GA Reps Vote No On Bill To Honor Capitol Police With Gold Medals

GEORGIA — Three Georgia congressmen — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jody Hice and Andrew Clyde — were among the 21 Republicans who voted against awarding Congressional Gold Medals to police who responded to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The measure, H.R. 3225, passed the house Tuesday with 406 votes from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers. It now goes to the Senate for approval.

Explaining her vote to Politico, Green said “I wouldn’t call it an insurrection.” Greene also objected to calling the Capitol a “temple” of democracy, as did several other Republicans.

Greene’s reasoning echoed that of Hice and Clyde, both of whom have tried to either downplay the Jan. 6 riot or divert attention elsewhere. For example, in April Greene introduced a bill that would specifically honor “law enforcement officers and those who protected American cities during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots” in 2020.

Hice, who’s running for Georgia secretary of state with the blessings of former President Donald Trump, is co-sponsoring an alternate measure that would identify the driver of a car that rammed a Capitol police officer on April 2 as a supporter of Islam. That measure was introduced by Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, with Greene and Clyde also as co-sponsors, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Another bill sponsored by Gohmert and co-sponsored by Greene, Hice and Clyde would honor all Capitol police, not just those who protected Congressmen on Jan. 6.

Of the three representatives from Georgia, Clyde has perhaps the highest profile for minimizing the events of Jan. 6. In May, Clyde’s characterization of the Capitol breach as looking like “a normal tourist visit” drew rebukes from politicians and jokes from late-night comedians.

“How you can vote no to this is beyond me,” tweeted Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican who frequently was at odds with former President Donald Trump. “Then again, denying an insurrection is as well.”

How you can vote no to this is beyond me. Then again, denying an insurrection is as well. To the brave Capitol (and DC metro PD) thank you. To the 21: they will continue to defend your right to vote no anyway https://t.co/08gmIPu7wX
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) June 15, 2021

Read the stories in Politico and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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