Ian Patrick, FISM News
A new bill (H.R. 3325) passed the House of Representatives yesterday which plans to award four Congressional Gold Medals “to the United States Capitol Police and those who protected the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.” The bill overwhelmingly passed the chamber and now moves to the Senate, but there were 21 dissenting votes.
These dissents were all from House Republicans, who have received extreme flak for their decision even from members of their own party. The accusations against them include everything from being anti-police to being supportive of the January 6th riot. However, according to these 21 Republicans their dissent was not for disbelief in honoring the police. Rather, it had to do with the language and politics of the bill itself.
Ohio Representative Warren Davidson said he voted against the bill because it wasn’t sincere, as Democrats were trying to “launder a politically motivated narrative about the events of 1/6.” He noted that he already voted to award gold medals to D.C. Metro and the Capitol Police, while this bill was an attempt to “rewrite history.”
“Yes” was the easy vote, but it’s wrong to conflate 4/2 with 1/6. My “no” vote is an effort to make that clear.
— Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) June 15, 2021
Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas echoed a similar message to that of Rep. Davidson, saying that the act “doesn’t honor the USCP but drives a narrative not substantiated by facts.” He subsequently proposed his own bill to the House which he claims would properly honor the officers in the incident. His version of this honor removes wording found in H.R. 3325 that called the January 6th rioters “insurrectionists” and the Capitol “the temple of American democracy,” while also recognizing officers who had died in the past and not just from this year.
The bill does in fact use such language to describe the event:
On January 6, 2021, a mob of insurrectionists forced its way into the U.S. Capitol building and congressional office buildings and engaged in acts of vandalism, looting, and violently attacked Capitol Police officers.
The desecration of the U.S. Capitol, which is the temple of our American Democracy, and the violence targeting Congress are horrors that will forever stain our Nation’s history.
In fact, this kind of wording is the exact reason why Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia voted against H.R. 3325 as well. In agreement, Rep. Scott Perry from Pennsylvania said the bill is “all politics” and “all garbage.”
The bill is now in the evenly split Senate.