House lawmakers proceeded with a scheduled hearing on Wednesday morning in order to thwart any effort “to disrupt our democracy,” after a shooter attacked congressional Republicans on Wednesday morning.
“We still don’t have all the details, but we do know that there are those who want to use acts of violence to create chaos, to disrupt our democracy,” House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said. “The American people will not let them win.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared before the committee Wednesday morning to testify about the State Department’s budget request. That hearing was originally scheduled for 9 a.m., but lawmakers delayed the meeting for an hour following reports of the shooting, which wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., among others.
“I want to pause and extend our thoughts and our prayers for the well-being of Whip Scalise and our colleagues, police and staff who are attacked by a gunman this morning in Virginia,” Royce said at the opening of the hearing. “Several members of this committee were there. This is a sad day for our country.”
Royce and New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the committee, decided to continue with the hearing, in part to accommodate Tillerson’s schedule.
“I know that the shooting in Alexandria this morning is all on our minds,” Engel said. “It’s shocking. We’re all hoping for the best for our colleagues, Steve Scalise, the police officers, and others who were victims of the attack. We wish them a speedy recovery and we’re thinking of their loved ones this morning.”
