Chairman Loudermilk Delivers Opening Remarks at January 6 Pipe Bomb Hearing

Floor Speech

"Thank you, Ranking Member Torres, Members of the Subcommittee, and our witnesses for joining us for today’s oversight hearing.

January 6, 2021, was a dark day for our country.

Our Capitol was overrun, and some individuals?assaulted?U.S. Capitol Police officers and breached our halls.

Additionally, explosive devices were placed at the DNC and the RNC, threatening our security.

Today, we will focus on identifying the numerous security failures that proceeded, and continue to persist, following the discovery of two explosive devices near the U.S. Capitol complex on January 6, 2021.

Although it has been more than three years, we still have many unanswered questions.

According to the FBI, there are still no suspects as to who planted the devices found near the RNC and the DNC.

I know I share many peoples’ concerns that there has been no update in their investigation.

Additionally, the January 6 Select Committee, which was meant to dive into the failures and investigations of January 6, completely neglected to investigate the devices.

Despite former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats spending millions of dollars in their two years of the Select Committee, their investigation into the pipe bombs was non-existent.

Their 845-page final report only referenced “pipe bomb” five times.

These references are situational, and as far as I can tell, no investigation was conducted.

In contrast, “President Trump” is mentioned in the report one thousand, nine hundred and one times.

I refuse to follow in the Select Committee’s footsteps and conduct a partisan, biased?investigation.

There were genuine and regrettable security failures on January 6.

The response to the devices was one of the most alarming.

Here are the facts:

At approximately 12:42 p.m., the United States Capitol Police received reports of an explosive device found next to the RNC.

At roughly 1:05 p.m., a second device was discovered at the DNC, while Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside the building.

The Vice President-elect came within feet of the device, which if denotated, could have caused serious bodily harm.

CCTV footage indicates the devices were planted the night before by an individual carrying a backpack and wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, a mask, gloves, glasses, and a pair of Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers.

Despite the suspect’s appearance on numerous USCP CCTV cameras, and the FBI’s efforts interviewing over 800 individuals and assessing more than 300 tips, the suspect remains at large.

Unfortunately, the FBI has failed to provide substantive updates on the investigation despite numerous requests from congressional committees.

Today they have declined to participate in our hearing.

We’re joined by several experts today who will help shed light on the devices response, including U.S. Capitol Police Assistant Chief Sean Gallagher.

On January 6, 2021, Assistant Chief Gallagher directed a counter surveillance team to the DNC following the discovery of a device at the RNC.

While today we will spend time analyzing the discrepancies of the devices’ response, ultimately this hearing is meant to help us all move forward.

I look forward to your testimony, Assistant Chief Gallagher, and to working together so that we can ensure shortcomings of this nature do not happen again.

I salute and applaud the U.S. Capitol Police officers who, day in and day out, devote their lives to protecting the members and halls of Congress.

We have a lot to dive into."

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