Independent Commission on the Capitol Riot (5/23/21)
The House voted this week to set up an independent commission to explore what happened at The Capitol on January 6th. The rules for the commission incorporated all requests Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader asked to have included. Despite that fact, McCarthy encouraged the Republican members to still vote no. It is astonishing that legislators in Congress cannot come together to set up an independent commission to study the most significant attack on our democracy in history. Historically, Congress has come together to set up numerous commissions (i.e., 9/11 and Benghazi). Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) reminded his colleagues in an impassioned speech on the House floor, “Benghazi. You guys chased the former Secretary of State all over the country, spent millions of dollars. We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol police with lead pipes across the head, and we can’t get bipartisanship. What else has to happen in this country? Cops: this is a slap in the face to every rank-and-file cop in the United States. If we’re going to take on China, if we’re going to rebuild the country, if we’re going to reverse climate change, we need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality—and you ain’t one of them.”
Republicans like Representative Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA), who described the insurrection as a “normal tourist visit” despite photos surfacing showing him in sheer terror and barricading the doors, are trying to re-write the history of that day. They clearly do not want us to know what happened on January 6th. You must ask yourself why? Ultimately, 35 Republicans “broke rank” and voted in favor of setting up the commission. The overwhelming number of Republican lawmakers, however, have tied themselves to the former president and his lies and will do whatever it takes to keep him from being held accountable.
The vote is headed to the Senate where Mitch McConnell has already signaled that he wants his caucus to oppose the creation of a bipartisan independent commission, by wrongfully describing it as partisan and slanted. The bill needing 60 votes will be brought to the floor but will be filibustered and even a debate on the bill likely will be blocked. Most of the Republican party has chosen its path. They continue to perpetuate the Big Lie and do not want to hold their leader accountable or defend their oath to our constitution. Democrats need to face the facts. As Robert Hubbell says, “Senate Republicans who vote against the bill can add their names to the list of Trump’s co-conspirators and collaborators. And Democrats should not waste another minute negotiating with Republicans about anything. If they can’t vote to investigate an assault on American democracy, they aren’t going to vote for Biden’s infrastructure bill. Let’s move on.”
Our facing the facts means that we need to keep up the work we have been doing on a daily basis since September 2018 to help register Democrats and promote the election of Democratic candidates up and down the ballot all over the country. Check out the "Postcarding" section of this newsletter for a special election in New Mexico next month (postcards must be mailed tomorrow) and look forward to postcarding campaigns for more special elections in the coming months. The 2022 midterms are closer than you think and we will continue to invite incumbents in swing districts, like Representatives Haley Stevens, Susan Wild, and Andy Kim to visit our postcarding sessions, as well as candidates like Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, who are taking on some of the most extreme Republicans. We have work to do, but together we can make a difference.