House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday he will not support a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol building a day before the full House is set to vote on the bipartisan legislation.
“The renewed focus by Democrats to now stand up an additional commission ignores the political violence that has struck American cities, a Republican congressional baseball practice and, most recently, the deadly attack on Capitol Police on April 2, 2021,” McCarthy said. “The presence of this political violence in American society cannot be tolerated and it cannot be overlooked. I have communicated this to our Democrat colleagues for months, and its omission is deeply concerning.”
“Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation,” he added.
The Biden administration “supports the proposed bipartisan, independent National Commission to study and investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol,” the White House said. “The Nation deserves such a full and fair accounting to prevent future violence and strengthen the security and resilience of our democratic institutions.”
The proposal won approval in the House of Representatives Rules Committee on a straight party-line vote, setting up a vote in the full House on Wednesday.
“I’m very pleased that we have a bipartisan bill to come to the floor,” Speaker Pelosi said. “And it’s disappointing but not surprising that the cowardice on the part of some on the Republican side not to want to find the truth.”
The legislation could also face hurdles in the Senate which would need every Democratic vote plus ten Republicans to overcome a filibuster.
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