Issue One holds press briefing with 9/11 commissioners and 9/11 family member about congressional vote to create a January 6th commission

“I believe if they’ll let people vote their conscience that you’ll see this pass with bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. So leaders, please back off. Don’t whip against this. Let the members vote their conscience. They know what’s right. They will do the right thing.”  – Rep. Zach Wamp, Issue One ReFormers Caucus Co-Chair and National Council on Election Integrity member

This morning, Issue One convened a press briefing with leading voices and 9/11 commissioners ahead of today’s vote in the House on bipartisan legislation that would create an independent commission to investigate the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Click to read a transcript or watch the entire event.

The briefing featured: 

• Ambassador Tim Roemer, former congressman and member of the 9/11 Commission
• Former Congressman Lee Hamilton, 9/11 Commission vice chairman
• Former Congressman Zach Wamp
• Mary Fetchet, the mother of a 9/11 victim and executive director of Voices Center for Resilience

Featured speaker quotes below.

Also today, Rep. Hamilton and former Governor Tom Kean, who was vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, released a statement in support of H.R. 3233. Yesterday, the bipartisan National Council on Election Integrity also released a statement following the House Rules Committee’s vote to advance H.R. 3233, the bill to create a commission.

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Amb. Tim Roemer:

“January 6th was a highly unique event. It is different than almost any other time in our nation’s history. We have to go back to the British invasion, a powerful army from overseas, at war with America the last time the Capitol was breached and attacked. That’s a foreign power…. [T]his all took place during a constitutional process where we count the votes cast by the people in a fair and free election to transfer power from one president to the next. One government to the next. That is an extraordinarily different situation than what some people are talking about in terms of protests in cities. This is a violent domestic assault on our nation’s Capitol with the vice-president of the United States, the speaker, legislators, Capitol police being threatened with their lives and violence taking place.

Rep. Lee Hamilton:

“As [vice chairman] of the 9/11 Commission, unity of purpose was key to the effectiveness of the group. We put country above party without bias, the events before, during, and after the attack, we sought to understand our vulnerabilities in order to prevent future attacks or future acts of terrorism. Today, democracy faces a new threat. The January 6th attack on the US Capitol was one of the darkest days in the history of our country. Americans deserve an objective and an accurate account of what happened.”

Mary Fetchet:

“As a 9/11 family member, I learned firsthand that average citizens can and should play an important role in advocating for issues that impact the safety of our families and our communities. Today, the public has an opportunity to engage in the call to establish a January 6th bi-partisan commission to address the current threat of domestic terrorism.”

Rep. Zach Wamp:

“I think that what happened on January the 6th started with the narrative that there was a fraudulent election and a belief through disinformation that something could actually be done about it on January the 6th, and they pulled people to DC to do something about it. And look what happened. We better stop that so that when we do this again in four years, there’s no way, no matter how the count goes, that this happens again on either side. That’s the point of this commission.”

“The scripture says that, there’s a time for everything. There’s a time for the campaign. It’s called 2022. There’s a time right now to get to the bottom of January the 6th and what happened. This is where you have to put your country first. If you’re going to serve your country, put the country first. The country really needs the January 6th commission so that this is properly documented and the remedies are put in place.”

Watch a recording of the event.

Read a transcript.