WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (R-AZ), issued the following statement after voting NO on H.R. 3325, a bill to award four congressional gold medals to the United States Capitol Police and those who were present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“What happened on January 6th was an unmitigated security failure. American taxpayers pay billions of dollars for security of the United States Capitol complex. Unfortunately, that security system completely failed on January 6th. In particular, political leadership, beginning with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, failed the rank-and-file police officers because they were not given the security support needed that day–in spite of advance warnings.

There were many instances of security failures on January 6, 2021. Don’t take my word for it. CNN reported the following on June 8, 2021:

“Two Senate committees on Tuesday released the most comprehensive government report on the security failures leading up to the US Capitol insurrection on January 6, revealing new details about unheeded warnings, critical miscommunications and intelligence shortcomings.  Congressional investigators pored through “thousands of documents,” received written statements from 50 police officers who defended the Capitol and received testimony from a wide array of current and former officials who played a role in the security preparations and response.”

The bipartisan report, over 128 pages, details an endless number of security failures. Security is not an easy task. Reasonable people understand that mistakes will be made when systems are run by humans. That being said, I could not support legislation to hand out medals for an event that Congress concluded all “entities responsible for securing and protecting the Capitol Complex and everyone onsite that day were not prepared for a large-scale attack, despite being aware of the potential for violence targeting the Capitol,” concluded Congressman Gosar.

“An America First military policy means military action to defend our homeland … It does not mean setting up an occupying army or wasting billions of dollars “rebuilding” foreign countries.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ), issued the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 256, a bill that repealed the authorization to use military force (AUMF) in Iraq that was initially passed by Congress in 2002, predicated on misrepresentations by the State Department about weapons of mass destruction. The vote passed 268-161.

Congressman Gosar stated, “It is unprecedented, and should never happen again, where the United States’ military has an almost 20-year authorization for war. Our military should be used to effectively neutralize enemies quickly, and then return to the home base. There was no reason to keep our troops in harm’s way for a generation, long after the active military campaign had ended. I look forward to ending additional authorizations of force that should have been terminated years ago. An America First military policy means military action to defend our homeland, and only for as long as is necessary. It does not mean setting up an occupying army or wasting billions of dollars “rebuilding” foreign countries or worse, attempting to impose Jeffersonian democracy on cultures and lands that do not share those values.”

Background: H.R. 256 was sponsored by California Democrat Representative Barbara Lee, who initially voted against this AUMF in 2002.