Gosar Votes Against Partisan January 6th Bills
Finally, this week the Democrats forced votes on two January 6th related bills. One was a nearly $2 billion emergency supplemental spending bill for security upgrades to the United States Capitol complex and the other was a bill to create a so-called “national commission” to review the events that took place that day.
Let me be perfectly clear, we need full transparency regarding what occurred on January 6, 2021. That is why for months I have been demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) release all the surveillance videos being held. It makes absolutely no sense to me why the DOJ refuses to make public ALL video footage taken on January 6. The videos would be very helpful in getting answers to many questions, including the death of Ashli Babbitt, the only individual killed that day. The videos would also show where security lapses occurred or why they were allowed to happen.
Unfortunately, neither of these two bills will lead to full transparency. For example, the security spending bill included millions of dollars for unrelated items like COVID-19 response and implements permanent recommendations before the ongoing security assessment is complete. It also would create a permanent National Guard quick reaction force within the District of Columbia raising many concerns about the role of our military and the continuation of maintaining a militarized zone. Instead of reaching across the aisle to work with Republicans to find bipartisan solutions, the Democrats chose the path of partisanship. Every Republican voted against this excessive spending bill.
Democrats also denied my amendment which would have conditioned the release of emergency security funds with the release of all the surveillance videos related to January 6, 2021.
In all candor, the bill to create a January 6th commission was not a serious piece of legislation. Rather, it was another partisan effort to attack anyone the Democrats want to investigate and use headline-grabbing subpoena power to damage Republicans and America First supporters. That’s what this was about. This is a partisan joke and I could not support this legislation.