Kaine, Spanberger react to Senate report on January 6, call for more

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - A report released on Tuesday by the two Senate committees entitled “Examining the U.S. Capital Attack: A Review of the Security, Planning, and Response Failures on January 6″ has garnered some reaction from Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Abigail Spanberger.

The two democrats shared what they learned and why they still want to learn more now that the January 6 attack that injured dozens and killed five people is being put under a microscope.

Kaine, a Democrat, said on Wednesday that the 128-page report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Committee on Rules and Administration, is only a start.

“Even that narrower report has a lot of material in it that should give us pause and should make us want to go further to do the independent commission,” Kaine said.

That commission was turned down by Senate Republicans.

“This report shows things we have to do to better provide security of the buildings and grounds, but it really demonstrates the need for a larger analysis of the President’s actions and the actions of others who instigated this attack,” Kaine said.

Spanberger, who represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District as a Democrat, likened January 6 to your roof catching on fire, then someone saying the cause was ‘structural damage.’

“Well of course there’s structural damage, but we need to know why that structural damage was there so we can prepare and ensure it never happens again,” she said. “This is the very structure of our democracy, so it’s incredibly important.”

Spanberger is focused on a bipartisan commission and has a vision of the group she would like to see further the investigation.

“It has to be bipartisan in that it’s not a group of Democrats talking to a group of Republicans,” she said. “It’s a group of Americans who represent a broad array of political philosophy perhaps, but united in their desire to truly understand what led our country to such an unthinkable event.”

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner sent out a tweet about the report and called it “very troubling” and that it shows “capital security leaders were woefully underprepared.”

We reached out to the team of Virginia 5th District Rep. Bob Good, a Republican, late Wednesday afternoon. As of the time our story aired, we have not received a comment.

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