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

Floor Speech

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Waters for yielding, and I thank the gentlewoman and the ranking member for their leadership.

I ask that we think carefully as this legislation is debated and really reflect on January 6, where each of us probably has a personal experience that we can offer to be able to add to the sacrifice of that day, the moment in history and imaging that we never expected an insurrectionist mob to rise to attack the citadel of democracy.

We were here quietly doing the people's business, the constitutional responsibility of affirming the President and Vice President of the United States. We were doing what the American people asked us to do. We were representing the Capitol Police and law enforcement throughout America. Nurses, doctors, students, teachers, the impoverished, all were with hope looking toward the Biden-Harris administration.

We knew that there were those who did not vote for them, but we also knew the sacredness of our Constitution, and so did the Capitol Police and other law enforcement.

For as we were down in this very august place where noises could not be heard quickly, our Capitol Police were already facing a torrent of outrageous behavior, violence, guns, smears, flags representing the worst of our Nation.

So I am very proud to rise today and thank Speaker Pelosi for the vision and leadership and to remember to be reminded of the names Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffrey Smith, and those who sustained injuries, those who were heroic; Officer Eugene Goodman exemplified the patriotism, commitment, and unselfishness in saving the lives of others; and the Metropolitan police, along with many other law enforcement.

I rise to support this gold medal. I rise so that we never have this happen again. And I rise to say the simple words of ``thank you.''

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3325, legislation awarding four Congressional Gold Medals to the United States Capitol Police and those who, on January 6, 2021, displayed selfless and heroic service in defense of American democracy in protecting the U.S. Capitol from the violent assault of domestic terrorists.

The United States Capitol Police dates back to 1800 when the Congress moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., and a lone watchman was hired to protect the Capitol Building.

In 1827, President John Quincy Adams asked that a regular Capitol Police force be established, and on May 2, 1828, Congress passed an Act that expanded the police regulations of the City of Washington to include the Capitol and Capitol Square.

The United States Capitol Police expanded its force after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and again following the historic merger with the Library of Congress Police in 2009.

In addition to the more than 2,000 sworn members of the force, the United States Capitol Police Department has over 350 civilian personnel who provide operational and administrative support, and its diverse workforce is comprised of employees from nearly all 50 states and the U.S. territories.

The United States Capitol Police embodies the best in American policing and serves as a model in security, urban crime prevention, dignitary protection, specialty response capabilities, and homeland security.

As ambassadors of the Congress, officers of the United States Capitol Police Department are often the first face that visitors and employees encounter, leaving a lasting impression that is reflective of the Legislative Branch and its role in America's democracy.

Officers of the United States Capitol Police Department each day proudly protect the legislative process, the symbol of the Nation's democracy, the people who carry out the process, and the millions of visitors who travel here to see democracy in action.

No finer example of the selfless devotion to duty, love of country, and fidelity to their oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the officers of the United States Capitol Police Department's than their valiant, heroic, and courageous response to the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol Building by thousands of domestic terrorists, insurrectionists, and rioters sent there by the President of the United States to ``fight like hell'' to disrupt and derail the constitutionally required Joint Meeting of Congress to open, count, and publicly confirm the vote tally of the presidential electors and announce the persons who had been elected President and Vice- President of the United States.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Department have a distinguished record of protecting all groups, regardless of their beliefs, who come to the Nation's capital to exercise their First Amendment rights peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

At the direction of Mayor Bowser, and in advance of the scheduled demonstrations, mutual aid was requested by the Metropolitan Police Department from several area police departments to be on standby in the District, including neighboring law enforcement departments, the Metropolitan Transit Police and non-law enforcement agencies such as the District's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency and the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

The sustained assault on the Capitol precipitated an equally unprecedented response, necessitating the urgent request of the United States Capitol Police for the Metropolitan Police Department to come defend the Capitol to which the Metropolitan Police Department responded immediately with several Civil Disturbance Unit Platoons and proceeded to deploy to the west front of the Capitol and arrived within minutes.

The violent mob overran protective measures at the Capitol, and by 1:50 p.m., Metropolitan Police Department had declared the assembly to be a riot and immediately began working to achieve the objectives of stopping domestic terrorists from entering the Capitol building and removing those that were already inside, secure a perimeter so that the Capitol could be cleared for lawmakers to resume the Joint Meeting of Congress to demonstrate to the Nation and the world the robustness and vitality of America's democracy, and making arrests of anyone violating the law.

During the height of the siege of the Capitol, approximately 850 Metropolitan Police Department members were at the Capitol, with another 250 had been in the area to directly support the response and aftermath.

Madam Speaker, people around the country and the world were shocked and moved by the video of a Metropolitan Police Department Officer being beaten by a crowd of insurgents, including one wielding an American flag, and of another in agony as he was crushed between a door and a riot shield but also awed by their bravery in the face of this unprovoked and vicious attack, bravery that was matched that day by countless other unheralded Metropolitan Police Department officers.

The January 6, 2021 siege of the Capitol assault resulted in one of the worst days of injuries for law enforcement in the United States since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Madam Speaker, officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., and other uniformed law enforcement officers stood their ground in defense of American democracy while being attacked by the angry mob of domestic terrorists with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants, and other weapons.

At least 138 officers, 73 from the United States Capitol Police Department and 65 from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, sustained injuries during the attack on the Capitol Building, several of which required hospitalization.

The injuries sustained ranged from bruises and lacerations to more serious damage such as concussions, rib fractures, burns, and even a mild heart attack.

One United States Capitol Police Department officer died from injuries sustained while physically engaging with protesters and two officers involved in the response have died by suicide.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of officers whom law enforcement officials estimate will suffer in years to come with post-traumatic stress disorder and the dozens who contracted the coronavirus from the unmasked domestic terrorists and rioters who stormed the Capitol.

At least 38 Capitol Police officers have tested positive or were exposed to the coronavirus as well as nearly 200 National Guard personnel who were deployed to protect the Capitol.

Madam Speaker, the seven hours between the urgent call for help from the Capitol Police to Metropolitan Police Department and the resumption of work by both houses of Congress will be indelibly etched in the memories of every law enforcement officer who was on the scene, as it is in the minds of the Senators, Representatives, congressional and support staff, and members of the media corps who were forced to seek safety behind locked doors.

Despite being overwhelmed and outnumbered, the indomitable forces of American democracy, symbolized by the resolve of the officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, prevailed and the seditious attack was quelled, the Capitol Building preserved, and the lives of United States Senators and Representatives protected, as well as those of congressional and support staff, and order was restored so that the Joint Meeting of Congress was resumed and completed its constitutionally required duty of counting and announcing the votes of the presidential electors, an essential step in the peaceful transfer of power that has been a hallmark of American democracy and the example to the world for more than two centuries.

As the legislation recites, ``the courage of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman,'' and ``the sacrifice of heroes including Capitol Police Officers Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffrey Smith, and those who sustained injuries, exemplify the patriotism'' and devotion to duty of Capitol Police officers, and those of other law enforcement agencies, who risk their lives in service of our country.

Madam Speaker, the Congressional Gold Medals authorized to be minted by this legislation and to be displayed at the United States Capitol Police headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution, and by the Architect of the Capitol at the United States Capitol conveys the thanks and appreciation of a grateful nation for the selfless and heroic service exhibited by these sentinels of the republic in defense of American democracy in responding to the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by domestic terrorists.

This tribute is, as President Lincoln noted at Gettysburg, ``altogether fitting and proper'' for heroes of the republic.

The action we are taking today should encourage all educational and media institutions throughout the United States to teach and celebrate the story of the heroism of the officers of the United States Capitol Police Department, the Metropolitan Police Department, and all other law enforcement officers who, out of true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, selflessly risked their lives to protect the Capitol Building and its personnel, the Congress, and the spirit and fact of democracy in America.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Americans to read, celebrate, and revere the Constitution of the United States, fidelity to which is the surest best means of forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessing of liberty to them and their posterity.

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