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Statement On The Need For An Investigation Into Benghazi Attacks

May 6, 2014 | Blog

Today I cosponsored Senate Resolution 225, a resolution calling for the establishment of a joint select committee to investigate the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks against the U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya. A year and a half after these attacks, despite a limited number of public hearings, too many questions remain regarding what the Obama administration knew during the attacks and their response. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the lack of oversight by the committee of the State Department’s response to the attacks is unacceptable. Even after the completion of the Accountability Review Board, it is unclear how many of their recommendations have been implemented despite promises by Secretaries Clinton and Kerry that all of the ARB recommendations would be adopted. Further, the SFRC has not even attempted to conduct a thorough investigation into these terrorist attacks that took the lives of four brave Americans. At this late date, there has not been a single person at the State Department held accountable for their failure to properly secure the diplomatic facility in Benghazi despite a mountain of intelligence highlighting the threat and foreshadowing the risk of terrorist attack. I hope that Senate Democrats will follow the lead of Speaker Boehner and establish a joint select committee to study the Benghazi attacks without delay. We owe it to the families of those who died and to all Americans serving in difficult posts overseas.