Rep. Jim McGovern: Republicans Who Voted Against Gold Medals For Police Protecting Capitol During Riots Are 'Cowards'

BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern said 21 House Republicans are "cowards" for voting against a measure to award four medals of honor to officers who protected the Capitol during the January 6 riots.

On Tuesday, the House ultimately passed a bill to award the medals of honor. But 21 Republicans voted against the measure, with some saying they objected to the use of the word "insurrection."

Keller @ Large: Part 2

WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller asked McGovern what his mentor, late Congressman Joe Moakley, would think of the current state of the Republican party.

"He'd be horrified. He was a congressman at a time when Democrats and Republicans actually respected one another and certainly respected the institution," McGovern said. "Those Republicans who voted against providing Capitol Police a gold medal for their heroism on January 6, they're cowards. I have no idea what the hell they were thinking. Quite frankly it's sick that a sitting member of Congress who was here on January 6 whose lives were protected by Capitol Police can't even vote to honor them. There's something that's terribly wrong with the Republican party."

McGovern also spoke about the bipartisan divide when it comes to President Joe Biden's proposed infrastructure legislation.

"I think we'll get a bill. The question is whether it'll be a bipartisan bill, or whether or not it'll be something we have to move forward through reconciliation," McGovern said. "There's bipartisan support for an infrastructure bill all across the country. The problem is we have Republican senators who aren't interested in giving Joe Biden the victory, and that's what this would be."