Tell your House Representatives: There Must be Accountability for Mob Violence and Insurrection
Call ONE of the Representatives. Note: only one of these Congressmembers represents you. Find out which one here.
Hate the phone? Resistbot is your friend. If you use Resistbot or write an email to your elected officials, make sure to use your own words. Copy-pasted emails are discounted by Congressional staff. In-depth, personal stories are most effective.
Call Script
Short Phone Version:
Hi, my name is _____ and I live in ZIP code _____ and I’m a member of Indivisible SF.
I am greatly disappointed by the Thompson-Ratko proposal for a January 6th Investigation Commission. An evenly-divided commission will be gridlocked into impotence. It will produce a circus and end with either a whitewash or nothing at all. Therefore, I call on you to use your Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to impose, by majority-vote, a real and effective commission -- one that will be able to issue and enforce subpoenas and produce a final report to the American people. If that cannot be done, I urge you to abandon the commission plan entirely and continue to pursue the investigation of Jan. 6th and related matters via the standing committees.
Longer Email/ResistBot Version:
Hi, my name is _____ and I live in ZIP code _____ and I’m a member of Indivisible SF.
I am greatly disappointed by the Thompson-Ratko proposal for a January 6th Investigation Commission. Republican behavior in recent committee hearings and the purge of Elizabeth Cheney make it self-evident that GOP office-holders are united in their determination to obstruct any impartial investigation into the January 6th insurrection, cover up their own complicity, absolve the guilty from accountability, and set up an all-too-likely attempt to rig the next election. As currently structured, the evenly-divided commission will be gridlocked into impotence. The Republican members will block subpoenas, prevent the hiring of an unbiased staff, and hold veto power over the issuance of a report. As currently structured, the commission will produce a circus and end with either a whitewash or nothing at all.
Therefore, I call on you to amend the Thompson-Ratko plan, or scrap it entirely, and instead use your Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to impose, by majority-vote, a real and effective commission -- one that will be able to issue and enforce subpoenas and produce a final report to the American people. If that cannot be done, I urge you to abandon the commission plan entirely and continue to pursue the investigation of Jan. 6th and related matters via the standing committees.
Background
On January 6th a large mob, motivated by white-supremacy and partisan animus was incited by Trump and Republican members of Congress to storm the Capitol building for the express purpose of preventing Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. Five people lost their lives in the ensuing violence, the certification vote was temporarily halted, and Democratic members and nonwhite staff members were threatened with violence and death.
Under U.S. law, an “insurrection” is a “violent uprising by a group or movement acting for the specific purpose of overthrowing the constituted government and seizing its powers. An insurrection occurs where a movement acts to overthrow the constituted government and to take possession of its inherent powers.”
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
References
Lawmakers reach agreement on bipartisan Jan. 6 commission, Hill 5/14
HR.3233 (Jan 6 Commission Bil)
Lawmakers reach deal on bipartisan commission to investigate Jan. 6, Axios, 5/14
Democrats Move Closer to Setting Up Jan. 6 Commission, With or Without G.O.P., NYTimes 5/14