IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 40 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the violent 

insurrection at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2023 

Mr. ESPAILLAT submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ethics, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the violent insurrection at the United States Capitol 

on January 6, 2021. 

Whereas, on the morning of January 6, 2021, President Donald J. Trump attended a rally on the National Mall 

where he encouraged a crowd of individuals to disrupt the 

proceedings of Congress to certify the votes of the electoral college for President and Vice President of the 

United States, stating that he himself would be in attendance; 

Whereas certain Members of Congress issued statements directly calling on individuals to resort to violence to intervene in the certification of the votes of the electoral colVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Jan 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR40.IH HR40

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•HRES 40 IH 

lege in an attempt to overturn the results of a valid, free, 

and fair election; 

Whereas in the months leading up to and following the 2020 

Presidential election, President Donald J. Trump rigorously sowed discord, impaired the operations of the 

United States Postal Service, promoted conspiracy theories, and outright lied to the American public in order to 

reduce confidence in the integrity of the election and disenfranchise voters; 

Whereas in the days and weeks following media outlets’ determination that Joseph R. Biden, Jr., had secured the 

necessary number of electoral votes to be declared President-elect, President Trump, his legal representatives, 

and dozens of Republican Members of Congress and Senators deliberately attempted to reverse the results of the 

election in various States and to disenfranchise millions 

of voters by bringing forth frivolous lawsuits at several 

levels of the United States judicial system; 

Whereas due to an utter lack of evidence and legal standing, 

these lawsuits were swiftly dismissed by dozens of judges, 

including those nominated by President Donald J. Trump 

and confirmed by the Senate; 

Whereas following his decisive defeat in both the November 

Presidential election and legal efforts that followed, 

President Donald J. Trump, alongside more than 100 

Republican Members of the House of Representatives and 

a dozen Republican Senators, announced their intent to 

object to the certification of the votes of certain States’ 

electors perpetuating baseless claims about the integrity 

of the election, and encouraged their supporters to descend on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to ‘‘stop the 

steal’’; 


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•HRES 40 IH 

Whereas, on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, a mob of 

thousands of domestic terrorists and seditionists engaged 

in a sustained effort to bypass United States Capitol Police and officers under direction of the Sergeants at Arms 

of the House and Senate in order to delay and disrupt 

Congress’ constitutional and statutory duty of certifying 

the 2020 Presidential election results; 

Whereas the responding officers from the Sergeants at Arms 

of the House and Senate, United States Capitol Police, 

National Guard, and Metropolitan Police Department of 

the District of Columbia were physically assaulted and 

threatened with deadly weapons and firearms; 

Whereas the security preparations by these and other law enforcement agencies were inexplicably and dangerously inadequate to meet the clear and present threat posed to 

Members of Congress and individuals in the line of succession to the Presidency; and 

Whereas, as a result of this insurrection, two individuals were 

fatally wounded in the United States Capitol and many 

others were severely injured: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) President Donald J. Trump did knowingly 

4 and purposefully incite a violent and unlawful insur5 rection against the United States; 

6 (2) any individual who participated in, aided, or 

7 abetted the violent and unlawful insurrection at the 

8 United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, should 

9 be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the laws of 


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•HRES 40 IH 

1 the United States and be brought to justice, and 

2 considered ineligible for civil or military office under 

3 the United States pursuant to section 3 of the 14th 

4 Amendment to the Constitution; 

5 (3) for any House Member, Delegate, or Resi6 dent Commissioner who participated in, aided, or 

7 abetted this violent insurrection, or through their 

8 public pronouncements via official or unofficial chan9 nels encouraged it, the Committee on Ethics should 

10 initiate an investigation into whether such Member, 

11 Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may have vio12 lated the Code of Official Conduct set forth in rule 

13 XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

14 and determine the appropriate sanction, up to and 

15 including expulsion; and 

16 (4) for any Senator who participated in, aided, 

17 or abetted this violent insurrection, or through their 

18 public pronouncements via official or unofficial chan19 nels encouraged it, the Select Committee on Ethics 

20 of the Senate should conduct a similar investigation 

21 and recommend similarly appropriate sanctions. 

Æ 


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