U.S. HR 36 Calls for Benghazi Investigation

Thanks to Patricia Evans for e-mailing this update on the work of Congressman Frank Wolf. Fellow Virginians, when communicating with your Representatives about this topic, please check the list below to see which ones have co-sponsored HR 36. Other U.S. readers can find this information at the first link below; it opens a list of all co-sponsors, which you may shorten by clicking on a button for your state.

" Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) sponsor of House Resolution 36, if passed, would create a select congressional committee to thoroughly investigate the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-resolution/36/cosponsors

WOLF STATEMENT ON INTERIM PROGRESS REPORT ON BENGHAZI

Washington, D.C. (April 23, 2013) – Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), author of H. Res. 36, which currently has 121 cosponsors, today made the following statement in response to an interim progress report released by the five House committee chairmen investigating the events surrounding the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans:

“More than seven months have passed since the terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans and injured untold others. Since that time, there have been more questions than answers about what really went on that night – questions that have been met with virtual silence and, according to this report, misleading information, from the Obama Administration.

“The interim progress report issued today is a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, I believe we still have a long way to go before we will have all the answers that the American people and the families of the victims deserve. Retired military officers and non-commissioned officers in the Special Operations community characterized today’s report as ‘completely inadequate.’ In fact, the report ends with two full pages of action items that the Congress still needs to fulfill before this investigation is finished.

“The creation of a select committee – which would cost nothing, have full cross-agency subpoena authority and would be extinguished after its final report is issued – would prevent the Obama Administration from saying one thing to one committee and another thing entirely to the others. Most importantly, the select committee’s comprehensive jurisdiction and subpoena authority would hold everyone accountable and protect federal agency employees who feel a duty to testify, but may be pressured not to by the administration."

“For these reasons, more than ever, I still believe – as do the military professionals who have risked their lives to serve their country, as well as the families of the Benghazi victims I have met with – that a select committee is the only way we will truly get to the bottom of this tragic event. Notably, the report makes a serious accusation that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton misled the Congress. If a cabinet official misleading the American people doesn’t meet the threshold for a select committee, I don’t know what does."

“An interim report is an incomplete report. The families of the victims deserve answers to the many questions that still remain – and they don’t want to wait another seven months to get them. The majority of my Republican colleagues have said a select committee is the only path forward. The threshold has been reached – it’s time to advance H. Res. 36.”

Clickhere for more on Wolf’s work on this issue.

Sadly, it appears we’ll never know the answers to these questions until the U.S. House approves Rep. Wolf’s resolution. With 121 co-sponsors supporting the resolution, it’s time for the House Republican leadership to bring it to the floor for a vote. http://cdn.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/04/12/Momentum-for-Benghazi-Select-Committee

Speaker of the House and RINO extraordinaire John Boehner (R-OH) is denying a select committee probe that would investigate the Benghazi attack, even though there is mounting support in the House for doing just that. Read more: http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/04/john-boehner-says-hes-not-allowing-select-committee-investigation-into-benghazi/#ixzz2ROC7nFha

From Margaret Hemenway:

Gentlemen, I worked on the Hill off & on from summer 1980 thru 2003 (when I left to join DoD as a Bush political appointee in White House Liaison)-- served previously on leadership staff both sides (RSC & Senate RPC).

What the House is NOT doing on Benghazi is a disgrace. Boehner needs to show his concern for the lack of action by our POTUS and the despicable dissembling by his Cabinet official Hillary Clinton and his UN Ambassador Susan Rice.

Chairman Issa's hearing (my old Committee when I worked for then Chairman Hastert @ Nat'l Security Subc.) in mid-Oct. was shockingly flaccid. When you have unilateral subpoena authority and don't use it, you're not  investigating. Don't think that our special warfare community doesn't notice how you're letting the Administration off the hook. Obama, Hillary & Rice lied repeatedly to the public- blaming an obscure video made in the USA and a "spontaneous protest" that never happened  instead of Libyan terrorists who killed our citizens. One attacker gloated in English about the massacre on a cell phone (retrieved by DoS). Why shouldn't we be permitted to hear that call?

9/11 hero Todd Beamer used a GTE phone- you could surmise that if he'd called on a gov't cell phone, we may never have known about the courage of men on that flight and about Todd's famous "Let's Roll." I was in Senate Dirksen that day-- that plane may have hit the Capitol or White House if not for Todd & others' heroism. We need to know what happened in Benghazi. The "signals in space" need to be subpoenaed. If Rep Issa won't act, we will push for Rep Wolf's Select Committee bill to become reality.

Many Tea Parties in Virginia signed onto this Urgent Appeal below-- I strongly advise that you show that you care about those massacred at Benghazi, and about our national security interests-- and are committed to getting answers to which we are entitled:

The following Tea Parties in Virginia have endorsed this initiative:

Montross Tea Party

Essex Tea Party

King George Tea Party

King William Tea Party

Virginia's 99th District Tea Party-- Lively

Middlesex Tea Party

Peninsula Patriots

Williamsburg Historic Triangle Tea Party

Urgent Appeal to Virginia legislators (Wittman and Wolf) on the Benghazi Terrorist Attack of 9/11/12: House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa needs to issue subpoenas.

It has been more than seven months since the premeditated, terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, an attack which led to the deaths of four Americans, including a U.S. Ambassador and serious injuries to at least several other Americans.

The American people still know nothing about what President Obama did during the seven hour siege, after being briefed on the attack by key national security officials. We do know, that Obama, Hillary Clinton, and US Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, lied repeatedly to the public for days about circumstances surrounding the attack, including blaming an obscure video produced in the U.S. and a "spontaneous protest" outside the mission that never happened. We do not understand why the State Department denied a request in August that a special military security team extend its stay in the region, and why U.S. officials relied heavily on local security tied to militias, a concern Ambassador Stevens flagged.

Since the dishonest "Talking Points" about Benghazi were used publicly, there is no reason that the names of those who prepared and disseminated those talking points to the principals who used them, should be withheld. Federal employees must be held accountable for their actions. We deserve to know why this disinformation was drafted and used repeatedly in public, including in Pakistan where Secretary Clinton shamefully apologized to the Pakistani people, blaming the video made in America rather than Libyan terrorists who killed four Americans and wounded others. A Congressman claimed that he has made attempts to interview Benghazi survivors and that the State Department has been uncooperative. It is unacceptable that the State Department can thwart Congressional oversight in this manner.

No one has yet been charged or arrested for this deadly terrorist attack. Nearly seven months later, the American people are denied access to information which should shed light on the assault-- specifically, the "signals in space" (the audio communications and video from the drone). We are aware that private cell phones were used when the attack was underway, and that one was retrieved by the State Department which had a call from an English speaker, gloating about the attack. Why should these private phone calls also be kept from the public? There is no reason that any of this information should not be disclosed to the American people other than to provide political cover for the seeming failure by the Obama Administration to launch a rescue mission. Two brave former Navy SEALS jumped into the fray and sacrificed their lives in defense of their nation. Virginia proudly hosts Navy special warfare training. These SEAL families too deserve to know the truth and we ought to know details of their seven hour-long saga and their heroism.

Obama claims that he directed to do what it takes to help those under siege in Benghazi. There should be a written record of such a directive. Where is it? Obama pledged that "transparency" would be a hallmark of his Administration. If he were faithful to his pledge, he would have released the "signals in space" from Benghazi and the document trail for the talking points so that the American people would know the origins of the Benghazi lies propagated, including by Obama himself, before the United Nations. But he has not.

Foremost, we request that our representatives in the U.S. House support Frank Wolf's House Resolution 36 to create a select congressional committee to thoroughly investigate the terrorist attacks in Benghazi and urge Congressman Issa to exercise his subpoena power as Chairman of the Committee on House Government Reform and Oversight, to obtain the information and records on Benghazi that will provide answers that the families of the dead, the survivors, and We the People-- deserve to have.

Contact your Congressman: www.house.gov

Wittman, Robert J.	R		202-225-4261	Armed Services Natural Resources (Co-sponsor since January)
Rigell, Scott	R		202-225-4215	Armed Services Budget (Co-sponsor)
Scott, Robert C.	D		202-225-8351	Education and the Workforce Judiciary
Forbes, J. Randy	R		202-225-6365	Armed Services Judiciary (Co-sponsor since February)
Hurt, Robert	R		202-225-4711	Financial Services (Co-sponsor)
Goodlatte, Bob	R		202-225-5431	Judiciary, Chairman Agriculture
Cantor, Eric	R		202-225-2815	Majority Leader
Moran, James	D		202-225-4376	Appropriations
Griffith, Morgan	R		202-225-3861	Energy and Commerce (Co-sponsor)
Wolf, Frank	R		202-225-5136	Appropriations
Connolly, Gerald E. "Gerry"	D		202-225-1492	Foreign Affairs Oversight and Government Reform

--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ "