Group (00:00):
[inaudible 00:00:01].
Rep. Mike Kelly (00:18):
So are we all ready to go? All right. Okay. Well, good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for joining us today. Yesterday, July 13th, marked one year since the tragedy that struck my hometown in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman nearly assassinated President Trump. Tragically, he took the life of Corey Comperatore and seriously wounded David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
(00:57)
Yesterday I returned to the Butler Farm Showgrounds where I was with the president a year ago. I met with the Comperatore family during a celebration of Corey's life. They're incredibly strong, and I know all of us on stage continue to send our thoughts and prayers to them as we seek more answers about what actually happened that day.
(01:20)
Now, we're here today to highlight new resolution HR 571, which formally recognize the events of 2014 and July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania. The resolution also condemns the rise in political violence we have seen across our nation over the last year, from the assassination attempts against President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania and West Palm Beach, Florida, to the attacks against Governor Josh Shapiro in April, and to the deadly attacks on the Minnesota State lawmakers just last month.
(01:56)
Let's be clear, we must stand up together to oppose violence against our nation's leaders all across each party. And I want to thank my co-lead on the resolution, RSC Chairman, August Pfluger, from Texas. When we talk about this though, we can have as many resolutions as we want to bring it forward. And I've heard person after person, politician after politician get up and say, "I am absolutely appalled by the violence that's taking place in this country today, and we've got to stop using that type of language." And with 24 hours, they're out talking again about who should not be sitting in certain offices.
(02:38)
So it's one thing to have a resolution, it's one thing to be resolved of the fact we're not going to keep talking like this, when I'm asking all our… everybody that's in the Congress, everybody that's in elected office, please watch what you say. Don't start off saying, "We should never do this," and then within 24 hours go out and make statements again that incite people. That's a false lead. It's a false premise.
(03:05)
Our resolution is an attempt to get people to speak the way they should speak. In America, the way we settle things is by votes. So it's my pleasure to be with all these people behind me today because they're all feeling the same way. And I'm going to introduce Dan Meuser now. Dan and I sat beside each other in Butler, July 13th last year, and watched as the assassination attempt took place.
(03:35)
I got to tell you, at first, nobody knew what was happening. It sounded like somebody was shooting off firecrackers. And then when we saw the president go down, we knew exactly what happened. We did not know that Corey Comperatore had been seriously wounded and was going to die. We did not know that two other gentlemen were seriously wounded and are still recovering from those wounds. But today, we are making an effort to make sure that we start speaking the right way in America. Mr. Meuser.
Rep. Dan Meuser (04:04):
Thanks, Mike.
Rep. Mike Kelly (04:04):
[inaudible 00:04:05].
Rep. Dan Meuser (04:07):
Well, well said, Representative Mike Kelly, my good friend from Pennsylvania. As he stated, I was at Butler on the July 13th, and we were there in October when our president insisted on going back. He asked me, "What do you think about me going back?" And I said, "Mr. President, I advise against it." I was not supportive. I was more concerned about his safety. But his level of courage is, well, boundless.
(04:33)
When the president was hit on July 13th and we all couldn't help but really think the worst, but that certainly changed as we all saw at the moment, he lifted up, lifted up security agents on his back, put his fist up, said, "Fight, fight, fight," wiping blood from his face. And in so doing, he lifted everybody in that arena up, at the rally up. They began the chant of USA, USA. And I think he rose the entire nation up, and I think we saw that on the following November 5th.
(05:09)
But the rhetoric in politics is out of control, right? I recently met with members of the Indivisible group up in my district, insisting I show up, insisting I show up. Well, we had an hour meeting, I let it go to an hour and 40 minutes. But right at the very end, they said, one of them said, "You're a Nazi, and so is President Trump." Okay, Nazi. All right, we know what the Nazis did. When people are out there making such comments and elected officials, some people believe them. They actually think that you might be that and that hate speak turns into violence.
(05:47)
Just this weekend, Vice President JD Vance and his family were at Disney World, cursed at, all kinds of foul language thrown at them. And Governor Newsom has to put something out saying, "Did you enjoy your time at Disney World?" Okay? Governor Newsom is sick to do something like that and to act that way.
(06:08)
And how about the ICE agents being demonized and attacked for doing their jobs, and elected officials are out there cheering it on. So there are too many Democrats, frankly, that are tolerating this, in fact, encouraging it. Not all, not all by any means. My friends that are Democrats condemn it as well. But there's too many falsehoods. And we've got a governor of Pennsylvania that does nothing but skew falsehoods. And again, people believe him. How certain measures are being taken, that we're taking food out of hungry Pennsylvanians' mouths. Nothing could be further from the truth. And Brooke Rollins came up to Pennsylvania and pointed out the truth.
(06:45)
So we have this resolution. It's about hate speech, because hate speech leads to violence. It's dangerous. We also are seeing a high level of a surge in anti-Semitic rhetoric. I mean, for crying out loud, I put out a post recently on Facebook, something positive about Israel. I literally got hundreds of basically threats and all kinds of other hate messages.
(07:15)
So look, we're not going to stop at all, but this resolution is about calling for an end to hateful rhetoric. It is about a resolution that's solemnly making, answering or recognizing the one-year anniversary of the attack on President Donald J. Trump. It honors Corey Comperatore, who died shielding his family, and David Dutch and James Copenhaver who are injured. And it also brings out the governor I just mentioned, Josh Shapiro, and some others that had… we had our governor residence attacked. Okay? All of these things need to be condemned, and that's what this resolution is about. And I just applaud my good friend, August Pfluger, and my great friend, Mike Kelly, for setting all this up. Thank you very much. Now I have the pleasure of introducing Congresswoman Laurel Lee from the great state of Florida.
Rep. Laurel Lee (08:17):
Thank you. One year ago, our nation witnessed a horrific act of violence, the attempted assassination of President Donald J. Trump. It was an attack on our president, on the families that were gathered there to hear him speak, and on the institutions that hold our democracy together.
(08:38)
As a member of the bipartisan task force on the assassination attempt, I joined my colleagues to ask the hard questions. How did this happen? And what can we do to make sure that it never happens again? Our final report laid out clear recommendations. And since then, Congress has acted, improving threat detection systems, strengthening agency coordination, and expanding protections for officials. The Secret Service has also responded by updating its threat modeling and improving interagency protocols. But important questions remain and so does our responsibility.
(09:17)
I want to thank Chairman Kelly and Chairman Pfluger for introducing the resolution. It rightly honors the bravery of those who responded. It remembers Corey Comperatore, who gave his life to protect his family, and uplifts the heroism that saved others. But this resolution is more than a remembrance. It is a call to action. Threats and attacks, whether against the president, a judge, a member of Congress, or ICE agents, are unacceptable.
(09:54)
And to those who would commit these types of acts of violence, know this, the full force of federal law enforcement will find you, will stop you, and will hold you accountable under law. Political violence has no place in America, and we must do everything in our power together to ensure that it never happens again. It is my pleasure to introduce my friend and colleague from the state of Texas, Representative Brandon Gill.
Rep. Brandon Gill (10:27):
Thank you, Laurel, and thank you all for being here. It was just a year ago yesterday that President Trump was in a rural Pennsylvania field, bucolic area, beautiful part of this country, when a deranged gunman tried to murder him.
(10:47)
At the time, there were thousands of his supporters in the field, looking for a message of hope from the president. A message that the forgotten Americans in this country will no longer
Rep. Brandon Gill (11:00):
… longer be forgotten that the people who have been ravaged by globalism and mass migration and fentanyl will have a champion in Washington. And meanwhile, leftists on the other side of the aisle were slandering that same then presidential candidate, saying that he is a threat to democracy, that he's a wannabe dictator, that he is literally Hitler in their words. And some people on their side of the aisle take those words at face value and they tried to assassinate him.
(11:42)
Political violence has absolutely no place in this country, but unfortunately, this kind of rhetoric has continued. We hear our colleagues on the other side of the aisle demonizing the brave men and women who serve in ICE and in immigration facilities, saying that what they are doing is similar to the secret police, that they are being compared to the Gestapo. This is rhetoric that is not only deranged and wrong, but it has no place in a functioning democratic system.
(12:22)
So we, on this side of the aisle, and we hope that others will join us, reject this rhetoric. We reject political violence in all its forms. And we pray for this country and for its leaders and for our president, for their safety and for their well-being. So with that said, thank you all for being here.
(12:43)
And I'd like to introduce the great representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (12:48):
Thank you. Thank you for being here, and I'm grateful to stand up here with my colleagues. We've all joined together to denounce hate speech, political hate speech that has deadly consequences. A year ago, the world was outraged after they saw President Trump shot at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. And we still mourn the life of Corey Comperatore and pray for his family as well as the other victims that were shot. However, this is just another type of violence that goes on and on and on, whether it's state legislators in Minnesota, Governor Shapiro in Pennsylvania, or even me being one of the biggest targets of death threats in Congress, as well as my colleagues standing here with me, I'll receive them. This is a very serious situation, and it happens in many ways. It happens in the headlines, it happens in news clips, it happens in social media posts. It happens in campaign literature and emails. And it happens in rhetoric going across the aisle between Republicans and Democrats.
(13:57)
There is no place for political violence, and the people that suffer the most are people like Cory Comperatore and his family. It's also a major strain on our Capitol police. And if you talk to Capitol police, I encourage you press to talk to them, they are dealing with a massive amount of death threats for members of Congress and they have limited resources. We would love to see their resources used here at the Capitol and for visitors and safety for everyone. However, they are constantly having to investigate death threats that come for me and other members of Congress.
(14:36)
Over the break, I spent time talking with the FBI about someone that delivered a syringe in my mailbox and talked with them about other cases. And there's been multiple people convicted for pleading guilty to planning to kill me. But this goes across the aisle on both ways. And I think I am really grateful to be standing here with my colleagues that are saying enough of this. And I'd also, I can't go without saying that God saved President Trump's life in Butler, Pennsylvania. God saved him and he knows it and he says it frequently all the time, and the American people know it. And we're very grateful for that.
(15:16)
So with that, I'd like to introduce my colleague from Georgia, Representative Mike Collins.
Mike Collins (15:23):
Thank you, Congresswoman Greene. And it has been one year since they tried to kill our president. And I want to take just a quick moment to focus on what I call consequences and make two quick points. The culture of lawlessness and violence, this didn't just start last year. Y'all, this started under the Obama administration when they decided to illegally investigate conservative groups, when they were out there demonizing Republicans who just simply wanted to follow the Constitution and make our country better.
(15:57)
Then you fast-forward to the Biden administration, who they put this on steroids and actually allowed the public to take part in this game. Example, Summer of Love, where rioters were out there burning police stations, assaulting officers, taking over our cities where they were advocating to defund the men and women in blue who protect us. And they didn't just encourage it, y'all. They promoted it. Hey, they even paid for their bail.
(16:28)
The other thing I want to make a point is, and I think Representative Greene hit the nail on the head, we got a morality problem in this country. There's no value to the sanctity of life anymore. Socialists, woke politicians, they want to have people to look to the government for every answer they need. That's not what we… We don't look to the government. We're supposed to look towards God for our answers.
(16:59)
What happened in Butler, that's an example. An example of the consequences of this Democrat rhetoric. Well, you know what? I thank the good Lord for protecting President Trump. And I pray that we get back to the foundations of our country.
(17:18)
With that, I like to call up Max Miller from the great state of Ohio.
Max Miller (17:23):
Thank you. Thanks. It's great to be with all of you this afternoon. On Saturday, I woke up. And the first thing that I did is I called President Trump because I remember on that day, just a year ago, I had called him that morning for a discussion right before he went to that rally, and it was very sobering for me. And he said, "Hey, Maxie, how's it going?" I said, "Going. Well, Mr. President." I just said, "Can I open?" He said, "No." I said, "Thank you." Thank you for fighting and thank you for being here because on that day, that could have altered the trajectory of this entire country of where we are.
(17:54)
President Trump is our 47th president. If that gentleman would've been successful, I don't know where we would've been today. And honestly, I don't care because he's still standing and he is our president.
(18:05)
And when you talk about political violence throughout this country and rhetoric and what it ensues, I know all of my colleagues have experienced it. I myself, just a few weeks ago, got ran off the road because some individual wanted to get my attention and he couldn't, and he decided to use his vehicle as a weapon. This legislation should be bipartisan in its nature and it should be pushed through without question.
(18:26)
And enough is enough. If you have an issue with your city councilman, your mayor, your legislator, your governor, your senator, call them and set up a meeting. And if they're not, hold them accountable because I can tell you that we answer phone calls and emails and messages from our office every single day that we are here and not here because that is our job as a representative for each and every single one of our districts.
(18:47)
But what should not be forgotten is what could have happened on that day and where we would've been. And thank God President Trump is here. Thank God he is addressing political violence. But I'm sick of it. I myself have experienced it. My family has now been put right in harm's way.
(19:03)
And enough is enough. And it's not just on members of Congress. It's also on our constituents with decorum and just to behave with respect. Yes, we do set an example for the American people to see, but it's not just on us to carry out that example. It's for everyone within our districts who is a loving father, mother, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, you name it, cousin, uncle. It is on all of us as a community to come together and just put your weapons down and say, "Enough is enough" and just politely disagree over political rhetoric. Because I can tell you one thing, it wasn't worth it for that gentleman who tried to take out President Trump, and it wasn't worth it for that gentleman who tried to run me off the road.
(19:41)
Consequences have actions, and you will see swift action being taken against anybody who harms any publicly-elected official or any constituent. So thank you very much.
(19:50)
It's my honor to introduce a great Texan, Roger Williams.
Roger Williams (19:57):
Thank you. One year ago, as we've talked about, a violent and deranged terrorist set out to change the course of American history by attempting to assassinate President Trump. God spared his life for a reason. Moments after bullets intended to kill him miraculously grazed his ear, President Trump stood in, commanded the American people to fight, fight, fight. A renewed spirit of American strength and determination was unleashed that day.
(20:21)
Now, more than ever, we must work to uphold the values that this country is built on as we usher in the golden age of nicest security, economic prosperity, transparency, and peace through strength. President Trump has put everything on the line. He's put his name, his freedom, his legacy, because he believes in America. He works tirelessly every single day to put the American people first.
(20:44)
Let me be clear, political violence, as we've talked about, has no place in our country. Evil will not prevail. We are one nation under God. And let us honor the victims that fateful day by restoring American legacy that future generations are proud of.
(20:58)
Now in my lifetime, there's three things that come to mind as I stood up here. I was one of the last people to shake the hands of John Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963 as a 15-year-old. I shook his hand at 10:46 in the morning. At 12:46, he was assassinated. I remember that like it was yesterday. Rhetoric. Rhetoric brought that to be.
(21:20)
I also remember the baseball shooting. Some of you may remember that. Many of us, our lives were changed that day because of rhetoric. I remember that day everybody wanted to pray for us and offer thanks or offer their prayers, but it wasn't 24 hours later. And Mike, you touched on this, 24 hours later, we were back to where enemies were enemies. And I remember my daughters, two daughters, went to the mailbox several months ago now and opened up two letters, where each one addressed to them and had urine, blood, and feces in the envelopes. And it said, "This will be on your father's tombstone."
Roger Williams (22:00):
That's tough stuff. It's got to stop. Mike Kelly, Pfluger and the rest of us believe now is the time to make that happen.
(22:08)
So let's keep America great. Let's again pray for President Trump, pray for his safety and all my colleagues' safety. In God we trust.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Thank you, Mike and August, for having this event today to just remind us all that, despite what happened a year ago to President Trump, and I believe that the Lord spared President Trump's life in that field there in Butler, Pennsylvania. But in spite of that, he remained in the presidential race. He carried on because of his love for our country and the encouragement of the American people.
(22:44)
Sadly, we have reached a point in political discourse in this country where President Trump and every politician must have the courage to speak our political beliefs while knowing that at any point our lives can be in danger, just like we saw in Minnesota, just like Congressman Miller mentioned. I, too, was met on an airplane, met by the police because there was a deranged man who was a former San Francisco police officer that was in Fort Wayne, Indiana, looking for me. And I know that every one of us probably have a story similar to that.
(23:14)
And I remember Congressman Kelly back in 2010, during the Tea Party election, passions were high, but we didn't see the hate speech and the political violence that we see today. We have got to stop it on both sides. In fact, I know every one of us up here would always condemn anybody on our side of the aisle that was performing any political violence, any sort of hate speech, because we will not tolerate it from either side of the aisle.
(23:45)
And I believe that the left needs to do the same thing, that they need to condemn political violence. They need to condemn hate speech, just as much as what we do, but to them, their side continues to behave differently. And heaven forbid that it happens from either side, but we continue to see it coming from the left side of the aisle.
(24:07)
But I tell you what, as Americans, we have a great opportunity. As we elect our leaders, we need to continue to make sure that we as leaders are responsible in our rhetoric.
(24:17)
But I just appreciate President Trump standing up, even though he was almost killed that day, that he continued to fight, fight, fight for Americans, and standing for not only our democracy, but for our constitution and our great republics.
(24:32)
So Mike, thank you for leading this today, and I'll turn it back over to you.
Rep. Mike Kelly (24:38):
Thank you. Thank you.
(24:38)
So you've heard from us. I want to share something with you that has nothing to do with a political entity.
(24:48)
I was at the celebration of life with the Comperatore family yesterday. Just for a moment, step out of whom you are and think about them. On the morning, Corey, his wife Helen, his two daughters, were so excited to be able to travel a short distance to the Butler Farm Show to see President Trump speak. This was Corey's idol. This is Helen's idol. This was the girls' idol. They just couldn't wait to get to Butler to see President Trump.
(25:26)
The four of them get in their car, they make their way over. It's like 97 degrees that day, okay, so it's not pleasant. It's a warm day, and was even warmer whereas the crowd that was there to greet our president.
(25:41)
And what I want you to think about, especially those of you who've lost somebody, a father, a mother, two daughters, go to an event. It's not supposed to be event about anger, it's not about an event, anything other than they're going to see their favorite president. They actually were not sitting in the seats that they were assigned. There was an opening at the top that they went up to.
(26:14)
Shots rang out. Corey Comperatore's first reaction was to get his wife and his daughters down so he could be over the top of them. What they didn't realize was that Corey had already been shot. That day is a day that lives in their memories. It's in their sleep, it's in their waking hours. This has nothing to do with politics. This has to do with life. And I think we've become too casual about what life is and what life isn't. If every single life is precious, then we should not be having this discussion today.
(26:54)
But I want you to think about that family leaving their home, a volunteer fireman who spent his whole life running to danger to save others, who took his wife and daughters to an event to see somebody who they really liked, and they wanted to listen to. Four people in a car drive to the Butler Farm Showgrounds.
(27:16)
That evening, Helen and the two daughters go home. Corey's been killed. Helen has lost her husband. His daughters have lost their father. Forever etched in their memory is that moment, that single moment when those shots rang out.
(27:41)
So if you're asking yourself why these things happen, is it because maybe intentionally or unintentionally, we stoke those fires?
(27:52)
This is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. This is an issue actually just about human being to human being. Do we respect life? Do we respect other people? And what is it that we're trying to accomplish? Isn't it amazing that we have to have a resolution in the Congress of the United States to condemn that type of action?
(28:15)
What happened to the Comperatores is horrible. And when I was with Helen yesterday, for her, it's the same day over and over and over again. For Allyson and Kaylee, it's the same thing for them over and over and over again.
(28:39)
Look, the way we speak, the way we act, the way we insinuate things, that'll continue. We can pass resolution after resolution. We can go to church on Sunday and abhor what's taking place. And we leave that church and we go out and we practice what we just condemned in our churches.
(28:58)
I would say that the illness has far deeper roots than we know. We're going to pass this resolution. And we're going to think that in some way we were able to change the way people think and the way people act.
(29:11)
I would just ask you all, as you live your lives, think about it. Think about it. Some of these things are said casually. Some of these things are said to get a reaction.
(29:23)
The members behind me, the people in our Congress, the people in our homes expect nothing less than for us to act respectful to each other and always honor life.
(29:34)
So with that, I'm going to close. I don't know…
Speaker 2 (29:39):
We're going to take-
Rep. Mike Kelly (29:41):
[inaudible 00:29:41] so we're going to take some questions? Okay.
(29:43)
You know, Danny and I sat beside each other. By the way, there was another person who, and I think I told you about Marc Fogel's mother was with me and she just wanted to meet the president.
(29:51)
And when she talked to the president, we were standing together and she said, "Mr. President, please, please bring my son home. I miss my son. I'm staying alive so I can see him." The President told her, "Ms. Fogel, I get elected, your son will be home." Marc Fogel is now home with his family.
(30:11)
I would ask all of us to please, let's honor life in every single way. So if there's questions, please, and we're all open to listen to anything, and if you all want to say anything, I want you to say stuff. I think you were all magnificent what you said.
(30:24)
It is about life. It is about life and much, much more strongly. This political talk has got to stop. Let's talk about the value of the pieces of legislation, how we value it. If we don't like the legislation, we can solve this with a vote, right? Is there a vote yes or a vote no? It's not that complicated. I don't know why life has become so complicated. So please, anybody that wants to ask a question, please. Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Thank you for the question. Some members have said that this assassination attempt a year ago kind of shone light on issues with lawmaker safety and have called for more protection for members of Congress, as well as for the president.
(31:01)
Do you think that there's anything that needs to be done in the immediate future on this? And does that include more funding for member security or anything else like that?
Rep. Mike Kelly (31:07):
Oh, yeah, I think probably all of the above, but I don't care how much funding we put into it. I don't care how much protection we have. There's always going to be a danger.
(31:17)
I don't know if any other members want to speak on this, but I don't see that the resolution… It is what we feel in our hearts and what we think needs to be said. And I wish that an overwhelming vote in favor of that resolution would solve the problem. I would hope that it goes deeper than that, and it strikes a chord with people. Yeah. So I don't know how much we could fund it.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (31:43):
[inaudible 00:31:43] something on that.
Rep. Mike Kelly (31:43):
Yes, yeah. Come on. Come on.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (31:44):
Yeah. I think it has become an extremely serious issue. I've been swatted dozens of time. My family has been swatted many times themselves individually.
(31:56)
I hold some of the highest amount of death threats of members of Congress. And there was a man working in the Voices of America just arrested and will be prosecuted by the Department of Justice for making death threats to me through the studio and Voices of America.
(32:14)
And that's just another one on top of countless others. The Capitol police don't have enough resources and all of my colleagues here can tell you all of their personal stories of death threats they've dealt with. And I think we do need protection and we don't have any. And that's something difficult. Many of us have to pay for it ourself or pay for it through our campaigns and it needs to stop.
(32:47)
There's multiple people that have been convicted and served time in prison for pleading guilty to planning to kill me, but I'm just one of 435 and it happens to all of us. So I do think that's serious. Thank you for asking that.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
On that,
Rep. Mike Kelly (32:59):
[inaudible 00:33:01].
Speaker 4 (33:01):
Do you want the IRA, members' IRAs to be able to help pay for security? Institutionally, our US Capitol Police, is the Sergeant at Arms able to handle this new change and influx of threats?
Marjorie Taylor Greene (33:14):
Just speaking for myself, but many of my colleagues can probably answer this question, especially if they serve on appropriation or leadership, but I don't think they have enough resources right now. And I think they are limited. But I'm sure leadership and discussions will come up with ways to hopefully fund that and fund members of Congress that do need protection.
Rep. Mike Kelly (33:36):
Yes. Did you have a second part to your question?
Speaker 4 (33:40):
Yes. Just another question related to the first.
Rep. Mike Kelly (33:42):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
One, I'm sorry about the threats that you go through, people don't deserve to go through that. When the shooting of the president happened last year, there was calls for rhetoric to be dialed down. I think that we're in a cycle of partisan politics where threats just seem to keep escalating and rhetoric might dip down but then it gets brought back up. And you were saying this is not a Democrat or a Republican issue.
Rep. Mike Kelly (34:08):
No, it's not.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
So I guess, one is condemning, but the other is also commitment to dialing down the rhetoric. And I was wondering if the members on stage would raise their hands if they're committed to also trying to dial back that rhetoric.
Rep. Mike Kelly (34:21):
Okay. Showing hands, I mean, is everybody in favor? Yeah.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (34:25):
In fact we're doing that bi-party for the resolution.
Speaker 5 (34:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (34:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (34:28):
I'll just say something because obviously I think there's, some of us haven't been here this long, but my freshman year … I just want to say thank you to these guys for the resolution. Thank you to everyone. And we all get death threats. I got a ton of them, more in my first term. Which was one of the really striking things that we did in our freshman year after orientation, we did a bipartisan commitment to civility that was led by our now speaker, Mike Johnson. And all the Republicans and all but three Democrats signed it. And we really worked and strove to really bring down the rhetoric. And that all came to a crashing halt in 2018. And I'll let you figure out why that happened. But it was really a great … I think we should do it again.
(35:06)
I think Democrats and Republicans should join together and really try to talk about why, tell the truth to people out there and get them to calm down and realize that we're working together. This is the nature of our system. And I think it's unfortunate that so many people don't understand. We want robust debate, but the violence is just not acceptable. And I think everyone is … And I have Democratic friends who feel the same way. And I think a lot of people would like to join in that. And this resolution is a start to that.
Speaker 8 (35:32):
How about one of their slogans, Republicans are killing older Americans, I mean, who in the world thinks that that's okay? And yet walk down the street, walk from the Capitol to the Cannon building tomorrow. You'll see it. And I see it throughout my district, the Indivisibles carry it, the Democrat opponents carry it.
Speaker 9 (35:56):
Is there a role for Congress to play in providing more information on the possible motive of the gunman at Butler?
Rep. Mike Kelly (36:08):
Ms. Laura Lee was on the task force with me also. I don't know that we ever got the answers that we needed to get out of the federal agencies. Some of you may remember the second attempt that took place in Florida. Other than showing this man being arrested, we've heard nothing more about him, everything shut down after that. I don't want to get into that part because … I would love to do another session on that. Where you could hear the members that were on there. I have definite feelings about it. I was there that day. My wife was there that day. One of my sons was there that day. And three of my grandchildren were there that day. So it isn't just something they heard about on TV or somebody talking, they were actually there for it. And so there's people that can't go back onto those grounds. There's people who have trouble sleeping. All these different things happen.
(37:03)
So I don't know that there's enough money in the world to change some of the way people think. I wish it were that way. We face something … We're going to have a resolution, and we can pass resolution after resolution after resolution. I will let you be the judge of that, when you talk among yourselves, how is your speech? And I think each American should ask that. And if you're truly thinking the way our country was formed and why it is the way it is, and then try to figure out what happened today, I have no idea why it's happened.
(37:31)
Yes, sir.
Speaker 10 (37:31):
I'll follow up on that. Senator Johnson is saying that the Senate Homeland Security Committee's investigation is being stonewalled by the DOJ and the FBI despite a change in leadership. Do you think those agencies need to be more transparent in getting information to Congress so we can find out why this happened?
Rep. Mike Kelly (37:47):
Yeah, no, I usually don't comment on other members remarks. I just know that right now we're still doing work. We're not the task force that was the task force, but we still are individuals who are still concerned about what happen on both sides of the aisle. I think it has to be careful when we start to say, what was this? They don't want to do this. They don't want to do that. We were told that there were certain things they couldn't talk about right now. Okay. Right now is a year ago. So I would like to see other things come out.
(38:14)
I got to tell you, I have no idea what's going on with Mr. Ralph, I have no idea of how these other things happened. We haven't heard. The federal agencies early on really had kind of locked us out of things. Local law enforcement in Butler was very forthcoming on what happened. So we're still waiting for some answers on some things that didn't happen.
(38:33)
But today is about the resolution. We could have another discussion about other things else that we think we fell far short of the questions we were asking.
(38:42)
Yes, sir.
Speaker 11 (38:43):
This is the last question.
Rep. Mike Kelly (38:43):
Okay.
Speaker 12 (38:44):
Are there any conversations at all about supplemental funding for extra or additional security in the districts given how many threats y'all have talked about facing and even action and violence back home in your districts?
Rep. Mike Kelly (38:58):
I think there's always going to be conversations about that. But I know for myself and the rest of the members that are with, I don't know if there's enough money in the world that can address the problems we have with morality today. So it's good to say if we just had a few more dollars that day it wouldn't have happened. Really? Really?
(39:19)
We keep talking about the problem is a lack of funding. My feeling is that we have a problem with a lack of respect for life in general. And when people do these things they're acting out on something that, while I'm not in that business, I would say there's something wrong with them. But if we encourage it, and what we're talking about with this resolution has nothing to do with a lot of those things, but it does have to do with members of Congress coming together on a resolution condemning what's happening. So hopefully that will have an effect.
(39:49)
And thank you all for being here. I think later on we can talk about other things because you have an interesting question. I think Ms. Lee would have answers too to what we didn't get that we thought we were going to get. So listen, thank you all for being here. God bless you all. And God bless the United States of America.
Speaker 13 (40:02):
Thank you.
Speaker 14 (40:02):
[inaudible 00:40:14]