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Rep. John Katko Calls On Republican Colleagues To Support January 6th Commission

CSPAN

Syracuse-area Congressmember John Katko is gaining national attention for the narrow passage of his bill calling for the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6th.  During the discussion with members of Congress on Wednesday, the majority of Republicans voiced opposition for the commission.

Some even suggested it could interfere with criminal investigations underway. 

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Katko says the commission – by law - can’t interfere with any investigations.  On the House floor, he also told them current investigations won’t improve Capitol security.

“It won’t get us the recommendations, the insight, the expertise from the people on the commission, who can come in, look at this Capitol security matrix and say ‘This is what needs fixing.’ A prosecutor can’t tell you that. The commission can,” said Katko.

Katko is a Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and says H.R. 3233 calls for a bipartisan commission to determine how to better protect the US Capitol.

Sufficient scope and flexibility to investigate targeted violence and domestic terrorism relevant to the January 6th attack. It will be up to the commission to decide how far they want to go with that perimeter. Do I feel that the attack on the Capitol on April 2nd that killed a Capitol police officer is relevant? I do,” said Katko.

Katko told his colleagues they should support the creation of the commission, and they owe it to the country and the people who work there every day.  He noted that 140 US Capitol Police Officers were injured on January 6th. In a statement, Katko called the security breech “completely unacceptable.”   The bill would still need to be passed by the Senate, where it could be an uphill battle convincing republicans.

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.