Rep. Adam Kinzinger says Jan. 6 commission role is ‘about fighting for something bigger than reelection’

SYCAMORE - On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, said that joining a committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill insurrection is “about fighting for something bigger than your own reelection.”

Kinzinger visited the Deutsch dairy farm in Sycamore while on a congressional break. Other stops in his district this week include Princeton, Dixon, Belvidere and Peru.

After touring the Deutsch family farm, which has about 170 milking cows, 20 dry cows and 100 heifers and is owned by fifth generation dairy farmers, Kinzinger answered questions about being part of a committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots and discussed a Pentagon police officer’s death after being stabbed Tuesday outside the Pentagon Metro.

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Farmer Bill Deutsch (left) talks to U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, during a tour of the the Deutsch Family Dairy Farm in Sycamore. Kinzinger was visiting locations in his district this week while Congress is in recess. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

Kinzinger, who represents Illinois’ 16th Congressional District, made national headlines when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appointed him to a special committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Kinzinger said that his goal for joining the committee is “to determine the truth.”

“Whether there are people who want to know the answers today or not, the next generation deserves those answers,” he said. “It was such a horrible day, I lived through that. To move on from that, we need full accountability. … I think if somebody broke the law, if they helped to plan and execute that, knowing what that was going to be, they should be held accountable for that, for sure. I also want to know what the president was doing every minute of that day.”

Kinzinger compared Jan. 6 to 9/11, both days “surreal and sad, and looking back, you say, ‘I can’t believe that this happened here.’”

“As a guy that’s very proud of my country, and likes to use our country as a shining light for other countries trying to get democracy right, [Jan. 6] was a bad day for us,” Kinzinger said. “Democracies aren’t defined by bad days, we’re defined at how we’re going to come back.”

Kinzinger also discussed Pentagon police officer George Gonzalez’s death after an assailant stabbed him with a knife in an unprovoked attack Tuesday morning outside the Pentagon Metro Station.

“Nobody should ever go to work as a police officer and expect that to happen,” he said. “It’s just a good reason to give our law enforcement a shout out today for being willing to put themselves in the line [of duty] every day. … If you’re a police officer that responds to a domestic violence stuff, or murders, there’s a certain level of danger. If you’re an officer at the Capitol or the Pentagon guarding the perimeter, you don’t expect that. Yet today, D.C. officers, Capitol officers, police officers showed up for work, and they’re willing to do it again. Without people like that, society would fall apart.”

Kinzinger also expressed gratitude to the Deutsch family for showing them around their dairy farm.

“One of the big takeaways from today is how the dairy industry is trying to become more energy efficient, trying to be part of the solution and be carbon neutral in the future,” he said. “We saw a lot of technology that was put in place and the investment to get to this point, and it reminds you that these are small businesses that want to provide for America. It was good to see.”

Bill Deutsch, owner of the dairy farm and chair of the Illinois Division of Midwest Dairy, said that he was happy to show the congressman around, “showing him the impact the dairy industry has in the world and how dairy production feeds America.”

“The dairy industry is very much in tune to environmental concerns,” Deutsch said. “We use well water to cool the milk, and we reuse that water to give to our cattle. We also have transferred over to LED lighting. Our sustainability target is to achieve net zero, becoming carbon neutral or better, by 2050.”

Deutsch said he was glad for Kinzinger’s visit.

“It seems like he’s genuinely interested in his constituents and our concerns and issues,” he said. “I’ve supported him before, and will definitely support him in the future. It’s great that he visited and showed his interest and support for farmers and agriculture today.”