A Canadian View of the US: Member v. Member – Real Danger in the Congress?

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By Jo-Ann “Jo D NL” Duke

Recently, I was watching CNN, specifically Chris Cuomo Prime Time, during a segment of the show when he was speaking to Rep. Tim Ryan. While they were speaking, the subject of Don Beyer’s comment about how some members of Congress were expressing concern over something that once would have been considered not only unbelievable but unthinkable as well.

Don Beyer was quoted as saying that some of the Democratic members of Congress are concerned that some of their fellow Congress members may actually be putting their lives in danger.

What is their concern, you ask? Their concern is that they might end up injured if not killed outright by some of the Republican members of the House. The VA representative has stated that recently the House has felt so uncomfortable, with the level of animosity currently being felt, that it is making it the worst he has ever seen.

Beyer has stated that if some of the Republican members have firearms in the House that, especially those members who have openly expressed that they believe in QAnon and other conspiracies that are supported by the more extreme of Trump’s supporters, is it really safe in the Congress for those who do not agree with their beliefs and theories?

He also stated that, even though there is no proof of this yet, that some of their colleagues may have been involved in helping or guiding the insurrection event by the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol Building that fateful day.

This concern especially is being raised because of the fact that some of the freshly elected who have indicated that they are behind some of the most extreme beliefs that are espoused by Trump’s supporters such as the QAnon belief of the child abuse ring that is supposed to be against Trump.

As well as backing theories like this, there has been a push to allow members to carry guns on the grounds of the Capitol; that or the fact that some members may have already been carrying weapons there already, especially during the day of the attack, leading to concern and alarm for their safety in Congress even more.

Adding even more to these concerns is the issue being raised of some of these same members refusing to go through safety devices like the rest of the members; instead insisting they will go around the metal detectors that have been installed outside the House.

These objections may be adding, even driving the concerns of the Democratic members due to the extreme attitudes of some of the newer Republican members to begin with; the idea of them being armed is causing these concerns to ramp up.

It may be causing even more of a divide in the Congress instead of the unity so many of the Republican members are calling for, ironically. This is causing some of the members to worry about protecting themselves while performing the jobs they were elected to do; wondering if they have to protect themselves from their own Congress colleagues.

The interesting thing is that this concern has been raised by multiple members, it is not just the random concern of one member; in fact, there has been a letter signed by a significant number of Democratic members asking that these concerns be investigated; to see if there is any truth to their concerns.

One of the main things being checked into is that several of the democratic members saw tours being conducted the day before the insurrection; with the possibility that some of the people being shown around may have been some of the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol Building the next day.

The obvious question that has to be asked is how is this going to affect the new session of the Congress, when the sides are divided by concerns for their safety and wondering if they can trust their fellow Congress members?

We all know that they will need to be able to work together to fix the issues facing the country after the last four years; especially the matters of both the economic and Covid crises. They need to be able to get the country back in working order.

Once again tonight, the issue was raised when Chris Cuomo was talking to Rep. Sean Maloney about the tension that is present between the Democratic and Republican, especially among some of the newly elected and more extreme members.

The idea of the tours before the insurrection, the fact that tweets were sent out about the locations of some high ranking members having changed, as well as the concerns of members being armed on the floor; all of which have been stated allegedly as being done by some of the Republican members of Congress, especially those extremely loyal to the outgoing president.

Is this something that will affect the newest session of the Congress, or is it something that can be changed so that the members who were voted into representing their districts can get on with the job they were elected to do?

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