Tim Ryan gives incensed speech on House floor slamming GOP over Jan. 6 commission
Tim Ryan #TimRyan
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) gave an incensed speech on the House floor Wednesday slamming Republicans for not backing a bipartisan commission to probe the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Ryan also thanked the Republicans who supported the commission for their bipartisanship but slammed other GOP lawmakers who opposed the commission for their “incoherence.”
“To the other 90 percent of our friends on the other side of the aisle, holy cow! Incoherence! No idea what you’re talking about!” Ryan said.
The Ohio Democrat then called out the GOP for aggressively investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks.
“Benghazi! You guys chased the former secretary of State all over the country. Spent millions of dollars!” Ryan screamed. “We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol Police with lead pipes across the head, and we can’t get bipartisanship?”
Ryan said the GOP not supporting the commission was a “slap in the face to every rank-and-file cop in the United States.”
“If we’re gonna take on China, if we’re gonna rebuild the country, if we’re gonna reverse climate change, we need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality, and you ain’t one of them!” Ryan concluded.
After Ryan finished speaking, Rep. John Katko (N.Y.), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, who negotiated the bill, said, “I ask that we all take a deep breath right now. And everybody breathe for a minute. And everybody stop the theatrics. And everybody stop the arguments that are not relevant to this issue. This is a very solemn moment.”
Katko and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) reached an agreement last week on the commission. The outside panel would focus solely on the events of Jan. 6 and no other episodes of political violence.
But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that he doesn’t support the commission.
Earlier on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also said he opposed the commission, presenting new hurdles in the upper chamber.