Politics

Jan. 6, in their own words: Members of Congress look back and forward

January 6, 2022

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)

During that impeachment trial, once we noticed all of it knit collectively — in phrases of the maps and the movies and the footage and noticed the entire thing going down without delay — it was surprising.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)

It was already a tough day for me. It was the one-year anniversary of my brother’s passing [former Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)]. My entire household was gathered at my mother and father’ home. I wasn’t there. And they’re texting me, as I’m sitting on the ground watching the proceedings happen, saying, ‘Are you OK?’ I’m pondering, ‘They’re asking me, am I OK for the one-year mark.’ I did not notice they had been watching tv, watching the Capitol get stormed. No thought.

That was the case for lots of us. We had been getting pinged earlier than we had any clue.

Rep. Ann Kuster (D-N.H.)

Rep. Ann Kuster was one of 4 lawmakers lower than 50 toes from a gaggle of rioters as they had been evacuated from the House gallery: The full story has not come out on the House facet. On the Senate facet, we noticed the video of Mitt Romney. … That for me is part of the story that I have to convey, as a result of I used to be a component of that. Every second counted.

The entrance of the mob was coming towards us in that hallway. You might hear them. I did not see them as a result of I used to be fussing [with my gas mask].

A gaggle of them had come up that staircase and come down that hallway. … That eight-and-a-half minutes, with all my colleagues nonetheless caught contained in the chamber, pinned down, calling their households to say goodbye.

I’m attempting to convey how shut this got here in the House.

… on attempting to remain protected, bodily and emotionally, one yr later

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)

I do not go wherever in Connecticut with out police safety when I’m doing my official duties. That was not the case previous to Jan. 6. The stage of harassment directed at my household is extra vital than it was. The job is completely different now. These individuals are not properly, and they arrive after us in a really, very completely different, very private approach.

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.)

Rep. Rodney Davis was there when a gunman attacked a GOP Congressional Baseball Game follow in 2017: I’ve seen the vitriol earlier than. I imply, I needed to run from bullets on a baseball discipline with my associates a pair of years in the past.

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.)

We want to determine a technique to do safety in the individuals’s House. … I would like all people who’s right here to be protected. But I do not need to use your security as an excuse to not get this place back to the place individuals can come see it. And there is a technique to do each.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)

I all the time felt protected going into the Capitol. The solely instances I’ve not felt protected had been on 9/11 and on Jan. 6. I really feel protected going now, however I’ll all the time have that tiny little query mark in my thoughts.

Kuster, who’s helped develop a help group for the handfuls of Democrats who had been in the gallery that day: We have this textual content chain. And typically the textual content is, ‘Who’s bringing the wine?’ or teasing [Rep.] Jason Crow (D-Colo.) about bringing pie. And then typically it is, ‘I’m really having a hard time.’ ‘Here’s a book about trauma that might help you.’

It’s an extremely highly effective help system. I’d say that at this level, we love one another. We take care of one another. And it is not a lot that the story is about us. The story is about this place that we love that’s so essential to our nation and to our future.

… on how the riot has affected relationships between the events

Tester: I feel it will be very easy to say ‘I’m by no means working with these guys once more.’ But in the end, in the tip, I’m right here to get issues executed and I’m right here to attempt to transfer the ball forward.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)

Especially in the House, there appears to be extra proof of [Jan. 6 affecting relationships].

Kuster: Well, [on Jan. 7], I used to be getting a Covid vaccine. The scene was surreal. It’s like out of a film. I used to be sitting in these seats with Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and two southern Republican males.

And the 2 of them are sitting there, Thursday morning, bragging about what number of busloads of supporters that they had dropped at Washington, like that that they had paid for, presumably. Maybe their marketing campaign funds. And they’re actually bragging about that, sitting proper subsequent to me.

Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.)

I can’t vote for a invoice that involves the ground that is sponsored by individuals who voted to overturn the election outcomes, except they’ve acknowledged the error of their methods. Which to date consists of [Rep.] Tom Rice (R-S.C.), and that is it. I would not go as far as to say not work with individuals, as a result of good concepts come from all corners.

Davis, one of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s authentic picks for the House Select Committee on Jan. 6: Nobody’s failing to work with the Democrat committee chairmen who voted to not certify George W. Bush’s election in 2004. I do not see a push to not work with [Rep.] Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) as a result of he was debating whether or not or to not certify outcomes that got here in for President Trump on the House flooring in 2017.

Armstrong, one other of McCarthy’s authentic picks for the Jan. 6 panel: I feel amongst the rank-and-file, it has thawed some. I feel from ideological ends, it hasn’t.

Fitzpatrick, who co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus: If we implode on one another, if we begin to erode our establishments, lose religion in our establishments, that would be the finish of democracy. And I do not assume individuals notice how fragile democracy is, how younger it’s, and how inclined it’s to that.

So any time I see my colleagues assault one another on the House flooring, I do not care which celebration they’re from, I’ll inform them you make your adversaries very comfortable proper now. Mind the burden of your phrases as a result of they’ve penalties.

… on how they see the violence now

Murray: We bodily needed to go back into that Capitol that very same evening [to finish certifying the election]. And I assumed that was a vital second that stated that we weren’t going to permit this to occur. … I feel what I’m involved about is the fragility of that second. Everybody stood collectively — or just about all people apart from a number of stood collectively — at that second. I hope none of us ever neglect that.

Casten: I’m not indignant anymore. I’m simply attempting to determine what do you do when you may have been entrusted with duty as a member of the United States Congress — and a big faction of your colleagues stood down when anyone tried to kill you.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)

I give it some thought ceaselessly. To me, it is a day like 9/11. That’s a day like when John Kennedy was assassinated. You’re too younger to know that date, however that date is in my thoughts. Both of these occasions had an enduring affect on me. Jan. 6 has had an enduring affect on me.

Murkowski: I used to be scared. And then I acquired actually indignant. And now it is nearly extra of a way of disappointment in acknowledging that, for some, they’ve chosen to both transfer the occasions to the back of their thoughts — simply neglect about them — or have sort of re-imagined the info that we reside by way of.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)

Rep. Cheney, vice chair of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6: Whether or not we inform the reality about it, and whether or not or not we maintain individuals accountable, and ensure it by no means occurs once more — it truly is the ethical query of our time.

… on shifting forward

Armstrong: I attempted to not do it earlier than, however I’ve made a aware effort to combat about concepts and not ship the snarky tweet that you simply assume is gonna get a bunch of clicks — and you assume you are comfortable — and you then look back at it 48 hours later, and you are like, ‘Really, is that really worth it?’ … When you exaggerate one thing, you lose the aspect of the argument. And each side do this. I want we might do it much less.

Tester: After the sixth, I feel it confirmed the establishments are strong and they’re holding up. … When the establishments can’t be screwed up by anyone particular person or group of individuals, that’s a really optimistic factor.

Thune: As we look to the long run, the extra that we get on the market and speak about concepts, rules, and determine and relate to individuals the place they’re at … the higher probability we’ll have of being an electable governing majority for the long run. And the extra we dwell on what occurred in the previous, individuals are going to discover a ceiling.

Casten: It’s, in some ways, redoubled my dedication to public service. Because I discover myself incessantly excited about that line of Lincoln’s, that ‘there was always just enough virtue in this nation to save it; sometimes none to spare, but always just enough.’

Murkowski: I had a choice to make on whether or not or to not run once more. And for a number of completely different causes … the simpler factor to do would have been to say that I can’t run. But I selected the more durable path, I feel. And I did so as a result of I feel this place is price saving.