WASHINGTON — While Congress plans to honor law enforcement during National Police Week in Washington, those who defended the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack are still awaiting a permanent memorial in the building, more than a year after the deadline. by Congress to put one in.
Congress commissioned a plaque to honor the officers who responded to the riot that day, to be completed by March 2023, but it has not yet been installed. The bill that authorized the honor required lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol to approve the process — two Democratic sources and one Republican source said House Republicans are to blame for the delay.
Republicans on the relevant committees responded to requests for comment on the delay by referring NBC News to the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. A spokesperson for Johnson said the office “is working closely with [architect of the Capitol] to mount the sign”, but did not provide the date of installation of the sign nor did it state the reason for the delay.
In response to questions about the delay, the Capitol’s office architect said he is “working with the Speaker of the House’s office to assemble the sign.”
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is considering pardoning hundreds of Capitol rioters who took part in an attack that injured 140 police officers. Members of the Republican majority in the House continue to downplay the events of January 6th. Johnson, who played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, last week introduced a Trump-backed bill that plays into much of the same misinformation about the election. security that led to the attack.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a former member of the House Jan. 6 committee, asked Johnson in a new letter for information about the delay.
“I am deeply concerned about the delay in installing the sign, which is required by law to be placed on the west side of the Capitol building by March 2023,” he said. Lofgren wrote in a letter to Johnson. “As you may recall, the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus, approved in March 2022, included provisions requiring the Architect of the Capitol to obtain an honorary plaque listing the names of all officers from various law enforcement agencies who responded to the violence on January 6th. , 2021.”
“It is deeply concerning that this memorial has not been installed, especially considering the importance of honoring those who have faced violence and attacks while safeguarding our Capitol,” she wrote.
The 2022 government funding bill, which became law on March 15, 2022, when Democrats still controlled the House, gave Congress one year to create and display a plaque honoring officers of the California Police Department. Washington, as well as federal, state and other officials. local law enforcement agencies and protective entities, “who valiantly protected the United States Capitol, members of Congress, and staff on January 6, 2021.” A group of congressional offices was instructed to compile the names that should appear on the plaque, including the positions of top Republicans and Democrats on the House Administration Committee, the Senate Rules Committee, and the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees that allocate money to the branch legislature. The architect of the Capitol was given the responsibility of obtaining the plaque and finding it a permanent home on the west front of the Capitol.
Several people involved in the process were unable to say how much was completed.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, questioned whether the delay can be attributed to the slow pace at which the Architect of the Capitol completes work on the Capitol grounds. Romney, who took office in the Senate in 2019, cited a set of elevators in the Dirksen Senate Office Building that “have been under repair the entire time I have been here.”
The office of the Architect of the Capitol, which maintains and preserves the buildings and grounds of the Capitol complex, has experienced turmoil in recent months after President Joe Biden fired Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton in February 2023 in the wake of a report that said he had abused his authority and misused taxpayer money. The role has been filled as an actor since then.
“You know, maybe I’ve adapted to the speed at which the architect of the Capitol works,” said Romney, who voted to convict Trump in his related Jan. 6 impeachment trial. “So the fact that we didn’t get the plaque probably should have alarmed me, but I’ve been here so long that I’m getting used to it.”
The deadline for installing the sign passed while former Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, was still speaker of the House. Johnson was elected to office in October after McCarthy was ousted.
This week, Johnson is scheduled to host a prayer vigil and flag-laying ceremony at the Capitol to honor police officers who have been killed in the line of duty as part of National Police Week, an annual event.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
