U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney was appointed Thursday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on a special House committee formed to look into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Cheney was one of only two House Republicans to vote for establishing the select committee during proceedings Wednesday.
“I’m honored to have been named to serve on the January 6th select committee,” she said in a statement. “Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814.”
Representatives on Wednesday voted 220-190 to create the special House committee after the U.S. Senate last month blocked legislation that would have created an outside, independent, bipartisan review commission to look into the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
Five people died during the incident, which saw armed individuals force their way into the Capitol while electoral votes from November’s general election were being certified.
Cheney has called for an independent body to look into the incident since February, expressing support for the independent review commission.
When voting for the House committee on Wednesday, Cheney said she would have preferred the investigation be handled by an independent panel, but since that proposal was killed, the House select committee was the best way to move forward.
Cheney was one of the eight House members to be selected for the committee by Pelosi, a Democrat. Five more positions will be filled with selections from the Republican Party.
Cheney said the investigation by the committee will help make sure such an incident does not occur again.
“(Jan. 6) saw the most sacred space in our Republic overrun by an angry and violent mob attempting to stop the counting of electoral votes and threatening the peaceful transfer of power,” she said in her statement.
“What happened on January 6th can never happen again. Those who are responsible for the attack need to be held accountable and this select committee will fulfill that responsibility in a professional, expeditious, and non-partisan manner.”
