National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TORRES of New York. Mr. Speaker, when I was sworn in the week of January 6, I never imagined living through an insurrection against the U.S. Capitol during the electoral college vote count.

On January 6, I felt the same sense of shock and trauma that I had felt on 9/11. Like most of America, I took for granted that the peaceful transfer of power is so natural as to transcend even the most turbulent period of partisan politics.

I was wrong. We were all wrong. Democracy is too fragile to be taken for granted. It demands from all of us a vigilant defense.

As Members of the United States Congress, we took an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. The insurrection against the U.S. Capitol was a literal and metaphorical assault on the very Constitution we have been charged with defending.

The January 6 Commission is, therefore, not a choice, but an obligation. We have a duty to investigate what happened and why it happened and who is responsible.
As a Congress, if we are not able or willing to ascertain the full truth surrounding an invasion of our very home, of our Nation's Capitol, then why are we here? The 11th-hour attempt to sabotage a bipartisan, bicameral position is not a difference of opinion, nor is it politics as usual. It is an abdication of the oath that we took to uphold the Constitution.

The United States of America is not a cult of personality, it is a Nation of laws. And our loyalty should not be to one political figure or one political party. Our highest loyalty should be to our country and the Constitution that governs it.
We must never forget that the truth trumps politics. And if the truth is what we seek, then we have nothing to fear from bringing the clarity that only truth can bring to the chaos and confusion of January 6.

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