A new terrorism commission

The grim realities of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol were documented by people’s cellphone cameras and official security footage. Americans around the country watched in horror as the cradle of democracy was defiled.

Citizens were left to wonder how this could have happened.

To answer such queries, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that the U.S. House of Representatives is working to establish an independent commission patterned after the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission.

This is a necessary response to what was an act of domestic terrorism. It should proceed thoroughly and briskly.

To compare, the 9/11 Commission was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2002. It ran with a $15 million budget and took 15 months to assess and create a report of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and to provide recommendations to guard against future attacks.

It was thorough and dispassionate, a clear-eyed assessment of one of the greatest horrors in the life of the nation.

Ms. Pelosi is right to be talking about creating a commission this early, as the Jan. 6 riots demonstrated all too clearly that the longsimmering tensions in America are at a boiling point.

The creation of such a commission has bipartisan support including from high-ranking Republicans such as Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Here, there is a breath of actual political unity. Congress should capitalize on this shared sentiment, and Americans should also join together to demand answers of intelligence and law enforcement leaders.