[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16197]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TERRORIST ATTACK ON THE MARINE BARRACKS IN 
                            BEIRUT, LEBANON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 23, 2013

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, today marks the 30th anniversary of the 
terrorist attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, which took 
the lives of 241 American servicemen, as well as 58 French servicemen 
in a separate building. It was the deadliest attack on the Marine Corps 
since Iwo Jima during World War II.
  This attack against our country by Hezbollah, which was coordinated 
with the Iranian regime, marked the first major terrorist attack 
targeting the U.S. This is the same Iranian regime that continues to 
sponsor terrorism, develop nuclear weapons and threatens the U.S. and 
our allies in the Middle East still today.
  In some respects it was an opening shot fired in a battle that 
continues to this day against radical Islamists and terrorist elements 
bent on the destruction of this country and all that it represents.
  I have visited the site of the barracks near the airport. Today, 
there's nothing left but a parking lot--not even a memorial or plaque 
to recognize the lives that were lost. In a cruel twist of history, the 
airport itself, which the Marines were guarding in 1983, is now 
controlled by Hezbollah.
  However, there are now memorials to the servicemen at the U.S. 
Embassy in Beirut as well as at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. This 
morning, the 30th Beirut Observance Ceremony was held at the memorial 
at Camp Lejeune.
  Today we pause to remember those lost in the attack--to honor them 
and their family members. We remember their sacrifice and reaffirm our 
commitment to learn the lessons of the past to prevent such tragedies 
in the future.
  As President Reagan said in a televised address from the Oval Office 
following the attack, the Americans serving in Beirut, ``were not 
afraid to stand up for their country or, no matter how difficult and 
slow the journey might be, to give to others that last, best hope of a 
better future. We cannot and will not dishonor them now and the 
sacrifices they've made by failing to remain as faithful to the cause 
of freedom and the pursuit of peace as they have been.''

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