Common Cause Urges Senators to Support Commission to Investigate January 6th Insurrection

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. Senate to vote for cloture on the motion to proceed and support the House-passed H.R. 3233 to establish a 9/11-style commission to investigate the violent attack January 6th on the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The letter notes that Common Cause plans to score this cloture vote on the motion to proceed to this legislation to create the “National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex” in the next version of our Democracy Scorecard which we send to our 1.5 million members.

“The American people deserve to know the full truth about what happened before, during and after the insurrection on January 6^th at the Capitol when a violent, racist mob attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” said Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn. “It is absolutely inexcusable that any senator would vote against a full investigation of the insurrection, let alone filibuster a debate on the bill—and worse still that some members are now trying to trivialize the dire threat to Congress and our democracy that day. Multiple people died after a violent horde descended on the Capitol armed with cudgels, bear spray, and zip ties with arms caches and bombs hidden just blocks away. A vote against this commission and a full and transparent investigation of the insurrection is quite simply a vote against democracy.”

Earlier this month the full House passed the legislation by a bipartisan vote of 252-175 with 35 Republican members voting with the majority despite the opposition of Minority Leader McCarthy, who opposed the creation of the commission to investigate the violent attack on the Capitol by the former president’s supporters. The vote was brought to the floor after the House Homeland Security Committee’s Democratic chair and Republican ranking member reached an agreement on the legislation to create the commission to investigate the insurrection. The Commission’s investigation will culminate in a final report to be released by December 31, 2021, with findings regarding the facts and causes of the January 6th insurrection, along with recommendations to prevent future attacks on our democratic institutions.

To read the full letter, click here.