4 LI U.S. Reps Support Insurrection Commission Vote, 1 Dissents

WASHINGTON, DC — Four out of the five Long Island congressional leaders voted on Wednesday to support the creation of a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Democratic U.S. reps Thomas Suozzi, Kathleen Rice and Gregory Meeks voted in favor of the measure, along with freshman U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a Republican from Bayport, but Congressman Lee Zeldin, a Republican from Shirley, voted against the measure.

Overall the measure passed 252-175, with 217 Democrats and 35 Republicans in support.

The 35 Republican votes were secured by the Problem Solvers caucus to support the creation of a commission to investigate the insurrection and the “influencing factors” provoking the events, Suozzi said.

Former president Donald Trump has been criticized for his actions leading up to the point where protesters, who rejected the certification of President Joe Biden's election, some chanting, "Stop the steal," broke through the Capitol's perimeter, eventually breaching the House Chamber.

A Capitol police officer was killed, along with four civilians, and numerous other officers were injured during the day's events.

Just before the Problem Solvers Caucus, of which Suozzi is Vice President, announced support for the commission, news reports indicated the vote on its formation might have been along party lines, according to Suozzi’s office.

Suozzi, who had to take cover along with colleagues when rioters breached the Capitol and gunfire echoed throughout the House Chamber, said the nation deserves the truth, and "anything standing in the way of that, further fuels misinformation and divisiveness.”

“The formation of the commission is bipartisan in nature, and even includes requests made by dozens of Republicans in Congress,” Suozzi said. “We must get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th, and I’m confident this commission will do just that in a fair, bipartisan way.”

Garbarino said that what happened at the Capitol was “unAmerican and a direct attack on our democracy,” Newsday reported.

“At that time, I promised to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that what happened that day would never happen again in our country," he added.

Zeldin said that the “duties of the proposed commission are already being carried out, but Speaker [Nancy Pelosi] wants to politicize this issue and distract from her party’s disastrous policies that are depressing the workforce and slowing economic growth,” according to Newsday's report.

After the vote, Rice told Anderson Cooper on “360” that the Republicans who voted against the measure have decided “it’s not worth their political careers to be on the wrong side of Donald Trump.”

“They literally stand for nothing but their own political futures,” she said.

In February, the Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing to examine the possibility of a domestic terrorism threat in the wake of the U.S. Capitol attack, heard testimony indicating how the circumstances demanded a bipartisan investigation by counterterrorism experts. Lawmakers have since called for the creation of a 9/11-style commission to include a group of non-partisan experts.

Key features of the 10-person independent commission would include members who must have significant expertise in the specialized areas of law such as enforcement, civil rights, civil liberties, privacy, intelligence, and cybersecurity. Other features would include an investigation and report on the facts, causes, and influencing factors that may have provoked the insurrection.

The commission would also examine and evaluate evidence from federal, state, and local governments, “in a manner that is respectful of ongoing investigations, regarding the facts and circumstances of the attack,” Suozzi’s office said.

It would “build upon other investigations” into the attack, as well as related targeted violence and domestic terrorism, according to his office.

The commission would report its findings to Biden and Congress, as well as conclusions, and recommendations for “corrective measures taken to prevent future acts of targeted violence and domestic terrorism, including against American democratic institutions,” Suozzi’s office said.

The commission would “improve the security posture of the United States Capitol Complex in a manner that preserves the accessibility of the Capitol Complex for all Americans, and strengthen the security and resilience of nation and American democratic institutions against domestic terrorism,” according to Suozzi’s office.