WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today slammed Senate Republicans’ refusal to support the bipartisan January 6 Commission, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin argued that the bipartisan Commission is necessary in order to prevent Trump loyalists from rewriting the reality of what happened on January 6, 2021, and to honor the brave law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on that day.
“To Gladys Sicknick, to the Sicknick family, and to all of our Capitol Police officers—to whom we entrust our lives every day—and to the members of the D.C. Metro Police and the other heroes who defended the Capitol on January 6th, I say: we hear you. And you deserve justice,” Durbin said.
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Durbin continued, “It’s hard to believe that before we adjourn today, we are likely to consider a January 6 commission proposal that is doomed to fail. Imagine, the worst attack on this building since the War of 1812, and sadly, it has become a partisan issue… The events of that day are… a stain on our history. And if we ignore them, or allow the history of that day to be rewritten by the deniers, shame on us. The events of January 6 deserve and demand careful, thorough, and principled examination… This is not an opportunity to score political points. It’s an opportunity to score national unity and reconciliation.”