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“At a previous hearing, we heard testimony from former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund about how the former Speaker and Congressional leadership delayed the U.S. Capitol Police’s request for assistance.
“On January 6, 2021, at 1:49 PM, the D.C. National Guard received the first request for immediate assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police, as protesters started to gather and force their way into the Capitol complex. However, at this time the Capitol Police Board had not officially approved this request.
“At roughly 2:12 PM, protestors breached the Capitol and began assaulting police officers.
“Staffers and Members of Congress were ordered to evacuate – including myself. Capitol police attempted to secure Members and clear the Capitol but were quickly outnumbered.
“There have been many testimonies of that day, but one thing is clear: the U.S. Capitol Police REQUESTED and NEEDED urgent assistance from anyone who would answer the call, including the Metropolitan Police Department, various federal law enforcement entities, and the D.C. National Guard.
“However, there was a delay deploying the National Guard for over 3 hours.
”Almost an hour after the Capitol was breached, at 3:04 PM, the Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller approved the D.C. National Guard to deploy to the Capitol.
”Just a brief history lesson for those who do not know — Executive Order 11485 delegates oversight of the D.C. National Guard to the Department of Defense. A 1969 memo further designates this authority specifically to the Secretary of the Army.
”On January 6, 2021, the Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard, William Walker, reported directly to the Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy.
“The D.C. National Guard was at the Armory, 1.2 miles away from the Capitol, waiting for authorization to deploy to assist civil authorities and quell the riot.
“However, the D.C. National Guard didn’t arrive at the Capitol until almost 6:00 PM.
“That’s 3 hours and 19 minutes of delay.
“During those hours – chaos engulfed Members of Congress, law enforcement officers, reporters, staffers and citizens.
“During those hours, necessary help from the D.C. National Guard was NOT on the way. Our goal today is to get to the bottom as to why.
“It took too long for the D.C. National Guard to arrive at the Capitol.
“The 113th Wing, Capital Guardians have a proud history of "protecting our nation's capital and serving our nation's leadership."
“Nevertheless, even the New Jersey State Police, from nearly 150 miles away, responded to the Capitol before the D.C. National Guard.
“Additionally, the Pentagon knew there was a threat to governmental operations, because by 3:37 PM, the Pentagon sent its own security forces to guard the homes of defense leaders.
“At 3:37 PM, NO D.C. National Guard forces were on the way to the Capitol.
“Throughout my Subcommittee’s extensive investigation into the events of January 6 and the Select Committee on January 6th, we have uncovered concerning inconsistencies regarding the mobilization of the D.C. National Guard.
“Through phone records, firsthand accounts, sworn testimonies, and after- action reports we have gathered, there appears to have been a significant delay at the Department of Defense in either deploying the National Guard, or communicating the order of deployment. Either way, the purpose of this hearing is to hear the D.C. National Guard’s story—for the first time ever—about the 3 hour and 19 minute delay.
“On November 16, 2021, the Department of Defense Inspector General released a report reviewing their role in the response to January 6th, which claimed the D.C. National Guard was deployed to the Capitol as quickly as possible;
“However, the report also credited significant delays in deployment to D.C. National Guard Commanding General, Major General William Walker neglecting to mobilize after receiving orders.
“Specifically, the DoD IG report concludes that the leader of the National Guard response, Major General Walker, received direction from the Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, to deploy the D.C. National Guard to the Capitol twice: once at 4:35 PM, and again at 5:00 PM.
“Major General Walker denies that either of these calls took place.
“Despite the many inconsistencies and contradictions of the Department of Defense’s responsibility that day, the Select Committee on January 6th ignored these discrepancies, despite them being privately shared by their own staff, and barreled forward with the DOD’s side of the story.
“Following the release of the DoD IG report, multiple whistleblowers from the D.C. National Guard who were present with Major General Walker have come forward to share their experiences. According to their testimony, hours of VITAL response time were missed because senior Army officials had personal concerns regarding military presence at the U.S. Capitol.
”Today we have the responsibility of recognizing these D.C. National Guardsmen, listening to their testimony, and honoring their patriotism. These brave men who showed up to defend the Capitol and were discarded and ignored when they tried to come forward.
“I reached out to the DoOD IG regarding concerns with their report and contradictory narratives – for nearly two months I have not received any answers.
“Today we will learn more about what happened that day regarding the delay. We will hear a side of the story that has been ignored for too long.
”Most importantly, today we will look to the future to make sure that our Capitol, our Capital Guardians, and our law enforcement partners are more prepared today than they were three years ago.
“We’re only able to conduct this oversight because whistleblowers have come forward to share their stories. I encourage anyone to reach out to the Subcommittee as our investigation continues.”
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