Senate approves bill to secure Capitol
WASHINGTON >> An emergency-spending bill passed by the Senate 98-0 on Thursday would bolster security at the Capitol and repay outstanding debts from the Jan. 6 insurrection. The $2.1 billion bill would also increase the number of visas for allies who worked alongside Americans in the Afghanistan war.
Democrats and Republicans struck an agreement on the legislation this week, saying the money is urgently needed for the Capitol Police, and for the translators and others who worked closely with U.S. government troops and civilians in Afghanistan.
The bill loosens some requirements for the visas, which lawmakers said are especially pressing as the U.S. military withdrawal enters its final weeks and Afghan allies face possible retaliation from the Taliban.
The House is expected to vote on the legislation in the coming days and send it to President Joe Biden.
The money for the Capitol — including for police salaries, the National Guard and to better secure windows and doors around the building — comes more than six months after the violent insurrection by former President Donald Trump’s supporters, and is scaled back from a Housepassed bill and previous Democratic proposals.
Democrats have said that if Congress doesn’t pass the bill, money would start running out for officers’ salaries by August, and that the National Guard might have to cancel some training programs.
“We can’t let that happen,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote. He said the agreement “shouldn’t have taken this long” but that passing the legislation is living up to Congress’ responsibility to keep the Capitol safe “and to make sure that the people who risk their lives for us and protect us get the help they need.”
‘Medieval’ battle
The bill’s passage came after four police officers who fought off the rioters in the Jan. 6 attack testified in an emotional House hearing on Tuesday, and detailed the “medieval” battle in which they were brutally beaten and verbally assaulted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Wednesday that the hearing had perhaps “jarred the Senate to move in a bipartisan way to pass this legislation.”
A more generous bill narrowly passed the House in May, but no Republicans supported it, and some liberal Democrats voted against it. In the Senate, Republicans rejected Leahy’s earlier $3.7 billion proposal before they negotiated the final version.
Pelosi said the Senate bill is months overdue.
“It’s not what we sent, it’s certainly not what we need, but it’s a good step forward,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that we’re finished, but it does mean that we can’t wait another day until we strengthen the Capitol Police force, strengthen the Capitol.”
The legislation would boost personal protection for lawmakers who have seen increasing death threats since the insurrection, install new security cameras around the complex, and replace riot equipment the police lost in the fighting that day. It would fund new intelligence gathering and boost wellness and trauma support for the Capitol Police, as many troops are still suffering in the wake of the attack. And it would reimburse the National Guard $521 million for the thousands of troops that protected the Capitol for more than four months after the siege.