Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a senior member of the Rules Committee, released the following statement after the Senate Rules Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee issued a bipartisan report on the security, planning, and response failures that led to the U.S. Capitol insurrection that occurred on January 6, 2021:
“This bipartisan report is extremely troubling and underscores that Capitol security leaders were woefully underprepared to handle the events that ultimately unfolded on January 6. The report reveals that U.S. Capitol Police leadership failed to provide a basic plan for mobilizing Capitol Police officers the day of the Joint Session of Congress, as well as the training and equipment needed to adequately protect the men and women working the front lines against a violent mob. This report also lays out the extent of the confusion, miscommunication, and lack of advance planning that led to delays in the deployment of the U.S. National Guard in support of the overrun U.S. Capitol Police.
“What’s even more alarming is the intelligence failures leading up to the attack on our Capitol – including the inadequate sharing of available threat information between U.S. Capitol Police and federal intelligence agencies. Following a presidential election in which ratcheted rhetoric fanned the flames of division in this country, it’s unsettling that our intelligence-gathering agencies lacked the ability to recognize the profound threat posed by domestic violent extremist groups.
“I would have hoped for the report’s recommendations to also acknowledge the unique and serious nature of such threats. It’s my hope that my colleagues will take this issue seriously or we will not be able to effectively track and grapple with this ongoing national security threat.”
The report comes on the heels of the Senate failing to reach a 60-vote threshold needed to establish a bipartisan commission examining the January 6 insurrection. In February and March, Sen. Warner participated in congressional hearings convened by the Senate Rules Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee examining the security failures that enabled a mob supporting former President Donald Trump to overrun the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Following the attack on January 6, as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Warner has also pushed to examine how violent domestic extremists continue to pose a significant threat to our nation.
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