WASHINGTON — The Senate will hang a plaque honoring the law enforcement officers who protected the Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, following through with a law initially passed in 2022 that has yet to take effect.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., introduced a resolution to direct the architect of the Capitol to “prominently display” the plaque somewhere in the Senate to honor the law enforcement members who responded to the Jan. 6 attack until a “permanent location” is determined. The resolution passed with unanimous consent, meaning it did not require a formal vote and was approved with no objections.
The bill comes nearly four years after Congress originally commissioned a plaque to be hung in the Capitol honoring all the law enforcement agencies who responded to the attack that day. However, the plaque — which has since been finished, but reportedly placed in storage — has not been installed yet.
Republicans took control of the House in 2023, and since then have declined to follow through with the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addressed the justification for the missing plaque this week as Congress marked the fifth anniversary of the Capitol riot.
The law, Johnson argued, would require the plaque to list all of the individual names of the officers who were at the Capitol that day — but the plaque that was commissioned only lists the agencies. If Democrats want that plaque to be hung, Johnson said, they’d need to amend the law through the appropriate committees.
Tillis argued that technicality could be easily cured by publishing a digital list of names of police heroes online in addition to the plaque.
“We owe the police eternal gratitude for their Jan. 6 response,” Tillis said on Thursday.
Because the resolution only deals with Senate property, it’s unlikely it will need House approval. However, the House will need to weigh in at some point in order to find the “permanent location” outlined in Tillis’ resolution.
It’s not clear if the digital list of officers is sufficient for Johnson and other House Republicans in accordance with the law, nor is it clear how long it could take for the House to vote on a similar resolution to install the plaque.
At least 160 officers were injured during the Jan. 6 riot, and hundreds others were present as they sought to secure the Capitol building.