E-Newsletter: Benghazi - Why It Matters, What We're Doing About It

Statement

Dear friends,

This week, I joined a majority of my House colleagues in voting to create a select committee to investigate the Benghazi terrorist attack of September 11, 2012. As you'll recall, it was on that day that U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in a terrorist assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. However, within hours of the attack -- and continuing through today -- the Obama administration has stonewalled Congress and misled the American people about what happened in Benghazi and why it occurred. Through a select committee, we will hold the administration accountable and spur greater action to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.

The assassination of Ambassador Stevens was the first killing of an American ambassador since 1979. Under international law, the murder of an ambassador is normally considered an "act of war." And yet, the administration responded to the attack by deflecting attention away from those responsible for it. Instead of placing the blame squarely where it belonged -- on the terrorists who have thrived in Libya since the administration's bombing campaign toppled the Libyan government in 2011 -- the administration blamed an obscure filmmaker living in America, claiming that his film -- which was critical of Islam -- caused spontaneous protests that got out of hand. There was never any evidence for this claim -- even though US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice repeated it on five Sunday talk shows. In the heat of a presidential campaign, their story changed over and over again, even while they charged Republicans with politicizing the issue.

The only thing that Republicans have asked for is the truth. And we've been clamoring for the truth because the American people are demanding it. In the twenty months since the attack, a steady drip of revelations has made it clear that the White House has been untruthful about Benghazi and they have been working to cover it up. Just last week, a court order revealed that the White House ignored a Congressional subpoena by withholding an email about Benghazi from Congressional investigators. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney compounded the damage by claiming that the email was not about Benghazi. Carney's preposterous spin was the impetus for Speaker Boehner's decision to seek a select committee, and it was the right one.

The American people have a right to know what happened in Benghazi. They want the truth -- all of it -- and they deserve it. With the administration continuing to stonewall, Congress is taking it upon itself to get answers for the American people, asserting its oversight authority over the executive branch. Under the leadership of Chairman Trey Gowdy -- who will lead the committee -- we will get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it never happens again.

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