Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) got emotional and teared up during his opening statement during the first hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol on Tuesday.
Kinzinger, one of two Republicans whom House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) hand-selected to serve on the commission, choked back tears as he commended the four United States Capitol Police officers who came to testify.
“Thank you to our witnesses. I never expected today to be,” he began, his voice cracking before he continued, “quite as emotional for me as it has been. I’ve talked to a number of you and have gotten to know you.”
“I think it’s important to tell you right now, though, you guys may like feel individually a little broken. You guys all talk about the effects you have to deal with and you know, you know, you talk about the impact of that day. But you guys won,” he said, choking up. “You guys held.”
“You know, democracies are not defined by our bad days. We’re defined by how we come back from bad days. How we take accountability for that. And for all the overheated rhetoric surrounding this committee, our mission is very simple, it’s to find the truth and to find accountability,” he said.