The House of Representatives has voted in favor of a bill that would create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the deadly attack on the Capitol in January.
The vote fell largely along party lines, with 35 Republicans joining Democrats in passing the measure. However, 175 Republicans voted against the bill, as Republican leaders endeavored to put the deadly 6 January attack behind them, and reframe the riot as a protest.
Donald Trump, who was impeached by the House for a second time earlier this year for inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol, had criticized the effort to establish a commission and urged GOP leaders to block what he characterized as a “Democrat trap”.
It is unclear whether the legislation can make it through the evenly divided Senate, after the top Republican senator Mitch McConnell, who initially signaled openness to the bill, announced on Wednesday that he would not support it.
“It’s not at all clear what new facts or additional investigation yet another commission could actually lay on top of existing efforts by law enforcement and Congress,” McConnell said earlier on Wednesday. His remarks followed Trump’s criticism of the bill.
Democrats would need to win 10 Republican votes without his backing.
“It sounds like they are afraid of the truth, and that’s most unfortunate, but hopefully they’ll get used to the idea that the American people want us to find the truth,” Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said as she sharply criticized Republicans for opposing the bill.
Three Republicans spoke in favor of the legislation: John Katko, Fred Upton and Peter Meijer. All were among the 10 who had voted days after the attack to impeach Trump for encouraging his supporters to attack the Capitol.
Katko, the Republican ranking member of the House homeland security committee who helped craft the bill to form a bipartisan commission to study the 6 January insurrection, had urged his fellow Republicans to support the proposal.
“I strongly believe this is a fair and necessary legislation,” Katko said in a House floor speech on Wednesday. “I encourage all members, Republicans and Democrats alike, to put down their swords for once, just for once and support this bill.”
Katko is one of the 10 House Republicans who supported impeaching Trump for inciting the insurrection in January. Another one of those 10 Republicans, Fred Upton, said in a speech that he would also support the bill.
“6 January is going to haunt this institution for a long, long time,” he said.
Republicans in leadership have repeatedly downplayed the violence of 6 January, which left five people dead and saw rioters beat police, storm into the Capitol building and threaten lawmakers.
The family of US Capitol police officer Howard “Howie” Liebengood, who died by suicide days after the insurrection, also issued a statement urging members to support the bill. Liebengood was one of two US Capitol police officers who died later in the immediate wake of the attack.
“We believe a thorough, non-partisan investigation into the root causes of and the response to the 6 January riot is essential for our nation to move forward,” Liebengood’s family members said in their statement, which was released by their congresswoman, Democrat Jennifer Wexton.
“Howie’s death was an immediate outgrowth of those events. Every officer who worked that day, as well as their families, should have a better understanding of what happened. Uncovering the facts will help our nation heal and may lessen the lingering emotional bitterness that has divided our country. We implore Congress to work as one and establish the proposed commission.”
However, McConnell said he would oppose the bipartisan bill when it comes up for a Senate vote, calling it a “slanted and unbalanced proposal”.
Echoing previous comments from House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, McConnell argued that the existing investigations into the insurrection rendered the commission unnecessary.
Trump released a statement Tuesday night urging Republicans to oppose the commission, calling it a “Democrat trap.”
The bill the House voted on was not the original Democratic proposal but rather a compromise measure crafted by Democrat Bennie Thompson and Katko. Katko won some key concessions. For example, the commission would be evenly divided between the two parties, whereas Democrats’ original proposal gave them a slight advantage on the panel.
“Shame on the Republicans for choosing the ‘big lie’ over the truth – not all Republicans, but the majority who seem to be doing it,” the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
“Shame on them for defending the mob over our Capitol police officers and shame on the House Republican leadership for punishing Republicans who tell the truth, instead of those who poisoned faith in our democracy.”
That final comment appeared to be a reference to both Katko, and congresswoman Liz Cheney, who was recently ousted as House GOP conference chair because of her criticism of Trump.
Schumer reiterated his pledge that the Senate would hold a vote on the commission bill, despite Republican opposition.
“The only way to stop these lies is to respond with the truth, with facts, with an honest objective investigation,” Schumer said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Source: Elections - theguardian.com
