Awarding Four Congressional Gold Medals to United States Capitol Police and Those Who Protected the U.S. Capitol on January 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for leading the effort on the floor today to pass this important legislation. I commend her and the ranking member, Mr. McHenry, for his good words about this legislation and his reference to the bravery of our Capitol Police.

Madam Speaker, over 5 months have passed since the January 6 insurrection was waged against our Capitol and our democracy.

For most of us, the horror of January 6 has not faded. The memory of Members, staff, and workers fleeing for their lives, the sound of screams and shots fired, the agony of over 140 law enforcement officers physically harmed and those killed all remain very raw.

January 6 was unquestionably one of the darkest days in the history of our democracy, but because of the courage of the Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers, it will also be etched in history as a day of heroism. That day the Capitol Police Force put themselves between the violence and us. They risked their safety and their lives for others with the utmost selflessness. Some died, becoming martyrs for our democracy.

They did so because they were patriots, the type of Americans who heard the call to serve and answered it, putting country above self. They enabled us to return to the Capitol, to that podium that night to show the world that our democracy had prevailed and that it had succeeded because of them.

In March, as you recall, we came together and we passed legislation to award these patriots the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award, as has been mentioned, that this body can offer.

Doing so was a high honor and privilege for each of us, and it was also our responsibility to ensure that we always remember those heroes and their sacrifice.

As I said on the floor then: ``May the courage of these heroes always remain an inspiration to us. And may we always remember the valor of the fallen.''

This gold medal will be proudly displayed, as the distinguished gentleman referenced, for years to come, ensuring that their valor and the sacrifice of the fallen are always remembered.

But 2 weeks after we passed that gold medal legislation, as you know, Madam Speaker, under your leadership, Congress honored one of the fallen, Officer Brian Sicknick, with a lying-in-state ceremony to convey the grief and gratitude felt for all Americans by his sacrifice.

That respect was reflected in the presence of distinguished leaders, military leaders, and leaders of institutions of government who came to pay their respects, including President Biden.

Sadly, just weeks later, we returned to the Capitol rotunda for a lying-in-honor ceremony for Officer Billy Evans, as the distinguished ranking member mentioned, killed in the line of duty in April on Good Friday.

Officer Evans was a distinguished member of the first responders unit and an 18-year veteran of the United States Capitol Police.

Everyone who knew him knew he was a hero. We hope that it was a comfort to his children Logan and Abigail that so many learned that day what a hero their father was. We hope by adding Billy's name to the pantheon of patriots honored with this gold medal, the memory of his sacrifice will always endure.

So here we are once again on the floor of the House honoring our heroes. As we pass this legislation, we, as Members of Congress, have a responsibility to do more than simply laud these officers as heroes.

We must respect them and we must support them with resources and funding. We must keep them safe. And we must ensure that a January 6th attack can never happen again.

This is about our respect for their service and our responsibility to honor their sacrifice. Any chance we get, we want to praise our Capitol Police. Sadly, we are doing this in a time when we are honoring some who have lost their lives and some were severely injured, but every day we know that they are making a sacrifice, and that is what we respect.

I urge a strong bipartisan vote for this legislation. I am pleased to hear both our distinguished chair, Maxine Waters, and the distinguished ranking member both support the legislation. I urge all members to join us in honoring our law enforcement heroes with real action with a gold medal.

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