[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 28 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 28
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the violent insurrection at
the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 11, 2021
Mr. Espaillat submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on
Ethics, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the violent insurrection at
the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Whereas on the morning of January 6, 2021, President Donald J. Trump attended a
rally on the National Mall where he encouraged a crowd of individuals to
disrupt the proceedings of Congress to certify the votes of the
electoral college for President and Vice President of the United States,
stating that he himself would be in attendance;
Whereas certain Members of Congress issued statements directly calling on
individuals to resort to violence to intervene in the certification of
the votes of the electoral college in an attempt to overturn the results
of a valid, free, and fair election;
Whereas in the months leading up to and following the 2020 Presidential
election, President Donald J. Trump rigorously sowed discord, impaired
the operations of the United States Postal Service, promoted conspiracy
theories, and outright lied to the American public in order to reduce
confidence in the integrity of the election and disenfranchise voters;
Whereas in the days and weeks following media outlets' determination that Joseph
R. Biden, Jr., had secured the necessary number of electoral votes to be
declared President-elect, President Trump, his legal representatives,
and dozens of Republican Members of Congress and Senators deliberately
attempted to reverse the results of the election in various States and
to disenfranchise millions of voters by bringing forth frivolous
lawsuits at several levels of the United States judicial system;
Whereas due to an utter lack of evidence and legal standing, these lawsuits were
swiftly dismissed by dozens of judges, including those nominated by
President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by the Senate;
Whereas following his decisive defeat in both the November Presidential election
and legal efforts that followed, President Donald J. Trump, alongside
more than 100 Republican Members of the House of Representatives and a
dozen Republican Senators, announced their intent to object to the
certification of the votes of certain States' electors perpetuating
baseless claims about the integrity of the election, and encouraged
their supporters to descend on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to ``stop
the steal'';
Whereas on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, a mob of thousands of domestic
terrorists and seditionists engaged in a sustained effort to bypass
United States Capitol Police and officers under direction of the
Sergeants at Arms of the House and Senate in order to delay and disrupt
Congress' constitutional and statutory duty of certifying the 2020
Presidential election results;
Whereas the responding officers from the Sergeants at Arms of the House and
Senate, United States Capitol Police, National Guard, and Metropolitan
Police Department of the District of Columbia were physically assaulted
and threatened with deadly weapons and firearms;
Whereas the security preparations by these and other law enforcement agencies
were inexplicably and dangerously inadequate to meet the clear and
present threat posed to Members of Congress and individuals in the line
of succession to the Presidency; and
Whereas as a result of this insurrection, two individuals were fatally wounded
in the United States Capitol and many others were severely injured: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of Congress that--
(1) President Donald J. Trump did knowingly and
purposefully incite a violent and unlawful insurrection against
the United States;
(2) any individual who participated in, aided, or abetted
the violent and unlawful insurrection at the United States
Capitol on January 6, 2021, should be prosecuted to the fullest
extent under the laws of the United States and be brought to
justice, and considered ineligible for civil or military office
under the United States pursuant to section 3 of the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution;
(3) for any House Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner who participated in, aided, or abetted this
violent insurrection, or through their public pronouncements
via official or unofficial channels encouraged it, the
Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives should
initiate an investigation into whether such Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner may have violated the Code of Official
Conduct set forth in rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and determine the appropriate sanction, up to
and including expulsion;
(4) for any Senator who participated in, aided, or abetted
this violent insurrection, or through their public
pronouncements via official or unofficial channels encouraged
it, the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate should conduct
a similar investigation and recommend similarly appropriate
sanctions; and
(5) a commission should be established to investigate all
factors leading to the breach of the United States Capitol and
the Capitol Complex during this violent insurrection and to
provide recommendations to ensure no such events ever occur
again.
<all>