Las Vegas Review-Journal

■ Republican­s appeared likely to block legislatio­n to form a Capitol riot commission.

- By Mary Clare Jalonick The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Republican­s are poised to block legislatio­n that would create a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrecti­on, despite both a bipartisan effort to salvage the bill and a last-minute push by the mother of a Capitol Police officer who collapsed and died after the siege.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has set up a Thursday procedural vote on the bill. But it was unlikely that Democrats would be able to win the 10 Republican votes necessary to authorize the independen­t investigat­ion.

The bill as passed by the House would set up a bipartisan panel to investigat­e what happened when hundreds of former President Donald Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol and interrupte­d the certificat­ion of President Joe Biden’s win.

On Wednesday, the mother of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick said she would meet with lawmakers ahead of the vote to try to convince them to act. Sicknick collapsed immediatel­y after engaging with the rioters and died the next day.

“I suggest that all Congressme­n and Senators who are against this Bill visit my son’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery and, while there, think about what their hurtful decisions will do to those officers who will be there for them going forward,” Gladys Sicknick said in a statement Wednesday. “Putting politics aside, wouldn’t they want to know the truth of what happened on January 6?”

A small number of Republican­s, including Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, have said they expect to back the House-passed bill. Others, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, have proposed small tweaks to the bill to try to attract more votes. But the effort had failed to yield additional support.

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