Democrats advocate for required plaque to commemorate Jan. 6 law enforcement officers

House Democrats are questioning why a plaque mandated to honor police officers who protected Capitol Hill lawmakers and staffers on Jan. 6, 2021, has not been completed or installed yet.

According to CBS News, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., stated that the deadline for the plaque’s completion was March 2023.

“My letters have not been answered. And it’s a mystery to me,” she told the news outlet.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Lofgren expressed her concerns about the delay in installing the plaque, which was mandated by law to be placed on the western side of the Capitol building, as reported by CBS News.

She also urged the House “to take immediate action to address this oversight and ensure that the plaque is promptly installed in accordance with the law.”

“If there is a reason for the delay, I look forward to any information you can share to that end and what is being done to address it,” she wrote.

Lofgren, who served on the House Select Jan. 6 committee, emphasized the importance of the plaque as an honor for officers.

“Officers were brutally attacked. Yet, the plaque hasn’t been finished,” she told CBS News. “It’s wrong. Not complying with the law is also disrespectful to the officers who saved our lives.”

Legislation states that the plaque required several congressional committees to compile a list of names of all the officers who responded to the Jan. 6 violence, including the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Committee on House Administration.

Democrats on the House and Senate committees informed CBS News that they had completed their work in composing a list of officers’ names. Republicans on a House Appropriations subcommittee declined to comment, the news outlet reported.

The speaker’s office informed CBS News that they are “working with the (Architect of the Capitol) to get the plaque mounted.”

“The plaque should be installed immediately,” retired Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell told CBS News. “And the Capitol Police Board should make it accessible so the American people can understand the danger we faced and the magnitude of our sacrifices protecting our leaders.”