[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 70 (Friday, May 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 567, ESTABLISHING SELECT 
                         COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 8, 2014

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule for H. 
Res. 567, which establishes a Select Committee on the Events 
Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi.
  I oppose this resolution because it is a distraction, intended by the 
House Republicans to divert public attention from their failure to 
address the problems Americans care about like creating jobs, raising 
the minimum wage, passing immigration reform, and extending 
unemployment insurance benefits to the long-term unemployed.
  Mr. Speaker, instead of working with Democrats to address the 
priorities of the American people, Republican leaders are gearing up to 
exploit the tragic attacks in Benghazi with another deeply partisan 
review.
  There have aleady been seven reviews of that terrible attack: one by 
the State Department Accountability Review Board, two bipartisan 
reviews in the Senate, and four reviews in the House--producing more 
than 25,000 documents and dozens of interviews with high-level 
officials throughout the government.
  Mr. Speaker, responding to endless, repetitive and partisan 
congressional requests has cost the Department of Defense and other 
agencies thousands of man-hours and expenses running ``into the 
millions of dollars,'' according to Assistant Secretary of Defense for 
Legislative Affairs Elizabeth King.
  Throughout these reviews, Republican Members have made numerous 
accusations in public that have turned out to be untrue after further 
investigation, undermining the credibility of their investigations and 
the House.
  Mr. Speaker, our colleagues across the aisle have shown no interest 
in making the Select Committee on Benghazi any different from the 
extreme and counter-productive partisanship that has defined their 
previous investigations into the Fast and Furious and the IRS, and 
their dogged efforts to hold the Attorney General in contempt of 
Congress.
  For example, in the resolution establishing the committee, 
Republicans stack the committee with seven Republicans to Democrats' 
five, and explicitly exempt the new committee from adopting written 
rules.
  From the pointless vote to hold former IRS official, Lois Lerner, in 
contempt, to the latest committee on Benghazi, it is clear that 
Republicans will do anything to divert attention away from their do-
nothing record.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve better. They want and 
deserve for us to work together to solve the real problems facing our 
country.
  I urge my colleagues to reject this rule and vote against the 
underlying resolution.

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