Labor, Labor Law, and the Budget

Floor Speech

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Mr. PERRY. I thank the gentleman from Iowa.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to call attention to legislation addressing security concerns that were drawn out in the aftermath of the September 2012 attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya. As you know, terrorist attacks carried out that year took the lives, needlessly, of four brave Americans.

In December, the Accountability Review Board released its findings and recommendations. This Board found that, prior to the Benghazi attack, some senior State Department officials demonstrated, as they coin it, a serious lack of management and leadership ability that contributed to the inadequate security posture at the consulate.

Now, while this Board can recommend disciplinary action against State Department employees who are found to breach a duty, they also concluded that poor performance in the course of one's employment does not amount to such a breach of duty, which I find fascinating and completely unacceptable. As completely unacceptable as that is, it also requires legislation to change that.

So, while I disagree that it should require legislation, it does. And with that in mind, I have drafted a bill, with the help of the honorable gentlelady from New York (Ms. Meng) that adjusts these criteria.

With this legislation, if the Board finds that a State Department employee's unsatisfactory performance or misconduct has significantly contributed to a security incident, the Board can recommend that the employee be disciplined appropriately. I would ask, at this time, that all our colleagues join us in supporting this bipartisan legislation.

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