PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday that would establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Thirty-five Republicans, including two lawmakers from the Philadelphia region, broke with their party to back the bill.
Pennsylvania Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County and New Jersey’s Chris Smith, who represents parts of Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties, were part of the group of Republicans who joined the Democrats as the bill passed the House 252-175.
As of Thursday morning, neither of the two has released a statement on their involvement in the vote.
Congressman John Katko of New York led the charge of Republicans who crossed the aisle. He is part of the Homeland Security Committee and worked with Mississippi Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson to write the legislation so that the 10-person panel would be "depoliticized entirely."
"There’s an equal number of members on both sides, appointed by both sides. They have equal subpoena power. They can’t subpoena one person without [the other side] agreeing. They have to hire a staff together," Katko said on the House floor on Wednesday.
Also, a final report would have to be submitted by the end of the year.
Katko, who was an assistant U.S. attorney before he got into politics, said they were striving for an independent commission that would be similar to the one that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"As someone who was in federal law enforcement for 20 years before I took this job, I can tell you that our country is infinitely safer because of what the 9/11 Commission did," Katko said.
The overwhelming majority of House Republicans voted against the bill. And Donald Trump still has a grip on the party, influencing some of those no votes.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke before the vote on Wednesday. She said there was no commission set up to investigate the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd last year. She said a Jan. 6 commission would be used by the media to "smear Trump supporters and President Trump for the next few years."
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Democratic Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, in a fiery speech, criticized GOP members who opposed an investigation into an attack on the very building they were in.
“We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol police with lead pipes across the head, and we can’t get bipartisanship! What else has to happen in this country?” Ryan yelled on the House floor.
The storming of the Capitol in January, over the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Trump, led to five deaths and hundreds of injuries. So far, more than 400 people have been arrested and the FBI released images of many more who they’re looking to identify and take into custody.
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The future of the bill is uncertain, because it has to pass the evenly divided U.S. Senate, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already come out to say he would not support it.
Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin is circulating a letter to chiefs of staff on Capitol Hill that his office says represents the sentiments of 40 to 50 officers. The letter says, "It is inconceivable that some of the Members we protect would downplay the events of January 6th."
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