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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that House members can pay for additional security measures with their congressional allowances, and said the House would likely need to spend additional funding for the security of deputies because “the enemy is within the House of Representatives”.
“It shouldn’t be that the President of the United States not only incites an insurgency, but continues to fan the flame by endangering the safety of members of Congress, to the point that they are even worried that members of the House of Representatives are a danger to them, ”she said.
Asked what she meant by “the enemy is within,” the California Democrat replied, “This means we have members of Congress who want to bring weapons to the ground and have threatened to rape ‘other members of Congress’.
Some Republican officials, including Andy Harris of Maryland and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, have reportedly expressed a desire or attempted to bring weapons to the floor of the House chamber, where they are prohibited. Pelosi ordered the installation of magnetometers outside the House chamber in the wake of the Jan.6 attack and pledged to impose thousands of dollars in fines on members who refused to submit to projection.
Another Republican member, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, posted a speech on Facebook in February 2019 in which she said Pelosi, “is guilty of treason … a felony punishable by death.”
Earlier in his press conference, the speaker questioned the Republican leadership’s decision to give Greene a seat on the House Education and Labor Committee in light of Greene’s previous claim according to which the school shootings were “false flag” operations.
“What could they think – or think too generous a word about what they could do? It’s absolutely appalling,” Pelosi said.
The speaker’s comments came in response to a question regarding a request by more than 30 members of the House of Representatives to use their congressional allowances to increase their personal security in their home districts by hiring forces from the local order or other security agents, among others. The letter was first obtained by CBS News.
Members are asking for more latitude in how they spend their Membership Representation allowance, an annual allowance set by the House Administration Committee which provides members with the operating budget for staff, mail and other office expenses to carry out their official duties.
“I do think though that if it is appropriate for them to use their ARM for their security, they shouldn’t have to because the money is there to meet the needs of voters,” Pelosi said.
The Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has heightened the concern of many lawmakers for their personal safety in Washington, but more so at home, where they lack the protection offered by the Capitol Police – and where the most spend the majority of their time.
Pelosi said she would meet later on Thursday with retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who is conducting a Capitol Hill security review and studying member safety in Washington, DC and their districts, as well as transportation between the two. .
Zak Hudak contributed to this story.
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