[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13881]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        THE STORMING OF OUR EMBASSIES: AN ATTACK AGAINST AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. Madam Speaker, last year, an intense debate was 
under way in Congress as to how to respond to the turmoil in Libya. The 
imminent slaughter of the people of Benghazi by former dictator Qadhafi 
led the United States to sustain a NATO-led coalition to stop the 
bloodshed. Now our Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, is dead--killed 
by the very people we went there to save. Americans can tolerate 
ingratitude; Americans can tolerate insult, but Americans cannot 
tolerate the senseless killings of the official representative of our 
country and three other diplomatic personnel.
  The governing structures of Libya must respond in the strongest way. 
They should publicly state their condemnation and commitment to 
restoring order. Democracy is not an election. It is the understanding 
of the protection of the inherent dignity and rights of each person 
supported by the structures that bring about the just rule of law.
  We honor Ambassador Stevens, Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and 
two others whose names I do not yet have for their heroic service. May 
they rest in peace.
  Similarly, in Cairo, Egypt, the storming of our Embassy represents an 
attack on America. By the norms of international law, custom and 
tradition, the scaling of the walls of our Embassy severely threatens 
America's longstanding relationship with Egypt so fruitfully solidified 
after the peace accords in the Middle East in the 1970s.
  President Morsi must decide: Will his government tolerate chaos and 
violence? Will he abandon Egypt's leading role as a force for stability 
in the Middle East? Will he use democracy for the consolidation of 
power while rejecting its central tenets?
  The responsibility of President Morsi's is also to speak swiftly and 
state clearly that the Egyptian Government, duly elected, is committed 
to its international responsibilities and the deeper responsibilities 
of self-government.

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