Metro East Sun

Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Decatur) is focused on keeping lawmakers in Washington safe after the latest attack there left a second officer dead since just after the new year.

“We have to make sure what we saw on Jan. 6 never happens again and what we saw Friday never happens again,” Davis said during a recent appearance on WTTW News.

In the most recent attack, William “Billy” Evans was killed earlier this month when a driver intentionally drove his car into a steel barricade near the Russell Senate Office Building. The tragedy followed the Jan. 6 insurrection

While just the sixth Capitol Police Officer to be killed in the line of duty, Evans joined Officer Brian Sicknick as the second D.C. officer to die on the job this year. Sicknick was attacked during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“In the aftermath of it all, Davis said he is keeping close watch over some of the safety suggestions now being made.

“I think Gen. Honore and his team put together a very good report,” Davis said of the work done by U.S. Army Lt. General Russell Honore, who was recently installed to lead a review of security at the U.S. Capitol.

“Many of the recommendations are recommendations that I personally talked to him and this team about in my position as the ranking member of House Administration. I had a conversation today with the inspector general of the Capitol Police and he has offered some suggestions; he has offered some reports.”

In the end, Davis said he is hoping that lawmakers can work together in a bipartisan fashion in making sure that Washington can continue to be a safe place for all.

“We’ve got to have a bipartisan discussion on how to make our police work more efficient,” he said. “Those are the things I’m going to be pushing.