Six months to the day after angry protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory, Congressman Adam Schiff (CA-28) said there is still work to do address security concerns.
“Six months, by now, we should have a good idea of some of the things that need to change,” Schiff said Tuesday. “I wish I could say that things have changed so substantially that there’s a greater comfort level among the members. I don’t think that’s the case, not yet.”
Schiff told KNX In-Depth that there are many unanswered questions that need to be addressed, as well as solutions that need to be found.
“Why didn’t we have better intelligence about what was going to happen given that there was so much being said quite openly online?,” Schiff asked “Why wasn’t the National Guard more readily dispached to come to the rescue of the people who were under siege?”
Half a year later, Capitol Police officers are resigning and insiders are complaining about a lack of progress in addressing security concerns. According to CNN, small changes have been implemented, but critics say reforms needed to prevent another insurrection have yet to be implemented.
Schiff is part of a House special committee launched last week to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. The committee was approved by the House along party lines, with only two Republicans voting for it.
“We have the power to subpoena. We’ll use it if we need to in order to get the answers and that the investigation is done properly, thoroughly and objectively,” Schiff said. “We’re going to do our work, and we’re going to do it in as non-partisan fashion as we can.”
Schiff said the committee will be playing catch-up.
"(The committee) is trying to build the airplane at the same time we’re flying it," Schiff said. "There are certain changes that need to be made structurally and organizationally to the Capitol police that we don’t want to await the conclusion of all of our analysis.”
Some of the first testimonies Schiff said the committee wanted to hear was from Capitol Police officers.
“(We will) let them describe their experiences to the public, but also talk about why some of them don’t have confidence in the leadership and what they think needs to be done,” Schiff said. “We’re very determined to make sure we do the analysis and do security and make sure that that once again The Capitol is a safe place, not only for members, but members of the public.”