[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 23328]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  OUTRAGE AT STATE DEPARTMENT'S DISMISSAL OF SAILORS WHO DIED ON THE 
                            U.S.S. ``COLE''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Metcalf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. METCALF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my outrage at our 
State Department's callous and thoughtless dismissal of the young men 
and women who died on the U.S.S. Cole.
  I will quote from an October 16 State Department memorandum telling 
Voice of America to quash an editorial on terrorism, and I quote from 
that: ``The 17 or so dead sailors does not compare to the 100-plus 
Palestinians who have died in recent weeks.''
  Since when are American lives less valuable to our State Department 
than Palestinian lives? Yes, my colleagues heard me right: our State 
Department dismissed the lives of our young sailors who died on the 
U.S.S. Cole. Something is really wrong when the Federal bureaucracy is 
writing off our servicemen while the rest of the Nation is mourning.
  Mr. Speaker, I do sincerely grieve for the Palestinians and Israelis 
who have lost their lives in the tragic conflict over the recent weeks; 
however, when our own State Department dismisses the lives of our young 
men and women protecting our national interests overseas, something is 
truly wrong and heads should roll.
  Mr. Speaker, I will submit the State Department's memorandum for the 
Congressional Record and would like to thank C-N-S-News.com and its 
executive editor Scott Hogenson for breaking this important story and 
shedding


light on this contemptible behavior by our State Department.

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