democracy.
  And it is shameful and cowardly today that the Trump White House has 
tried to rewrite history. Countries fail when they don't learn from 
their history, and yet to blame the Capitol Police force for creating 
violence is sickening. How could they do this? On the one hand, they 
say they love police officers, but right here they blame those here.
  They were our heroes, the Capitol Police officers. And the only ones 
who caused violence were the rioters, egged on by Trump. So we thank 
our heroes. We also mourn those who perished in the days and weeks and 
months after the attack, especially the first responders.
  And, of course, the anniversary here on January 6 comes at a bitter 
and complicated moment. Donald Trump is now back in office. How we 
could have let somebody who did this, hidden by all the propaganda and 
lies that he and his allies in the media and his allies in politics 
propagated, is just incredible. It is confounding. It makes you worry 
about democracy.
  His pardons make a mockery of the rule of law. And on his very first 
day, he pardoned every single convicted insurrectionist--very first day 
as President.
  That speaks loudly as to who Donald Trump is, the lowness of his 
character, the lack of any honor. And, sadly, too many of our 
Republican colleagues remain silent in the face of this obvious evil. 
Too many have tried to rewrite history. Too many are trying to turn the 
criminals into martyrs. We were here. I heard one of them say it was a 
tourist excursion. We were here. It was no tourist excursion. It was no 
tourist excursion at all.
  And while the insurrection lasted just a day, the attack on democracy 
lives on. There are people, young people here, who may be susceptible 
to the same kind of propaganda because they think it happened once and 
the people who did it were heroes and were pardoned.
  So this is dangerous, not only at this moment but in future moments 
and days and months and years ahead.
  And that fight against democracy lives on in the threats against free 
and fair elections; the threats against workers--election workers, poll 
workers; threats live on in Donald Trump's very own Justice Department, 
which has tried to get its hands on State voter data, and it has 
abandoned any fight against voter discrimination.
  And, of course, Donald Trump continues to plug in election deniers 
within the people's government. He makes them heroes. It is making 
night day, turning black into white, white into black.
  The attacks are not over but neither--I want to assure the American 
people--is our fight to protect the democracy we love. The way forward 
is clear: We must speak the truth. We must fight the lies. We must 
never relent on speaking what happened on January 6 in the face of the 
hurricane of lies that comes from Donald Trump and, particularly, so 
many of his media allies.
  To protect democracy, to speak the truth, to reveal and expose the 
lies, this is our moral obligation as Members of this institution and 
as citizens of this democracy.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, it is with heavy hearts that we pause to 
mark the fifth anniversary of the January 6 assault on the U.S. 
Capitol--this

[[Page S32]]

Capitol, this Capitol that represents article I of the Constitution, 
the people's representatives in the House and the Senate, forging the 
vision to be implemented by our Chief Executive.
  There are two ways that a republic can be destroyed. The normal 
vision is with a mob attacking a Capitol or a White House and taking 
over a country in short order. The second way is for an authoritarian 
President to dismantle it from within, eroding the checks and balances 
of the Constitution. I don't think any of us who serve in this Chamber 
ever thought either was a possibility here in the United States of 
America with the strength of our two centuries-plus of determined 
efforts in the course of running a democratic Republic, but we were 
wrong.
  Five years ago today, our Republic suffered just such an assault by a 
mob. I will never forget seeing an individual run down this aisle, then 
circle around to the desk where the Vice President was presiding, have 
the Vice President immediately gavel down the session, be escorted out, 
and everyone is looking around the room in mystery.
  And then, soon, the Capitol Police officers were working to lock the 
doors on this level and the balconies above, a moment none of us who 
were here will ever forget and a moment that America should never 
forget--a mob that was tearing down the American flag and putting up a 
flag that said ``Donald Trump,'' a mob that was breaking down these 
doors and occupying this Chamber, and doing the same in the House of 
Representatives.
  That moment, when we are counting the electoral college votes--the 
slates, those who were assigned to the electoral college to determine 
who was elected President--that moment, that is the peaceful transfer 
of power. The ballot box, the counting of the votes, the peaceful 
transfer of power--that is the vision at the heart of government by and 
for the people. That is the difference between a democratic republic 
and an authoritarian state.
  And on that day, we went over to the House Chamber and started the 
rollcall of States. On the State of Alabama, no one objected. On the 
State of Alaska, no one objected. And then it came to Arizona, and a 
Member of the House and a Member of the Senate objected, and we came 
back over here to debate that issue of whether or not we would accept 
the slate from Arizona, and that is when the chaos ensued.
  You know, up front here were these amazing three boxes. We carried 
them over to the House, and then when we came back to debate, they came 
back here to the Senate Chamber, these mahogany and leather boxes with 
all kinds of straps on them. They look like treasure. They look like 
they would be filled with gold. But their content is more precious than 
gold; their contents, the expression through the electoral college 
ballots of the will of the United States of America about who would 
next serve as the President of our Nation.
  And if it wasn't for the quick action of our Parliamentarian team to 
grab those boxes, I am sure that the rioters who entered this Chamber 
just moments later would have destroyed those boxes--another symbolic 
destruction of a democratic Republic in an effort by some to create an 
authoritarian state.
  We had some real heroes that day like Eugene Goodman, who got Senator 
Mitt Romney to safety, and then, seeing people coming up the stairs 
from the lower level, proceeded to steer those folks away from the 
center of the building and away from the Senate Chamber where we were 
sitting--an amazingly effective strategy to buy a few more minutes of 
time for the security of this Chamber.
  And we remember the police officers who so valiantly defended this 
building--170 injured--and others who lost their lives as a consequence 
of the attack on that day: Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey 
Smith, Gunther Hashida, and Kyle DeFreytag.
  Now, there is a plaque that has been built, and I ask unanimous 
consent to have the text of it be entered into the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

ON BEHALF OF A GRATEFUL CONGRESS, THIS PLAQUE HONORS THE EXTRAORDINARY 
INDIVIDUALS WHO BRAVELY PROTECTED AND DEFENDED THIS SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY 
                          ON JANUARY 6, 2021.

                 THEIR HEROISM WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

       United States Capitol Police
       Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
       Arlington County, Virginia, Police Department
       Fairfax County, Virginia, Police Department
       Maryland Department of State Police
       Metro Transit Police Department
       Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
       Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Police
       New Jersey State Police
       Prince George's County, Maryland, Police Department
       Prince William County, Virginia, Police Department
       Virginia State Police
       Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
       Department of Health and Human Services
       Department of Homeland Security
       Federal Bureau of Investigation
       National Guard Bureau, Department of Defense
       Pentagon Force Protection Agency, Department of Defense
       United States Marshals Service
       United States Park Police
       United States Secret Service

  Mr. MERKLEY. The plaque says:

       ON BEHALF OF A GRATEFUL CONGRESS, THIS PLAQUE HONORS THE 
     EXTRAORDINARY INDIVIDUALS WHO BRAVELY PROTECTED AND DEFENDED 
     THIS SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY ON JANUARY 6, 2021.
       THEIR HEROISM WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

  And their heroism should never be forgotten.
  And that plaque, which by law is supposed to be mounted on this 
Capitol, has not yet been mounted, and it needs to be mounted.
  There is a second way that republics are lost. And in the last 20 
years, around the world, this has primarily been the way it has 
happened--not with mobs storming the Capitol but from authoritarian 
figures destroying the republic from within. And out of those 
experiences, in a variety of countries around the world--countries like 
Venezuela, countries like Turkiye--there has become a set of principles 
about how to convert a democratic republic into a strongman state 
without a mob storming the Capitol that includes firing the 
government's referees, like Trump did when he fired 17 inspectors 
general and 200 career prosecutors in the Department of Justice; 
packing the government with loyalists to head key departments, as 
President Trump has done; demonizing the enemy within, trying to divide 
and concur; attacking those with dark skin as rapists and murderers and 
garbage, targeting people on the color of their skin and the language 
they speak, as this administration has done; disregarding due process; 
silencing free speech; shutting down programs, even though they are 
authorized and funded by Congress, in violation of the Constitution; 
abusing government authorities like licenses and permits and security 
clearances and research grants; weaponizing the Justice Department; 
seeking to put the military in the streets to stop peaceful dissent; 
and rigging the next election--all 10 of these things happening right 
now.
  So 5 years ago, we witnessed the effort to destroy our Republic with 
an assault on this building, and right now we are witnessing the 
insidious determination of President Trump and his team to destroy our 
Republic from within through these 10 strategies.
  Just as we stood and stopped the assault on this Capitol 5 years ago, 
we must stand and stop this President from destroying our Republic 
today. That is the best way to honor those who defended the Capitol 5 
years ago.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, today we mark the fifth anniversary of one 
of the most shocking attacks on our Nation and on our democracy. For 
the first time in our Nation's history, our longstanding tradition of 
the peaceful transfer of power was disrupted in a violent and deadly 
assault on the U.S. Capitol.
  I remember that day vividly, sitting in this Chamber, conducting the 
ceremonial certification of our election before our proceedings were 
abruptly stopped.
  In the hours that followed, thousands of our brave law enforcement 
officers, first responders, and National Guard members took swift 
action to protect every Member of Congress. They put their lives on the 
line to fend off the violent insurrectionists.

[[Page S33]]

  Those U.S. Capitol officers, the DC Metropolitan Police, the National 
Guard, and all who stepped in deserve our deepest gratitude and 
recognition for their valiant efforts to defend democracy on that 
infamous day.
  We must also remember the legacy of the five heroic officers who lost 
their lives in the aftermath of that attack. The attack took an 
unimaginable toll on the first responders. It also deeply affected the 
Capitol Hill community and Americans all across our Nation who 
witnessed the assault on the heart of our democracy with their own eyes 
on television. We saw the images of officers engaged in hand-to-hand 
combat with the rioters. We saw pictures and videos of attackers with 
zip ties in the Senate Chamber and rioters with nooses on the Capitol 
grounds. To this day, those images are absolutely shocking.
  But I have been astonished how quickly so many of my colleagues seem 
to have forgotten about the events of that day.
  Following the horrific attack, as chairman of the Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs Committee, I joined with then-Ranking Member 
Portman, Rules Committee Chairwoman Klobuchar, and Ranking Member Blunt 
to lead the first bipartisan oversight hearings, investigations, and 
report on the immediate changes needed to secure the Capitol and 
prevent a future attack.
  This bipartisan effort evaluated the security, planning, and response 
failures related to the January 6 attack, which resulted in the 
implementation of significant recommendations that I am proud to say 
have strengthened security here at the Capitol and has better prepared 
us for any future attack.
  I also led investigations into the failures of our Federal law 
enforcement and intelligence Agencies to prevent and respond to January 
6 and the threat of domestic terrorism more broadly.
  Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of 
Homeland Security missed warning signs that could have prevented that 
day's attack. This was both a failure of imagination and a failure of 
leadership during the first Trump administration as they directed 
resources away--away--from the threat of domestic terrorism.
  Five years later, I fear that, despite these efforts, our Nation has 
not learned, and the right lessons from this attack are being 
forgotten. Instead of confronting the dangerous threat of domestic 
terrorism head-on, the current administration has spent the last year 
dismantling the counterterrorism infrastructure meant to keep us safe.
  President Trump has also twisted the meaning of the domestic 
terrorism threat beyond recognition, using it to label and target 
political speech and groups that he does not like and in ways that 
threaten all of us in this country.
  President Trump has also made major cuts to key components of both 
the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and he has diverted 
resources from our law enforcement and intelligence communities that 
should be focused on addressing terrorist threats to bolster--the 
reason for this is to bolster his political priorities.
  Instead of condemning the violent attack and holding the attackers 
accountable, President Trump called them ``patriots.'' And he pardoned 
nearly 1,500 individuals who were found guilty of assaulting the very 
same law enforcement officers that we are honoring today--found them 
guilty in the court of law. Let us be clear, they were found guilty in 
the court of law because this Nation is a rule of law. But he pardoned 
them because the views of these rioters and attackers were his 
political supporters, rather than offenders who should be held 
accountable for breaking the law.
  There is no question that President Trump prizes loyalty over the 
law, but he has taken that favoritism too far. Not only did he pardon 
people responsible for those heinous crimes on that day 5 years ago, he 
also targeted and fired the Justice Department experts who investigated 
and prosecuted the cases holding the January 6 attackers accountable 
for their crimes.
  But the most concerning outcome in the 5 years since this attack is 
how quickly many of our elected leaders have helped to rewrite history 
and minimize the danger that our democracy faced on that day. Instead 
of uniting to condemn the attack--and the effort to overturn a free and 
fair election--too many of our Nation's political leaders were cowed by 
President Trump and repeated his lies and his conspiracies. Those 
actions have directly contributed to rising climate of political 
violence that we see today all across the political spectrum.
  And finally, I was furious to see some of my colleagues not only fall 
in line to rewrite the history of this attack, but to insert a 
provision in recent legislation to give Senators a special payday 
because they were part of the criminal investigation into President 
Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the effort that led 
directly to the January 6 attack.
  For the past 5 years, so many of my Democratic colleagues have joined 
me in calling for all Americans to put our country before our party and 
to commit to upholding our most cherished democratic principles before 
we lose them forever. It has been disheartening that many of my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not joining us in those 
full-throated calls to defend our system of government that makes our 
Nation so unique.
  If we, as the U.S. Senate or as a country, cannot agree on the 
lessons of the past, I fear that we are setting ourselves up to repeat 
them. Over the past year, in particular, it has never been clearer that 
our democratic institutions--our standards and our traditions--and the 
rights of every American are still under attack.
  We can still come together and stand up for the Constitution, and we 
can stand up for the rule of law. We could still come together and use 
our authority as a coequal branch of government to hold this 
administration accountable for these ongoing attacks and actions that 
risk making our Nation less safe. And we can still come together to 
protect the promise of our democracy for generations to come.
  So today I implore my colleagues to join me in unequivocally 
condemning the attack on our democracy on January 6 in 2021, and I urge 
all of them to help us protect our most treasured democratic 
principles. We have a chance to restore faith in our democratic way of 
life, but our democracy and our institutions can only endure as long as 
our elected leaders have the fortitude and the strength to protect and 
to defend them against all threats, no matter their origin.
  In the 5 years since January 6, we have fallen short of that 
responsibility. In the darkest times of our Nation's nearly 250-year 
history, we have always found a way to come together to protect our 
democracy. And if we continue down this current path that we are on 
now, I am concerned that we are losing our most cherished freedoms for 
good. We cannot and must not ever let that happen.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I join my colleagues today to 
condemn the acts of violence we have all been talking about that 
occurred on this date 5 years ago when violent insurrectionists stormed 
the U.S. Capitol.
  Five years ago today, a mob viciously attacked Capitol Police 
officers to try to stop the Senate from certifying--right here in this 
room--the free and fair election that voted Donald Trump out of office. 
Now, many of my Senate colleagues will never forget that day because, 
as I have said, we were here.
  I remember it very, very clearly as I was preparing to come up here 
to stand with the States who legally certified that election and argue 
against the oppositions that were coming from some of my colleagues. I 
remember, as I was coming up here in the Capitol Building, running into 
a Capitol Police officer who was in one of the restrooms with the door 
open, washing his eyes out because he had been pepper sprayed.
  Now, I remember thinking, This Capitol Police officer here in the 
U.S. Capitol has been pepper sprayed, and he is here now trying to 
protect himself but most importantly protect all of us. What is 
happening that is so close to the Capitol right now that this police 
officer has been attacked?
  But I will tell you what this police officer did, like many others 
that day--many others. He washed his eyes out.

[[Page S34]]

He looked at us, saw the Senators who were there, and he said: Don't 
worry. We have got your back. We will protect you.
  He ran out of that bathroom, up the stairs, and out the door to 
protect us. He didn't think twice about it. He had already been harmed 
by these violent insurrectionists, but he didn't think twice. He kept 
being the forefront, being out there, running to protect all of us that 
were doing our jobs here on the Senate floor.

  I think that is what is so disturbing to many of us that lived 
through that day--and you don't have to have lived through this day. 
You know, I am talking to everyone in this room that was here, whether 
it is our Parliamentarian, our staff, everybody here, the interns, our 
reporters, everybody experienced that day. People manning the doors. 
Everybody felt it.
  But you know who else felt it that day, you know, that feel just as 
emotional about what they saw? It was every American that was watching 
it unfold on TV because this is their Capitol. This is their building. 
This is the building of the people. And they were watching these 
violent insurrectionists try to tear it down and looking for Members of 
Congress--looking for Members of Congress to do who knows what, to 
prevent us from carrying out the duties of our office, but most 
importantly, carrying out the peaceful transfer of power that this 
country is known for and has been known for, for over 200 years.
  Let me say this. That officer, along with another 150 of his fellow 
men and women in uniform, they were injured during the insurrection. 
Five police officers died because of it. Some members of President 
Trump's mob stole riot shields and used them to beat officers. One 
person assaulted law enforcement with a metal whip. Another choked an 
officer to the ground.
  They brought weapons and zip ties to the Capitol. They used WD-40 and 
bear spray on our officers, and they assaulted Capitol Police with 
American flags. We know this firsthand from, not just the police 
officers, but from the videos of that day. And I know it firsthand 
because I saw it in the Halls of the Capitol, the paraphernalia that 
was littered throughout because of the damage that was caused by those 
insurrectionists.
  I will tell you what, you don't have to take our word. Take the word 
of rioters because the rioters took videos of themselves doing these 
horrific things and then posted them online. The claims that these were 
peaceful protesters are disproved by their own evidence. They were 
proud to attack the men and woman who keep us safe in an attempt to 
steal an election. Why? Because President Trump couldn't handle the 
fact that he lost, because he would rather see our democracy crumble 
than acknowledge that the American people voted him out.
  So earlier that day, he encouraged his supporters to march to the 
Capitol and intimidate the Senators and Members of Congress and his own 
Vice President, who were in this Chamber to certify those results. The 
mob smashed through the lines of Capitol Police officers. We saw that 
on video. They broke into the building. We saw it on video, and we saw 
it on TV, live. And they left a trail of destruction behind them--all 
in the name of Donald Trump.
  Condemning their lawlessness and their actions against police 
officers is something we should all be able to agree on, but the truth 
is that President Trump does not care about that law enforcement. In 
fact, he is trying to sweep it all under the rug. A year after the 
insurrection, Congress passed a law to install a plaque honoring the 
police officers who bravely tried to hold off that violent mob that 
day; but now Republican leadership in Congress is refusing to unveil 
the memorial.
  Recognizing heroic actions of law enforcement on January 6 is the 
least President Trump can do, but that would require him to acknowledge 
that his followers did something wrong. It shouldn't be hard to say 
that if you commit crimes against law enforcement and incite an 
insurrection, you should be brought to justice and held accountable.
  But instead of standing with our police officers and denouncing these 
appalling actions, President Trump is rewarding them. He has decided 
that you don't need to face the consequences of your crime as long as 
you commit them on his behalf. One of the very first things President 
Trump did the day he was sworn in was to pardon more than 1,500 January 
6 insurrectionists. Now, this is the President who claims he would 
restore law and order during his Presidency. His actions go against our 
democracy, our rule of law, and everything we stand for as a nation.
  In the United States of America, no one is above the law--not the 
President and certainly not the convicted criminals he is treating like 
his own personal army. Letting these bad actors off the hook has 
encouraged their behavior. In fact, some of them gave interviews saying 
President Trump's pardons have vindicated their actions. Now, remember, 
these are some individuals who were convicted in our criminal justice 
system by a jury of their peers.
  These pardons were an endorsement of political violence and an 
endorsement of attacking our law enforcement. And now, shockingly, 
within a year of President Trump putting these dangerous criminals back 
on the streets, several of them have been rearrested for committing 
crimes. At least a dozen of these men and women, including the one who 
assaulted Capitol Police officers with a metal whip, have been picked 
up on various charges ranging from soliciting a minor to plotting to 
murder the FBI agents who investigated him, to killing somebody while 
driving drunk to burglary--and I could go on. These are the people 
President Trump called patriots. These are the people President Trump 
put back on our streets making our communities less safe and putting 
innocent people in harm's way.
  President Trump owns this. Every crime these violent insurrectionists 
commit while they roam free is on his head. This isn't a policy debate. 
It is about right and wrong. It is about who we are as a country. It is 
about our rule of law and order. Pardoning the January 6 
insurrectionists is an insult to our law enforcement, to our rule of 
law, to our democracy, and, yes, to the American people, who believe in 
it, who fight for it. We cannot stand for it, and my Democratic 
colleagues and I will continue--continue--not only to speak out against 
it, because you can't whitewash this, but also to recognize those 
Capitol Police officers, those law enforcement officers, those men and 
women who ran headfirst into harm's way to protect us and this 
Capitol--the people's Capitol. They will be recognized every single 
day, and yes, we should have a plaque and a memorial and do so much 
more, and I am proud of my colleagues for drawing attention to this and 
continuing to support and thank those men and women who risked their 
lives to protect our rights and our democracy in this country.

  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, today is a difficult day particularly 
for our Capitol Police officers. This is the fifth anniversary of the 
day when a violent mob attacked this building and attacked them. It did 
a lot of injury and a lot of harm to Capitol Police officers--in some 
cases, as they say in the law, death resulting. Today, pardoned 
criminals who participated in that riot are on the streets of 
Washington, and if they come back to this Capitol, our police officers 
are going to have to treat them professionally.
  And what support are they getting from all of us? In a better world, 
this would be a bipartisan showing of respect and gratitude for the 
police officers who suffered and fought that day to protect this 
building and an expression of bipartisan gratitude. But that is not 
where we are as a country right now.
  One of the symptoms of Trumpism--frankly, of authoritarianism 
generally--is the obligation to lie. You are not on the team, you are 
not in the club, you are not part of the movement if you are not 
willing to lie for it. So you are constantly tested with the obligation 
to lie--little ones and then big ones. It tests the loyalty and 
gradually erodes personal virtue of the person who is increasingly 
obliged to lie.
  So, instead of this being a bipartisan expression of gratitude and 
appreciation, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to be 
away today, and it is left to us to remember and honor the brave law 
enforcement officers who defended the Capitol that day.

[[Page S35]]

  The MAGA world has decided that no crimes were committed that day. 
Well, that is new.
  At the time, Senator Ted Cruz described those crimes as a ``violent 
terrorist attack on the Capitol.''
  At the time, Senator John Cornyn said, ``Those who planned & 
participated in the violence that day should be prosecuted to the 
fullest extent of the law.''
  At that time, Senator Josh Hawley said that ``those who attacked 
police and broke the law must be prosecuted.''
  Those are only a few of the expressions that we heard from our 
Republican colleagues at the time.
  Republican colleagues also once denounced pardoning rioters, 
particularly violent rioters.
  Vice President Vance and the President of the Senate said:

       If you committed violence on [January 6], obviously, you 
     shouldn't be pardoned.

  Secretary Kristi Noem said:

       We can't have a blanket approach. I would say each one of 
     those cases needs to be looked at specifically.

  Senator Hawley again:

       I'm against it for people who assaulted cops, threw stuff 
     at cops, broke down doors, broke windows.

  Well, Trump came in, and he issued that blanket pardon virtually 
right away--nearly 1,600 rioters--and he commuted the sentence of 14 
members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia. These were not 
great people. At least 33 of them have already been rearrested, 
charged, or sentenced for other crimes since that day. Four pardoned 
insurrectionists have already allegedly reoffended since receiving 
their pardons. One insurrectionist was charged with a felony for 
threatening to murder the House minority leader.
  Now some of them are so emboldened that they are demanding a reward 
for having been prosecuted for the crimes that they committed that day 
and convicted in a court of law. That is an injury to them, in their 
view.
  So, today, Senator Padilla and I have introduced two bills to make 
clear that no one who stormed the Capitol should get any kind of 
payment, even from this MAGA Department of Justice--no taxpayer-funded 
cash giveaways, which, by the way, echoes that we should not be giving 
taxpayer-funded cash giveaways to our colleagues because their names 
came up in the investigation of the crimes of that day because they 
were called by the instigators of the crimes of that day.
  So I urge my colleagues to support these bills. Let us not reward the 
violence that was done that day. Too many are trying to turn that day 
into a payday for themselves. It is beneath us, and I urge support for 
those two pieces of legislation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. KELLY. Mr. President, exactly 5 years ago today, I, as well, was 
in this Chamber, listening to my colleagues debate something that never 
should have been in question--the validity of the electoral votes from 
my State of Arizona. We had just returned from the House Chamber, where 
we were supposed to be carrying out one of the most basic 
responsibilities of our democracy, and that is certifying the results 
of a free and fair election. Then, with no evidence and no shame, 
Republican Members of Congress challenged Arizona's votes. They were 
trying to discard the will of voters in my State because they just 
didn't like the outcome.
  I was sitting right here in this seat, next to my friend Cory Booker. 
We knew it wasn't a typical day. We had seen the large protests 
gathering outside the Capitol, and we knew the President was holding a 
rally and repeating his lies that, by the way, he still continues to 
repeat today--his lies that the election was stolen from him. But here 
in the Senate we were just doing our jobs in following the Constitution 
and participating in the peaceful transfer of power. Then things 
started to change. Information came in pieces, and we could hear noise 
building outside the building. It became clear very quickly that 
something was wrong.
  Vice President Pence was sitting where the Presiding Officer is 
sitting, and he was quickly ushered out of the room. It happened very 
fast. Staff began to come in from outside the Chamber while a Senator 
was still speaking. I was sitting right here, speaking to an intern who 
was shaking uncontrollably with fear. It was unusual and concerning, 
but we still did not understand the scale of what was happening beyond 
these walls.
  (Mr. CURTIS assumed the Chair.)
  At 1:56 p.m., my brother, Scott, texted me two words: ``chaos 
outside''--no explanation, no context.
  I texted him back: ``What is going on out there?''
  He asked whether I was safe and where my car was parked.
  Then the messages kept coming from my brother: ``Protesters climbing 
the walls of the Capitol. Protesters fighting with police inside.''
  He used the word ``protesters.'' We would all come to later learn 
that maybe ``rioters'' or ``insurrectionists'' would have been more 
accurate.
  I have to say, I could not believe what my brother was saying. So I 
asked him to clarify. I said, ``At the Capitol?'' because after 
everything I have seen in my life, the idea that a mob could breach the 
U.S. Capitol was something I never thought I would ever witness in our 
country.
  This situation was escalating very fast. Capitol Police made the call 
to evacuate, and we trusted them with our safety. Only later did we 
fully understand how close this came to something far worse. We didn't 
know that our colleague, the man who formerly had the Presiding 
Officer's seat in the Senate, Mitt Romney, was literally running for 
his life. He was a target because he had the courage--he had the 
courage--to speak the truth about the results of an election.
  We didn't know that, at that very moment, Capitol Police officers 
were being pinned in doors, being beaten with flagpoles, and being 
attacked with bear spray. We didn't know that Officer Eugene Goodman 
was making a split-second decision to lead a group of the rioters away 
from the doors of this very Chamber, and we had seen that video from 
Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post that he had taken of that chase at 
great risk to his own personal safety.
  I am going to read you a quote here:

       The doors that lead into the Senate . . . are made of 
     nothing but glass, mostly glass. So they're easily 
     breachable. And if those doors had been breached, more than 
     likely there would have been gunfire at that point.

  This is a quote. These are the words of Inspector Thomas Lloyd of the 
U.S. Capitol Police, as reported in a new book by Mary Jalonick of the 
Associated Press. Gunfire--in this room--to protect Senators from 
getting hurt or worse. That is how close we were. Let's call it what it 
was. This was an insurrection--an insurrection aimed at stopping the 
peaceful transfer of power, an insurrection aimed at overturning a free 
and fair election.
  Five years ago on January 6, this did not happen spontaneously. It 
did not happen by accident. It happened because the current President 
of the United States and former President Donald Trump refused to 
accept that he had lost. So when people minimize January 6 or try to 
rewrite what happened, I cannot accept that, and neither should any of 
us.
  No one has done more than Donald Trump. He has used the powers of his 
office to hand out pardons--pardons to let people off who attacked 
police officers. I am the son of two cops. He pardoned over 1,000 
individuals. Many of them attacked cops in and around this building. It 
is insulting to me and to law enforcement officers across our Nation.
  These pardons, by the way, they do not just erase sentences; they 
send a message. And the message is: It is OK for you to commit violent 
acts as long as they are to support Donald Trump.
  And in the years since these pardons, we have now seen exactly who 
these people are. Christopher Moynihan, who breached the Capitol 5 
years ago today and came into this very room, he later threatened to 
kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
  John Banuelos, who fired a gun during the insurrection, was later 
arrested for kidnapping in the Presiding Officer's State of Utah.
  Edward Kelley is serving a prison term through 2061 for developing a 
plan to murder law enforcement officers while he was being investigated 
for his role on January 6.
  And many more have gone on to commit new and violent crimes.

[[Page S36]]

  These are the people that Donald Trump pardoned. We know who Donald 
Trump is. We know he won't take responsibility for this. I am under no 
illusion. We also know that he is not the man to unite our country, and 
I do not expect him to change.
  We also can't expect these challenges to our democracy to be solved 
by somebody else or just go away with time. So we have to start being 
honest about what happened and clear about who caused it, which I think 
is why we are here today--because this insurrection didn't happen far 
away. An election wasn't almost overturned on another continent. Police 
officers weren't beaten in a foreign capital, and guns weren't drawn in 
some other senate somewhere else.
  It all happened right here. It happened in the United States of 
America. It happened in this room. And fortunately, it failed here. But 
don't forget why this failed. This failed because of patriotic police 
officers. It failed because the will of the American people was 
stronger than an angry mob and stronger than Donald Trump.
  But now the question is: If this happens again, will this fail? 
Democracy is not self-executing. It depends on leaders who tell the 
truth, respect the will of the people and the rule of law, and put the 
Constitution ahead of their own ambition. And it depends on every 
American being involved and holding their elected leaders accountable.
  If we do that, if all of us do that, I know that our democracy can 
remain strong. We can get through this.
  This year, we celebrate 250 years of American democracy. What a 
remarkable achievement. There is nothing our country can't do when we 
work together. I know that the future of this country and our democracy 
is bright, but all of us--every single one of us in this Chamber on 
both sides of the aisle--have to remain committed to it.
  Mr. President, I know you are, and so many of us are as well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Arizona for his 
remarks just now, for his patriotism and his leadership.
  Today, we mark the anniversary of the January 6 attack on our 
Capitol, on our law enforcement officers, and on our democracy itself.
  You have heard my colleagues recount the horrors of that day. Let me 
be clear: I, too, was in this Chamber as the events unfolded, and what 
happened on January 6, 2021, was in fact horrible, brutal, frightening, 
violent, and in some terrible cases lethal.
  To all members of law enforcement who responded that day and to their 
families--but especially to the Capitol Police--thank you. We are 
grateful to you. We cannot repay what we owe you, but you are in our 
hearts today.


          250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

  Mr. President, I come to the floor today because I find myself not 
only thinking about January 6 but thinking about another anniversary 
that we marked this week--250 years since the start of 1776, the year 
of American independence.
  It was 250 years ago yesterday that New Hampshire adopted its State 
constitution after declaring its independence at a meeting in Exeter, a 
town where my husband and I raised our two children.
  This year, there will be no shortage of celebrations of the 
anniversary of our independence, but it will be up to us--today's 
citizens of the United States--to decide as a country if these 
celebrations will represent an empty pageant or a renewal of principle. 
Because in this moment, a moment when our country is led by a 
government high on lawlessness and extremism, ambivalent toward 
freedom, inclined toward authoritarianism, the principles that our 
Nation was founded on in 1776 feel far more distant than even 250 
years.
  While the attack on the Capitol may have happened 5 years ago, 
President Trump's current, constant lawlessness makes every day feel 
like January 6. So today, it is worth asking: What does January 6 mean 
for the spirit of 1776? What does it mean for a nation built on self-
evident truths that we have a President who continues to tell the lie--
the fantasy--that the 2020 election was stolen? What does it mean to be 
a country where just powers are derived from the consent of the 
governed when we have a President who has sought to overturn the voices 
and votes of the people in a bid to stay in power?
  Now, our Founders maintained that we are endowed with certain 
inalienable rights, but we have a President who routinely attacks the 
right to due process and freedom of speech, who has sought to use the 
heavy hand of government to banish critics from the airwaves.
  We declared independence, in the words of Jefferson, because we 
didn't wish to be ruled by a King who ``cut off our trade'' and imposed 
``taxes on us without our consent.''
  But today we have a President unilaterally declaring costly trade 
wars on our allies and imposing hefty taxes on his citizens, a 
President who withholds the people's tax money already appropriated by 
Congress based on his latest whim. The power of the purse is now the 
power of the President because the majority in this body refuses to 
stand up to him.
  Our Founders didn't draft a Constitution in order to build a more 
perfect Union only to one day have a President who rejects his 
responsibility and sworn oath to uphold it, and our Founders didn't 
create two other branches of government--a legislature and a 
judiciary--merely for a wayward Executive to ignore them.
  Our Founders wanted the legislative and judicial branches to be 
checks on the Presidency, but this President seems to think that the 
clear rules set out in the Constitution are merely a suggestion box.
  Surely, as patriots risked their lives, treasure, and sacred honor to 
establish a breathtaking experiment in self-government, they didn't 
intend to allow a President to use the long and hallowed arm of justice 
to target political foes, to ignore laws passed by the people's 
representatives, or to pardon violent criminals who tried to overthrow 
our democracy in his name.
  There is nothing remotely patriotic, remotely decent about pardoning 
violent criminals who stormed our Capitol and assaulted police 
officers.
  Can anyone in the administration look the families of the officers in 
their eyes and explain why such a pardon could possibly be justified?
  Of course not.
  But then again, this administration doesn't think it should have to. 
And make no mistake: The pardons may have voided the criminal 
convictions, but the wounds to the officers remain, as does the attack 
on our democracy.
  When we talk about democracy, it is easy for it to feel merely like 
an abstract principle. But my dad, a World War II veteran, stressed to 
me, even as a kid, that freedom and democracy made a real difference in 
people's lives. Democracy is, in short, the best way to solve problems 
without violence, with the votes of citizens instead of the voices of a 
violent mob.
  Look no further back than over the course of this last year, and you 
will see why democracy matters. Despite promising to bring down costs, 
the President has instead made life less affordable. He has taken away 
people's healthcare, launched costly trade wars on our allies abroad 
while making everything more expensive at home, and has spent his days 
flattering himself, putting his name on buildings and constructing 
monuments in his own honor.
  Are we really surprised that a man who tried to overturn the will of 
the people in a free and fair election does not care about solving the 
problems that his constituents--the American people--face? If the 
President didn't think he was accountable to the people's will when he 
lost the election in 2020, why should we expect him to care about the 
priorities they want him to address after an election?
  Democracy, of course, is about holding leaders accountable when they 
fail to make people's lives better, and this President disdains 
democracy because he simply can't deliver.
  We are blessed to live in a great country, and we can't forget how 
unlikely our independence was. In 1776, we subsisted on gasps of hope, 
our plan little better than a prayer for recurring miracles--not just 
in Philadelphia but, later, on the icy currents of the Delaware, in the 
snows of Valley Forge, by the sea in Yorktown.
  Mr. President, 1776 was a time when, in the words of Thomas Paine, 
``nothing but hope and virtue could survive.''
  Surely we didn't survive the hardships of our birth to, only 250 
years

[[Page S37]]

later, allow the way of the despot and the way of the mob to become the 
way of the future. Surely we did not build a new nation conceived in 
liberty only for its Capitol to one day be stormed by a mob at the 
behest of a President because he refused to acknowledge the basic right 
of every American to vote him out of office, to be free to disagree 
with him and reject him.
  When the Declaration of Independence was signed, John Adams wrote in 
a letter that, hundreds of years from now, people will celebrate the 
day with what he called ``pomp and parade,'' but he also added that it 
will ``cost us to maintain this declaration.''
  So we have a choice to make as a country. On this 250th anniversary 
of the year of our independence, we have to decide whether we wish to 
be governed by the spirit of January 6 or the spirit of 1776.
  What is this spirit of 1776? It is the belief in government of, by, 
and for the people, not of, by, and for any one leader.
  Here, no leader is above the law, nor are they above the people whom 
they serve. Look around this city. Our great monuments here were built 
by grateful citizens to honor others. They weren't built by greedy 
leaders to honor themselves.
  The spirit of 1776 knows that lawlessness and extremism don't melt 
away on their own and must be rejected, even when it means standing up 
to a President or to one's own party. Political courage can be hard; 
regaining a freedom lost even harder.
  And above all else, here in the United States of America, we know 
that we are not subjects to be ruled; we are citizens to be heard. This 
is America. This is where freedom rings. And perhaps these sound like 
lofty principles. Well, I am from the ``Live Free Or Die'' State.
  In New Hampshire, we know that principles like freedom matter. We 
know that they matter because people gave their lives for these 
principles, and they died for these principles in the hope that the 
rest of us might live by them. So that is why on this January 6, I am 
choosing to embrace this spirit of 1776, and I hope that freedom-loving 
Americans of all political stripes do too.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.