The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“CAPITOL POLICE” mentioning Mitch McConnell was published in the Senate section on pages S5031-S5032 on July 22.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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The publication is reproduced in full below:
CAPITOL POLICE
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, this has been one of the most difficult years ever for the Capitol Police here in Washington. These are men and women who have worked in this building and nearby in our office buildings and protect us to make sure we can come safely to work every single day and our staff and our visitors and tourists who come to the Capitol Building. These men and women are amazing.
We know that January 6, 2021, is a date that they will never forget. They were on the front lines of the violent January 6 insurrection that shocked this building, our Nation, and the world. Hundreds of Capitol Police literally fought for hours that day to protect this building and to protect me and other Members of the U.S. Senate.
The attack left one Capitol officer, Brian Sicknick, dead and more than 140 total officers from the Capitol Police and DC Police injured. Some members said it was the most savage fighting they have ever witnessed or been part of. Many of them thought they would die that day, yet they were back at their post the very next day and the day after that, and the day after that, and this morning too.
On April 2, the Capitol Police were still struggling to heal from the insurrection when their department suffered another devastating loss. A driver rammed his car into a barricade just outside the Capitol, a barricade I go through every morning. And one officer was injured and another officer, Billy Evans, was killed--killed. The memorial to him is still out at that barricade.
Only once before in the 193-year history of the Capitol Police had the department lost two members in the line of duty in the same year. That was on July 24, 1998. This coming Saturday is the anniversary of that event, the 23rd anniversary of the murders of Capitol Police Officers Jacob ``J.J.'' Chestnut and Detective John Gibson.
It happened on a Friday afternoon. I remember the day. Most Members of Congress had already gone home for the weekend, but the Capitol was still filled with staff and tourists. Officer Chestnut was at his post guarding an entrance on the east front of the building when a man with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and a history of serious mental illness walked in and shot him point-blank in the back of the head. The shooter then ran to the nearest opened door, seeking to escape.
On the other side of that door, Detective Gibson just warned congressional staffers to hide under their desks, and he was face-to-
face with that shooter. For the first time in his career, Detective Gibson fired his weapon in the line of duty, hitting the man four times. The man shot back, hitting Detective Gibson twice. Both officers died.
John Gibson had 18 years with the Capitol Police. J.J. Chestnut, a Vietnam veteran, had 20 years in the Air Force before joining the Capitol Police. He was ready for retirement. He thought he was going to be able to take time off with his family, but he lost his life that day.
They became the first civilians ever to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. Today, the Capitol Police headquarters is named after them.
Their murders remained the darkest days in the history of the Capitol Police until January 6, 2021, until a defeated and bitter President Donald Trump incited an angry mob and sent them to this Capitol to try to overturn a Presidential election.
The images from that day are sickening and we have seen them over and over. On February 3, Brian Sicknick became the third Capitol Police officer to lie in honor in the Rotunda.
I had a chance after that to speak to his parents. They were so proud of him and they thought he had a safe job as a policeman. Working at the U.S. Capitol, that has to be a safe place to work. Among the mourners paying their respect in the Rotunda that day were President Biden and the widow of Officer Chestnut
Mr. President, the men and women who safeguard this Capitol deserve more than words from us, more than speeches. They protect us with their courage and they stand up and fight for us whenever they are called on.
Men and women in law enforcement are on the front lines when it comes to the Nation's gun violence epidemic. So far this year, at least 36 police officers in the city of Chicago have been shot or shot at. It is too easy for convicted felons and people with serious mental illness to get their hands on guns and use them.
More than 90 percent of the American people--all political faiths--
believe we should have serious background checks to keep guns out of the hands of people who will misuse them: Convicted felons, mentally unstable people.
The House passed a bill, H.R. 8, in March that would fortify this effort to keep guns out of those hands. Senators Murphy and Manchin have been leading the negotiations. They are not coming along very well. I wish they were. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us in supporting that.
In the meantime, I hope that we don't allow the events of January 6 to just become a matter of history. There are still important questions we need to answer.
And the Capitol Police have done something unusual, maybe the first time in memory. They have written us a letter and begged us to have a commission to really look into and investigate what happened on January 6. They had so much at stake that day. They risked their lives for us. And, sadly, Senator McConnell is not agreeing to move forward on a bipartisan commission. Speaker Pelosi is trying to put one together now and it is not easy. I commend her for her effort.
It would be a shame for us to walk away from the events of January 6 because of worries about political consequences. We owe it to the American people. We owe it to the Capitol Police. We owe it to the families of those who were injured and those who died to do our part to get to the bottom of what led up to January 6.
If we want this Capitol to be available for future generations to visit peacefully in a positive way, let's do our part to make sure we get to the bottom and answer that fundamental question.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Booker). The Senator from South Dakota.
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