Chairman McGovern Urges Passage of Resolution Establishing a Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol
“We will not be intimidated by Donald Trump’s temper tantrums… we will get to the bottom of what happened”
**Video of his remarks is available here**
WASHINGTON, DC — In a committee meeting today, House Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (D-MA) urged his colleagues to support H. Res. 503, which establishes the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. It comes after Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and a majority of House Republicans recently opposed a bipartisan, bicameral commission to investigate the insurrection even though a resolution creating it included their recommendations. The rule providing for consideration of the resolution establishing the select committee will be considered on the House Floor tomorrow, with a debate on the resolution itself expected Wednesday.
Chairman McGovern’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are included below and video is available here:
“If ever there was something that should pass unanimously on the floor, it should have been the bipartisan commission bill to investigate the attack on this complex and on our very democracy itself. But instead we are in the Rules Committee today because the minority leader couldn’t take yes for an answer on the creation of that bipartisan, bicameral commission, which — I will remind you — included his demands.
He asked for it to have equal subpoena power and equal membership. We agreed to that and still — inexplicably — he rejected it at the very last moment. Rather than standing up to Donald Trump and making the very deal that he called for, he chose to oppose it. Again, the commission bill was written not by Democrats alone but in a bipartisan way with the Republican ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.
It still stuns me that any member of this body would oppose that, but they did. So here we are. We will not be intimidated by Donald Trump’s temper tantrums and I applaud the Republicans who have stood up to him despite the risk.
Make no mistake - we will get to the bottom of what happened. That is what we owe to the staff here, to the police that risked their lives defending all of us - especially those who lost their lives - and to those who were injured, like officer Michael Fanone. And we owe it to the American people.
Our system of government isn’t a given, it’s a choice. Democracy is not guaranteed. We have to work to keep it.”
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