Emergency Security Supplemental to Respond to January 6th Appropriations Act, 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, the chair of the Committee on Appropriations. I thank her for bringing this important legislation to the floor. It is the product of great, intense review of what is needed to go forward, and it is lean. There are many other suggestions that people have. This is what is urgent for us to do now.

I thank the Committee on Appropriations, which is one of the committees of jurisdiction, having a series of hearings on the subject, all of the subcommittees of jurisdiction--I think there are six on there--and then even the Legislative Branch Committee, which has the most responsibility, had maybe seven hearings.

In addition to that, let's start on that horrible day. Springing right from that, I called upon General Honore to review what has happened. I saw the work that he did in Katrina. That is how I got to know his work, and I knew that he would be an objective reviewer of what we needed. He put together a very blue ribbon committee of law enforcement and national security advisers--national security at the general level, generals in the military--and they put forth their recommendations of what we needed to do in the short term and in the long term. And many of those suggestions, in the short term, are in this legislation.

There are those who say, well, we can't wait till we do the commission report--when they vote against the commission report--until we do this, like next year or the end of the year. No, the need is immediate, and it is now.

So I thank Madam Chair DeLauro of the Committee on Appropriations, these subcommittee chairs for the multiple hearings that they have had on this subject, and I thank the chair of the House Administration Committee for the hearings that they have had in that committee as well to hone in on what is urgently needed now.

I also salute the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, Chairman Bennie Thompson, working in a bipartisan way with Mr. Katko, to bring the legislation--so important--in a bipartisan way to the floor yesterday. And I salute the work that they did.

Madam Speaker, here we are, we have specific needs, honed to how we listened to the Architect of the Capitol as to what we need to harden the Capitol, the windows and doors.

There are Members who have said, ``Why are we doing that?'' It was just a normal day of tourism in the Capitol, while that same person who said that is pictured in the news pushing furniture up against the door to keep the brawlers out of this Chamber.

Normal day in the Capitol? Not so.

So we know what is possible now. Who could have imagined that the President of the United States would incite an insurrection? Should we have been prepared for that? Who would have imagined that? But could we have been prepared better? Yes. And we know what we must do now.

This has been an important week in the House as a revised gold medal legislation is being submitted. It is bipartisan. I am pleased to hear that the Republican leader, Mr. McCarthy, supports adding those who were attacked, assaulted, in fact, killed--the one killed, Billy Evans--on Good Friday. So that is in the works and we will take that up as soon as we come back.

Yesterday, we had a big, strong bipartisan vote on the commission. Today, we are saying this is what we need to do now. We may need to do more as the commission does its work, as the committees of jurisdiction continue their hearings. So today, we continue to defend the Constitution and the Capitol with an emergency supplemental bill.

Now much of what is happening in the Capitol in terms of restriction of visitors and the rest relates to COVID. And as that unfolds more favorably, we need to be sure that when we have children come and families enjoy and legislators passing laws and the press covering it all, and people coming to see the people's House in action, that they will be safe.

Madam Speaker, the legislation, again, builds on the action that happened yesterday, and hopefully, we can move quickly through the Senate and make the necessary appointments so that the product of that will be respected by the American people.

General Honore's report--I mentioned General Honore--he said, ``The breach of the Capitol on January 6 brought into stark relief the need to immediately improve the security of the Capitol complex and the security of Congressional Members and staff, and the workers who make our lives possible here. Immediate action is therefore required.'' Immediate action is therefore required: General Honore.

This supplemental, again, protects Members of Congress, of course, the Capitol, employees, visitors, including bolstering the physical security of the complex, creating a new reaction force for cases of emergency.

It responds to the direct costs of the attack on the Capitol. There were direct costs, including related to response and presence of the National Guard--that has to be paid for--District of Columbia and other Federal agencies, and to the prosecution of the insurrectionists.

Proudly, it recognizes the sacrifices of the Capitol Police; supporting them with overtime pay, bonuses, and trauma support, as well as specialized training and equipment. And it honors the late Officer Howie Liebengood by creating the ``Howard C. `Howie' Liebengood Center for Wellness.''

We are very pleased and proud of that, and we thank the Liebengood family for their involvement in that creation, and my colleague, Congresswoman Wexton of Virginia for her role in this.

Protecting the security of the Capitol so we can do our constitutional work on behalf of the American people should not be controversial. Four months ago, multiple lives were lost. Over 140 law enforcement officers were physically harmed. Trauma and terror were inflicted on our colleagues, our staff, and ourselves.

Today, in passing this legislation, the House is taking a strong step forward to bring healing to our congressional community and to ensure that this horror can never happen again.

Let me close again by quoting General Honore's report:

``As you consider the recommendations of this task force, we must not forget it was the riotous actions of an angry mob that laid bare the vulnerabilities of the Capitol complex.

``We must not long endure any discourse that prevents or delays efforts necessary to strengthen the security of the U.S. Capitol complex and enhance the safety of those who serve the American people in Congress.''

Madam Speaker, I urge a strong bipartisan vote on this emergency security supplemental to respond. And as the gentlewoman from Washington pointed out, there are many more things that we need to do, but we have to prioritize. We have to sequence. We can't wait until we know every answer before we start with the solutions that we are well- aware and that we know of.

Again, some of this will depend on the resources in this legislation that will enable us to find out what it does cost to protect the Capitol in a way that is the least offensive to all of us, that says that this Capitol sits confidently, but assured that we will be protected when necessary, but that we don't need all of that protection outside, the fences and the rest, all the time. If we need it, we will have it when we need it.

Again, those are decisions that have to be made from a technical standpoint, as well as a security and safety standpoint, and this legislation enables that to happen.

There are those who say: Well, it didn't work then, so why is it going to work?

You know what, let's have confidence.

There is one word that I would say we need to rely on in all of this, and that is the word ``trust.'' Let us trust in each other that our purpose is the same; that we relied on the expert advice of generals and law enforcement and the rest, as to what we need immediately--to use their word, ``immediately.'' Let us trust that we can have the review that is necessary. We must have a review of the hierarchy of authority here.

What is this police board? How is that graded? Why can't we do that in a different way?

We have a search committee looking for a new chief of police. Our current chief of police may be in that mix, I don't know, because this is an objective search for a police chief.

So we look forward to working in a bipartisan way because that cannot be anything but nonpartisan. The House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, honor our responsibility, our housekeeping responsibilities, to keep this place safe, and to have a chain of command that is clear.

Where is the responsibility for this? Is it in that police board, of which the police chief is not a member?

I agree with the gentlewoman, those kinds of issues are not resolved, but that should not hold up getting what we need in place right now. As the virus is relaxing some of the restrictions, we will be able, again, to function this summer as the U.S. Capitol, the welcoming beacon of democracy that it has always been, but with the assurance that it will be safe.

Madam Speaker, hopefully we will have a strong bipartisan vote on this. And I am very proud of what happened yesterday. I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership in that regard.

Madam Speaker, I praise the Appropriations Committee for bringing this to the floor. I thank the Homeland Security Committee for their great work and also as the authorizer. I also thank the House Administration Committee for the piece of this that they have.

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