Jan. 6 panel races to put together legislative proposal
by Rebecca Beitsch - 09/17/22 12:00 PM ET
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is eyeing a laundry list of tasks as it seeks to pull together a legislative package to prevent future insurrections.
The committee for months has touted the legislative purpose to its investigation — a key detail as various subpoena recipients have sought to skirt compliance with the panel.
But with the panel staring down a tight end-of-the-year deadline to complete its work, time is dwindling to introduce a package that could range from electoral reforms to enhanced criminal penalties.
“We have some minor factual loose ends to wrap up, but then really what we need to do is to make our sweeping legislative recommendations about what needs to be done to fortify America against coups and insurrections and political violence in the future,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
“We want to strengthen and fortify the electoral system and the right to vote. We want to do what we can to secure the situation of election workers and keep them safe from violence. We want to solidify the states in their determination that private armed militias not operate in the name of the state. You know, we don’t have any kind of federal law or policy about private armed militias,” Raskin added, saying the last point was a personal interest of his.
Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) alluded to the wide range of legislative options as far back as October when the House was considering a contempt of Congress vote against onetime Trump strategist Stephen Bannon.
She cited Trump’s dereliction of duty in watching the riot unfold while doing little if anything to stop it, saying, “We are evaluating whether our criminal laws should be enhanced to apply more consequences to this type of behavior.”
She also pointed to Trump’s call to pressure Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” more votes, saying the panel was contemplating enhanced penalties for such actions in general.
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https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3646575-jan-6-panel-races-to-put-together-legislative-proposal/
