Reflections on the Events of January 6, 2021
The attacks we witnessed last year are not who we are as Americans and the violence we witnessed was criminal and vile. I continue to greatly appreciate the efforts of the United States Capitol Police and those who work to protect our communities.
To be clear, those who committed crimes must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The violence was shocking and sickening.
The question that we should ask ourselves, is our nation in a better place than we were a year ago? Is there increasing confidence in our government and in our institutions?
We must be honest, the answer is no. Our nation's experiment in democratic self-government is a fragile thing. We must acknowledge that fact.
Sadly, the committee to investigate what happened last year appears to be more of a political tool rather than an earnest investigation about what happened and how it can be prevented in the future. If the Speaker of the House is interested in finding answers and ensuring something like this never happens again, the investigation would look much different. The Speaker prevented the appointment of Republican members to this committee. The only conclusion reasonable people can come to is that the Speaker wishes to use this committee as a political tool.
Too many unknowns remain as to how the U.S. Capitol Police, D.C. Police and National Guard were not better prepared. There must be answers. Recommendations to improve the security of the Capitol have yet to be implemented.
We must all be unequivocal in condemnation of political violence. Recent polling suggests that a small but growing number of Americans believe that political violence could be justified. This is unacceptable. Only six months into my first term in Congress, a domestic violent extremist wounded and shot at Republican Members of Congress. In addition to the events that we've witnessed on January 6, 2021, we've witnessed burning, looting, rioting, destruction of government buildings, and lawlessness in cities across the country. We cannot allow these acts of political violence to continue.
The narrative being perpetrated by the media is that anyone who harbors concerns about the integrity of our elections is someone who condoned or participated in committing the atrocious acts of violence last year. That is wrong and it is dangerous. The overwhelming majority of Republicans, I among them, were not complicit in violent actions taken on January 6th, despite the narrative the left and the media peddles.
There remains work to be done in addressing the lack of confidence that many Americans have in the integrity of our elections. The record of both ends of the political spectrum accepting the results of each of the past two presidential election cycles is not a positive sign for our future. We cannot allow the cycle to continue where the losing side does not believe the election was conducted properly. The lack of confidence in our elections undermines the basic foundation of our nation. Even if you disagree with the concerns of others, what good comes in ignoring them? This should be addressed on a bipartisan basis to ensure that we enter the next presidential election cycle with confidence in our election systems. That is why I've introduced H.R. 607, the Voter Confidence Act, to bring together a bipartisan and bicameral commission to review and share best practices for administering elections.
Instead, Congressional Democrats are choosing to go it alone and are pushing purely partisan bills which would make matters worse. For the past year, we have witnessed how Congressional Democrats have shut down Republican input at every turn. President Biden campaigned on the idea of uniting Americans and instead, he and Speaker Pelosi have chosen to take a purely partisan path – this has been a failure.
Ensuring that Americans have confidence in our elections should be work that unites us all and I am hopeful that it will be. There is no more important task than ensuring that every person legally eligible has the ability to cast a vote and that their votes are counted. Restoring this confidence is critical to the future of our nation.
We must address this and return to the critical work to address the issues the American people are most concerned about—combatting inflation, keeping children in schools, and addressing the crisis at our southern border.