House Passes Bill Awarding Gold Medal To All Officers Who Responded To Capitol Riot

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation on Tuesday bestowing the Gold Medal — the highest congressional honor — on all law enforcement officers who responded to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 

It’s the second time that House lawmakers have approved such a bill. In March, the House passed similar legislation to award the Gold Medal to the U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for responding to the insurrection. The legislation ultimately stalled in the Senate, which, in a separate move, chose only to grant the medal to Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman.

Senators voted unanimously in February to give the honor to Goodman, who courageously lured a group of insurrectionists away from the entrance to the Senate on Jan. 6. But the chamber initially refused to extend the honor to the other officers who responded to the violence that day ― despite the many examples of heroism and bravery among them. 

According to reports, however, House lawmakers have managed to strike a deal with their Senate colleagues to award the Gold Medal to not just Goodman but all officers who responded to the riot. 

On Tuesday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced legislation mirroring the bill that was passed in the House, The Washington Post reported, noting that Senate leaders had finally given in to the pressure of their House colleagues after “weeks of private deliberations.”

Politico said the Senate bill is “likely to pass … at some point.”

The House bill was greenlit by 406 lawmakers and opposed by 21 Republicans.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the bill’s opponents, told Politico that he’d taken issue with the wording in the legislation, which referred to the violence at the Capitol as an “insurrection.”

“I think it was a mob, but I don’t think it was an insurrection,” said Massie, who had also been among the 12 Republicans who voted “no” in March to a similar measure.