Intelligence Community Know about this and what did it tell the Capitol Police . The Capitol Police chief says in his prepared testimony he just wasnt expecting anything like this and they were prepared for something far less violent. So im not sure were going to get the answer to that question today and it may be that the only way to get that answer is to have a 9 11style commission that can get out there and interview everybody that was involved. But that is a key question. And of course a couple of other questions about what happened on that day still havent been answered. Who planted the bombs at the headquarters of the republican and Democratic National committees which the chief says was a distraction. He says he thinks this was part of the planned siege on the capitol to basically have this diversion that would take Law Enforcement assets away from the capitol. And then the question of course who killed officer sicknick, thats turned out to be a very difficult question to answer. At this point it doesnt appear that there was any single one single thing, it may have been a buildup of a number of cumulative things. He was exposed apparently several times to bear spray, did that play a role . Im not sure were going to get a lot of answers to those fundamental questions about why didnt anybody know this was going to happen . We are looking now at some of the top three of the top four senators, actually, in the two committees that are holding these hearings, this is both the rules committee and the Homeland Security committee holding this joint hearing today. It looks like they are getting ready to begin. Were going to bring you in there when they gavel it in because as pete laid out there are a series of questions. Katie, its also happening a day after the attorney general nominee Merrick Garland told senators in a separate hearing that the Capitol Riot Investigation will be his top priority. Katie, what are you watching for over the next few hours here . Were going to watch for not only the things that pete discussed, what facts could be sussed out, we will be watching what happened between the summer when the entire National Guard, the metropolitan Police Department and the army was on full alert and they were very, very conscious of terrorist threats, domestic terrorist threats of rioting. What we saw in january when it seemed like the posture had slack nd, loosened, people were no longer as alert and why that was. Thats almost an attitudinal or cultural question that nobody can seem to answer and whether or not they can get to that in these hearings will be a big question. Senator peters introducing the rest of his colleagues. Officer jones, quickly to you. You spent your entire career protecting the capitol. What questions would you want to see answered today . Id like to see why it took until january 4th before they got any intel. Prior to january 4th i want to know how much intel did they receive and that theres a check and balance. Officer butch jones, thank you. Were going to bring you in now to that hearing. Senator peters making the introductions and then this will begin. Lets watch. Im grateful to our witnesses, colleagues, staff, Capitol Police, d. C. Police and the National Guard who continue to assist in protecting the capitol today and for all of the hard work that allows this very important discussion to begin. So i would like to once again thank chairwoman klobuchar for your partnership and for your leadership and look forward to your opening remarks. Thank you very much, chairman peters. Good morning. Thank you to our witnesses for being here today for this first point hearing of the rules committee and the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee as we work to conduct oversight into what happened in the lead up and during the horrific events of january 6. Thank you to chairman peters. Also Ranking Member portman as well as my good friend senator blunt who i look forward to continuing to work with on the rules committee in this congress. I think its important to note that we planned this entire hearing on a bipartisan basis. Thats because the stakes are so high and we want this and i say this to our witnesses as well who are all appearing here voluntarily, i think its important for the members to know that, and we thank them for doing that. We want this to be as constructive as possible because in order to figure out the solutions so this doesnt happen again, we must have the facts, and the answers are in this room. When an angry violent mob staged an insurrection on january 6th and desecrated our capitol, the temple of our democracy, it was not just an attack on the building, it was an attack on our republic itself. We are here today to better understand what was known in advance, what steps were taken to secure the capitol and what occurred that day because we want to ensure that nothing like this happens again. Each of our witnesses held a leadership role at the time of the attack, acting chief robert conte of the metropolitan Police Department of the District Of Columbia, mr. Steven sund former chief of the u. S. Capitol police who is here with us in person today, mr. Michael stenger former Senate Sergeantatarms and mr. Paul irving, former house sergeantatarms. The other witnesses are here as many of our witnesses do via video. To our witnesses, your testimony is vital and thank you again for coming. At the same time this is certainly not the last hearing that we will have regarding this attack. Next week we will hear from witnesses from federal agencies including the fbi, the department of Homeland Security and the department of defense that are critical to our understanding. The insurrection at the capitol was more than an assault on democracy, it was an actual life or death situation for the many brave Law Enforcement officers who show up here to do their work every day and at the beginning of this testimony we will hear from one of them. We will never forget the haunting shrieks of the Police Officer pinned in between the doors at the hands of the rioters, pleading for help. We will never forget officer harry dunn who fought against the violent mob for hours and after it was over broke down in tears telling fellow officers he had been called the n word 15 times that day. He asked, is this america . Or officer Eugene Goodman who after saving senator romney from walking who is here with us today thank you, senator romney from walking directly into the mob, ran by himself to take on a group of rioters and then Eugene Goodman diverted that mob away from the senate chim ber allowing us to safely depart. Tragedy the attack on the capitol also cost the lives of three brave officers including officer Brian Sicknick who died from injuries sustained while engaging with protesters. Two other officers died by suicide following the event of january 6, d. C. Metropolitan Police OfficerJeffrey Smith and u. S. Capitol Police Officer howard liebengood. Officer liebengood or howie to those who knew him worked the Delaware Avenue door of the Russell Senate office building, someone who i have seen at that doorway, you know, always greeted me and everyone with a warm smile. It has been reported that 140 u. S. Capitol Police Officers sustained injuries from defending the capitol. The courage of these officers will be remembered forever, but there are still many voices that we havent heard in the stories of january 6, including the many staff who make sure we have food in our cafeteria and water and heat in our building. One Janitorial Worker hid during the attack in a closet, another custodial staff member reflected on how terrible he felt when he had to clean up feces and that had been speared on the way saying i felt bad, i felt degraded. These dedicated workers were here when the capitol was attacked as were many dedicated journalists who report on our work to the American People. To make this place safe Going Forward we must answer key questions. First and foremost what took so long to deploy the National Guard that day, both because of decisions made in the capitol complex, but also by others in the federal government. We must find out what was known about the potential for violence before the attack and how that intelligence was shared with Law Enforcement partners including the officials responsible for protecting the capitol. There are also important questions to be asked about how information concerning those threats was communicated to rank and file officers. And its vital that we explore necessary reforms to the structure of the Capitol Police board which i know we will hear more about today. We owe it to the 140 Capitol Police officers injured and to all those at the capitol who continue to suffer the repercussions. We owe it to the officer beaten by the violent rioters because he literally placed his body in the doorway to protect us. We owe it to the officers who lost their lives. We owe it to the American People to figure out how the United States capitol, the preeminent symbol of democracy around the world could be overtaken by an angry violent mob. And we owe it to ourselves, colleagues, to believe enough in our democracy and in the u. S. Senate that despite our political differences, we will be constructive in this hearing today, not just here to make political hay, but be constructive today to figure out what went wrong and what changes we can make to ensure that the capitol is safe for us and the public Going Forward. Chairman peters, Ranking Member blunt, Ranking Member portman and colleagues, for me the bottom line is that we must get the answers and those answers are what will give us the solutions. Thank you very much. Thank you, madam chair. Its been just over six weeks since our nation watched with horror as our Capitol Building was breached by domestic terrorists who sought to use violence and intimidation to overturn the results of a free and fair election. This was a shocking assault on our democracy and it marked one of our nations darkest days. The United States has stood as a beacon for the world, showing how democracy can thrive. On january 6th we saw just how fragile many of our most valued democratic principles, including the peaceful transfer of power is. Its hard to express how deeply grateful we are for the actions our Capitol Police, our sergeantsatarms and other Law Enforcement agencies do to keep us safe every single day and especially on that day. Too many of our officers were gravely injured or tragically killed as they bravely fought back the attackers. Chief conte, we are also indebted to the d. C. Metropolitan Police Department for their valeant efforts to thwart the attack. D. C. Police often provide support to help secure the capitol, but the officers under your command did not hesitate to come to our aid. We are thankful for the heroic actions of so many who ensured this direct attack on our democracy failed. But theres no question that there were colossal breakdowns in the intelligence gathering and security preparations leading up to the events of january 6, as well as during the coordination and response efforts once the attack got under way. Our goal today is to begin to understand where those breakdowns and failures occurred and to determine if there are policy and structural changes Congress Must make to prevent a future attack of this nature. In my role on the Homeland Security committee ive worked to draw attention to the rising threat of domestic terrorism, including the rise of insidious ideologies of white supremacy, antigovernment militias and now qanon conspiracies. These ideologies are intertwined in numerous ways and on january 6 we saw just how quickly they can shift from online communities to committing organized Violent Attacks in the real world. But the warning signs were there, just a few months earlier in my home state of michigan Law Enforcement successfully stopped a plot by antigovernment militias to kidnap our states governor. Weve seen an increase in Violent Crimes over the last decade that are driven by hateful ideologies. We saw the deadly and tragic consequences on january 6 when the domestic terrorist threat was not taken as seriously as it should have been. This is a systemic and leadership failure on the part of our Security Officials from the fbi and department of Homeland Security to the security leadership on the ground and capitol and it must be addressed. Domestic terrorism is not a new threat, but it is an urgent threat. It will require serious focus to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect the safety and security of all americans. Id like to take a moment to remind my colleagues that every senator here today took an oath to protect and defend the constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic. As the committee is charged with oversight, strengthening Homeland Security and maintaining capitol operations, we have a solemn duty to thoroughly examine the security breakdowns and make needed reforms. Im hopeful we will be able to Work Together and carry out this responsibility in a serious and a nonpartisan way. And finally while todays hearing is our first on january 6th attack, it will not be our last. We will continue to seek testimony and information from a range of agencies and officials who are involved in preparing for and responding to the events of the day for the u. S. Capitol and for the entire region. The attack on january 6th was an extraordinary event that requires exhaustive consideration. The American People deserve answers on why their capitol was breached and i look forward to having a productive discussion with our witnesses in order to provide the American People with those answers. Thank you, madam chair. Senator blunt. Thank you, chairwoman klobuchar. Its great to work with you and chairman peters and senator portman as we move forward on this hearing on what happened on january the 6th and i think that will obviously also require discussion of what happened in the days immediately leading up to january the 6th. This hearing as senator peters and you have both said really the beginning of a series of efforts that hopefully we can approach in a bipartisan way that looks for solutions and ensures that the deadly, outrageous, destructive attack that marked such a sad day in our history never happens again. Certainly the offers officers who defended the capitol that day deserve to be recognized and praised for their valeant efforts and their willingness every day to stand ready to do what needs to be done to defend the capitol and those who work there. Im certainly grateful to them. Im particularly grateful in this instance to the metropolitan Police Department and their really admirable response to be here quickly, to be here with significant numbers of people in the very short term and within an hour to have an incredible impact on what was going on here at the capitol in a positive way. The failures of the day, unfortunately, were of the most serious kind. Senator klobuchar has already mentioned the three officers whose lives were lost and other officers who have really had to deal with this in a significant way. You also have to remember that this was an event where the families of our officers were watching in realtime on television in an attack where theyre seeing people that mean the entire world to them in this fight for their lives and fight for our lives and the capitol. Three of todays witnesses, former house sergeantatarms erving, former Senate Sergeantatarms stenger and former chief of the United StatesCapitol Police sund were all charged with protection of the capitol on january 6th. We need to hear from them whether it was a failure of imagination of what could go wrong, a failure of intelligence gathering and dissemination, a failure of preparation which ultimately led to this problem or maybe a structural failure that just is not designed in a way that it allows us to respond to an immediate crisis and obviously we need to get that done. I want to hear from chief conte of the metropolitan Police Department to learn about the departments role and frankly to learn how their Decision Making process appeared to be so much quicker than the decisionmaking process we co