FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FMC Statement on Jan. 6th Committee
(Washington, D.C. – Monday, May 17, 2021) – FMC, the association of Former Members of Congress, released a statement today from the President and President-Elect of the organization, praising the formation of a bipartisan Congressional committee that will be tasked with investigating the insurrection of January 6th, 2021.
“A few events in our history have shaken the very core of what we have always assumed it meant to be an American,” said former U.S. Rep. Dr. Charles Boustany (R-LA), President of FMC. “September 11th stripped our nation of a sense of security within our own borders that had helped define our nation since the end of the Civil War. January 6th removed the aura of a peaceful transition of power that has framed our representative democracy as the gold standard in the eyes of the world. I look forward to a better understanding, across party lines, of what happened and how it was allowed to happen, to ensure it never happens again.”
“Sadly, our nation’s history is interwoven with attempts by Americans, claiming for themselves the mantle of true patriot while trying to break our country apart at the seams,” said former U.S. Rep. L.F. Payne (D-VA), FMC President-elect. “They failed, because of the moral power of the freedom, justice and equality that we seek, and because of the resolve of public servants – the true patriots – to prevent the dismantling of our democratic institutions. Our nation will triumph again over insurrection, but to see the Confederate flag marched through our Capitol, 150 years after its defeat, was a sobering reminder that we must always be on guard against those who would seek to destroy the United States of America from within.”
Pete Weichlein, CEO of FMC added: “The proposed January 6th Committee is an essential next step in providing a better understanding of how our vulnerability as an open society could be exploited so tragically. It will be a bipartisan review of lessons learned and FMC, as a bipartisan organization with almost 800 former Representatives and Senators in its membership, offers to the future commissioners our institutional knowledge as a resource and support.”
FMC is a non-advocacy, non-partisan group founded in 1970 and chartered by Congress in 1983. It is a voluntary alliance of former U.S. Senators and Representatives, working to strengthen Congress in the conduct of its Constitutional responsibility through promoting a collaborative approach to policy making; and to deepening the understanding of our democratic system.
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