Senate lawmakers reached a bipartisan agreement to spend nearly a billion dollars to improve Capitol security in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots that overwhelmed the police, leaving the House and Senate vulnerable to hundreds of protesters who stormed into the building while both chambers were in session certifying the results of the 2020 election.
The same measure would also spend $1.13 billion to assist Afghan refugees, who are likely to flee the country now that most U.S. troops are leaving, and another $42 million in COVID mitigation funding for the Capitol complex.
LAST-MINUTE PARTISAN DISPUTES THREATEN INFRASTRUCTURE ACCORD
“We have the responsibility to take care of the Capitol Police in the wake of their incredible service on January 6th, and to reimburse our National Guard for costs incurred protecting the Capitol,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said. “We have the responsibility to pay for costs we have already incurred as a result of the pandemic. And we have the moral responsibility to stand with our Afghan partners who stood with us through two decades of war. This bipartisan agreement addresses these critical needs, and it addresses them now because they cannot wait.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’s seeking a time agreement with the GOP to bring up and pass the bill this week.
It would also have to clear the House.
House lawmakers narrowly passed a $1.9 billion spending bill in May with very little GOP support.
The House measure cleared by one vote after a group of liberal Democrats concerned about rising police misconduct nationwide refused to back it because of the additional funding for officers and equipment.
Democrats are scheduled to adjourn this week and will not gavel back in until later in September.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters he is eager for the Senate to pass the security funding bill as early as Wednesday.
“Assuming that is the case, we will act on that bill,” Hoyer said.
The Senate bill would spend $521 billion to reimburse the National Guard, which stationed thousands of troops in and around the Capitol from the days following the Jan. 6 riot until May.
The measure includes $300 million for bolstering Capitol security and more than $70 billion for the U.S. Capitol Police to hire more officers and provide overtime, hazard pay, and retention bonuses.
The Senate measure leaves out a House provision that would have created a “quick reaction force,” made up of police and National Guard members who could mobilize at the Capitol in the event of an emergency.
The $200 million provision ran into Senate GOP opposition.
Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican and former Armed Services Committee chairman, is among GOP lawmakers who want to keep security at the Capitol in the hands of civilians, not the military.
Leahy announced the deal as a Democratic-led House committee conducted a hearing about the Jan. 6 attack featuring four police officers who defended the Capitol that day.
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While the two parties have been at odds over analyzing who is to blame for inciting the riot at the Capitol, Republicans and Democrats have long agreed more funding is needed to bolster security at the building, to reinforce officers who were easily overwhelmed by storming protesters, and to pay back the National Guard for months of deployment.
“I am pleased this legislation sticks to immediate security needs, as I have long advocated,” Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said. “It is essential that we provide the National Guard and Capitol Police the funding they require without further delay.”
