know that a good education is that key to getting ahead in this economy. normal of slow economic growth, stagnant wages, and too few jobs, president obama called call on the senate so we can finally stop hearing the question, where are the jobs. >> four americans died in benghazi. should the n.r.c. fundraiser on the select committee? >> our focus is getting the answers to those families who lost their loved ones, period. >> the n.r.c. received their fundraising -- >> our focus, our focus is getting the truth for these four families and for the american people. >> the campaign committee became very involved in fundraising off of that. why is that happening? >> our focus is getting the truth for the american people and these four families. >> mr. speaker, if that's the case then will you bend to some of the democrats' demands on the way that the committee is structured to make it even more

clear that it is not going to be a circus or political -- because they are concerned republicans have too much power and democrats will get shut out and it will be political? >> i had a conversation with the minority leader yesterday and made clear this is a serious and investigation that we want to work together to get to the truth. i think the 7-5 split is fair. frankly fairer than her global warming committee she set up. >> if i may, from their perspective, it's not so much about the ratio it's about the power that the democrats have or don't have from their perspective. >> ms. pelosi and i had a conversation about how the committee would operate. there are further conversations that are continuing on that issue. >> speaker boehner, do you a and>> speaker boehner, do you a response to the president's global warming report that came out yesterday? >> no. i'm not going to get into a debate over the science here.

it just strikes me that every proposal that democrats have to deal with the issue of climate change would kill jobs in america. the american people are still asking the question, where are the jobs? and and if they are serious about dealing with this issue, why can't they begin to look at this in a way that won't kill jobs in our country? you >> law enforcement, military personnel have been sent to nigeria to try to help to rescue these girls. is that enough? is there danger in doing this? we think back to episodes like blackhawk down and how we can get caught on some of these. >> clearly there's danger whenever we send troops almost any place in the world. but i do think that the president's taking the right step here. to work with our allies to try him to do everything we can to get these girls back to their families in a safe way. >> mr. speaker, a sticking point

that remains in the conference is a proposal, the senate bill, i understand the senate has been awaiting answer from the house. him him >> that will not be the case. there was an offer made to the senate, they are considering it. and we are hoping they'll get back. maybe you'll learn the rules and then i'll call on you. >> thank you, sir. what is your evaluation of secretary shinseki and the problems -- do you have confidence -- >> i'm not ready to join the chorus of people calling for him to step down. the problems at the v.a. are systemic. it's the backlog. it's the preventable deaths that have occurred within their system. there is a systemic management issue throughout the v.a. that needs to be addressed.

i don't believe that changing someone at the top is going to actually get to the solutions that many of us are looking for. we are working on the v.a. accountability bill. that would allow the secretary more discretion when it comes to firing managers that aren't getting the job done. >> do you expect the democrats to boycott this, and could you, will you use the power to maybe appoint some democrats yourself? >> this is a serious effort to get to the truth. and i would hope that my colleagues across the aisle would see it in the same way i do and appoint members to serve. >> mr. speaker, you talk about how involved you plan to be in monitoring the committee's investigation and progress, or are you simply handing this over to chairman gowdy and then you'll check in periodically? secondarily, can we expect you to publicize the appointments you are going to make today the vote is held?

>> i don't think we are ready to make that announcement today, but i would hope in the near future. like any part of our conference, yes, there are committees involved, but i tend to work with all of our committee chairs, and i expect i'll do that here. yes. >> is just as the house was getting underway. the house stands -- the house has debated role to investigate the benghazi attacks. you heard questions about that. we are asking you on facebook and twitter, does congress need a special committee to

investigate the attacks? happenedind out what before, during, and after benghazi. another tweet from the right is wrong, the gop has chosen the path of a pandering to their base. the house to come back in and about 25 minutes or so. the vote will be one of the votes in that series. while we wait for the house to return, we will show you the floor debate from earlier in the day. since terrorists attacked the american diplomatic mission in killing four a, americans, including then u.s. ambassador to libya, jay christopher stevens. since that time the house armed services committee, the foreign affairs committee, the permanent select committee on intelligence and the committee on oversight and government reform have all conducted

investigations related to the events surrounding the attack and the administration's response. and i want to commend each of these committees and their chairmen and their members for work that has been done that is exemplary, that has aimed exactly on the questions that needed to be asked and for those who have dedicated time and effort to make sure that these important issues are not only discussed but understood and resolved so that each of these committees, as they work with their particular agencies in the federal government, come to a clear and a clean understanding about what happened, what our responses might and should have been, and what they would be in the future. we are here today because this administration has chosen not block participate, to

our efforts to know the truth, and to provide the necessary people in a forthright manner who could be a part of answering these questions. this blockage has included the time delivery that has not been timely, but the time interval for requesting information, for the redacting of information that has not been properly done, and perhaps most importantly for the remarks that have been made by the administration including the president of the united states, the former secretary of state, the secretary of state and other highly public officials who serve at the pleasure of the american people, who have trite to -- tried to thwart, who have tried to misdirect, and who have tried to what i believe is badger republicans into believing that what they did was above board and correct when in fact an evaluation and a proper lessons-learned lesson being available, not only for

them, for the united states congress, but also accountability to the american government. we are here specifically today because in the last few weeks group, judicial watch, through the freedom of information act, obtained information and received that information through the judicial system of the united states, whereby they received emails that were not redacted, that were not doctored or altered and it came to them that did not match up with the information that had been provided to official committees of the united states house of representatives for official business. at a time when an administration decides they are going to take advantage of the structure of

the united states house of representatives under official business, then that means it is time for the united states house of representatives to then learn that they are being duped. that they are being taken advantaged of. and that our open system was being used, what i believe, in a political way. that is why we are here today, mr. speaker. we are here today not for political reasons but because the official business of the united states house of representatives, article 1, is to make sure that we understand and have oversight over those that are in article 2 and work with people who are in article 3. we work together in a careful balance to make sure that what we do is in the best interest of the people, the american people, who need to have faith and confidence in the work that is done not only on their behalf

but also accountable to the american people when great things happen and when mistakes happen also. to sweep something under the rug, to try and move people another direction and try to fool them to not be forthright about the action that is were taken or understood, i believe is a dereliction of duty. most importantly, i think that the investigation up to now has revealed is lack -- is a lack of desire by this administration to ess up to what i believe might be failures or weaknesses in a system that we need to work on together. four americans' lives were not only at stake but the reputation of the united states of america was on the line.

terrible things happened. worse things could have happened also. and for the united states congress to have oversight, to work on these issues, is, i believe, an important national security object. we are here today because president barack obama and his administration are not forthright or interested in working with official members of the united states house of representatives to clear the issue, to understand what happened so that we may move forward with great confidence. that as our men and women who are in the state department are engaged in the sensitive work, the work that is done on behalf of this great nation, that we can understand that relationship with the united states military, with intelligence, with the money that we spend, and the mission that the president of

the united states decides that these men and women will be engaged in. we are here today to gain answers, to gain knowledge, and to gain corrective action. that is why i believe last night in the rules committee the rules committee moved forward on an original jurisdiction hearing whereby the rules committee would make and take the responsibility, mr. speaker, to make sure that we understood that we would be taking the time of the house of representatives. that we would be taking, in essence, jurisdiction and putting that to a select committee. a select committee who would have the authority and the responsibility to ensure that the things which i have spoken this morning were achieved. this is not political. this is public policy at its

most important level. it is national security that is being discussed not only today but discussed in private among members of congress with this administration to ensure that the events that occurred on that day were well understood and reflective to the members of congress who provide money and resources and oversight to that event. unfortunately, it became apparent to me and others, including the speaker of the house of representatives, the honorable john boehner, that these committees are struggling ith an unwanted partner -- the administration. and this administration by refusing to completely comply with congressional subpoenas, by delaying the delivery of important documents, by heavily redacting critical information

not sensitive or information at might be considered national security, by retroactively classifying previously unclassified files, the obama administration has thrown roadblocks at every turn of the road. most recent example of this was the deliberate subversion of the investigation which occurred on april 17, less than a month ago. this is why the speaker of the house of representatives, john boehner, who's been very deliberative and most involved but careful to let each committee to operate to the level of its jurisdictions, to make sure that each committee had not just the resources but the ability to make sure that they were on a process for the

delivery of the things which i have talked about, up to and including the truth, mr. speaker. the truth behind the events. the truth behind how we would describe this event so that lessons would be learned and events to how we would effectively and capably understand the new and current threats against the united states and what occurred on that day and on a moving forward basis. if you refuse to participate with the united states congress, if you subvert the process and take advantage of our structure, the honorable john boehner will then respond with that which is given to him and to the united states house of representatives, and that is to honorably pivot based upon something that happened less than a month ago, april 17. this administration chose to deliberately mislead the united states congress and we responded

therein. on that day the administration delivered 276 documents consisting of 779 pages. they gave those to the committee on oversight and government reform, many of which continue to be heavily redacted. the same day the state department complied under a freedom of information act requested by judicial watch, and i believe that the timing of these two productions is not a coincidence as to whether or not congress would have received these documents absence judicial watch's foea -- foia request. the two sets of documents are incredibly similar and shockingly some of the documents received by the committee are more redacted than those received by judicial watch. well, i get that. that's because under foia, there

a criminal statute attached to that which those lawyers preparing these documents knew they could be criminally held libal. mr. speaker. the bottom line to this is, this administration has not respected the united states congress. did not respect the committees that were asking for this information, and thereto, make sure that they made their job even more difficult. these roadblocks, i believe, serve as two important points for us to remember that the speaker of the house of representatives did not choose to be where we are today, but rather it was this administration through its deliberate attempt to place us exactly where we are. so, first the committee will

have questions that it has to ask, and they are going to this administration to make sure that we have complete documentation. every member of the select committee will have the opportunity and should have on a bipartisan basis to see the documents. the select committee will consolidate itself into a centralized location in order to make sure that they work together. we are going to streamline congressional efforts when we find out the things which we could have, should have known but know now to avoid in the future, and lastly, we are going to come with an answer to the american people that we believe is what they are due. and that is what happened? how could we have avoided it? and what do we look for in the future? our representative government is founded on the assumption of a transparent government.

our president, barack obama, stated when he he was elected that this would be the most open and transparent government. mr. speaker, we are here today to take the president at his word. the question is will the president live up to his word and expect this administration to join with the house of representatives in this new era, this new way of trying to go about getting an answer for the american public. i reserve the balance of my ime. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: i thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair will receive a message. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in

writing. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clau 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resume on questions previously postponed. tes will be taken in the following order. an adoption of house resolution 576 as amended. the previous question on house resolution 575. adoption of house resolution 575, if ordered, and the motion to suspend the rules on h.r. 2548. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of adoption of house resolution 576 as amended on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 107, house resolution 576, resolution providing for consideration of the bill, h.r.

10, to amend the charter school program under the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, relating to consideration of the bill, h.r. 443, to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to simplify and make permanent the research credit and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the adoption of the resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 232 and the nays are 178. the bill is passed. the resolution is adopted.

without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on ordering the previous question on house resolution 575 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 106. house resolution 575, resolution providing for consideration of the resolution, house resolution 567, providing for the establishment of the select committee on the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in benghazi. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the previous question. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 223 and the nays are 192. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. hose in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution is adopted. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes y electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this et vote, the yeas are 226 --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 224, the nays are 1924erk resolution is adopted. without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business -- the unfinished business is on a vote of the motion of the gentleman from california, mr. royce, suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2548 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the by the clerk: h.r. 2548 a bill to

establish a comprehensive united states government policy to assist countries in sub-saharan africa to develop an appropriate mix of power solutions for more broadly distributed electricity access in order to support poverty alleviation and economic growth and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this ote, the yeas are --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 297, the nays are 117, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the notion reconsider is laid on the table.

the house will be in order. would members take their conversations from the floor. clear the well. lear the aisles.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 575, i call up house resolution 567 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house calendar 105, resolution providing for the establishment of the select committee on the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in benghazi. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 5 5, the resolution is considered read. the gentleman from texas, mr. sessions, and the gentlelady from new york, ms. slaughter, each will control 30 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: would members please take their conversations from the floor.

clear the aisle. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.res. 567 the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: i yield to the eaker of the house, john boehner from ohio. the speaker: mr. speaker, my colleagues, i believe the whole house and the american people deserve to know how i came to the decision that brings us here today. on september 11, 2012, a terrorist attack on our consulate in libya left four people dead including our ambassador. since that time four committees of the house have been

investigating these events and those committees have done exemplary work. chairman issa, chairman mckeon, chairman rogers and chairman royce and all the members of their respective committees deserve our gratitude. but last week, a line was crossed in two places. first it came to light that the white house did more to obscure what happened and why, than what we were led to believe. second, we now know that the administration defied a formal congressional subpoena. our committee sought the full truth and the administration tried to make sure that they wouldn't find it. which means they tried to prevent the american people from finding the truth as well. in my view, these discoveries compel the house to respond as one institution and establish one select committee.

a committee with robust authority, a committee that will do its work while the house continues to focus on the people's priorities. i have asked mr. gowdy of south carolina to chair this panel. he is a well respected member of this body and he has my complete confidence. and i will convey to you what i conveyed to him. this doesn't need to be, shouldn't be and will not be a partisan process. four americans died at the hands of terrorists in a well-coordinated assault and we will not take any shortcuts to the truth, accountability or justice. and we will not allow any side shows that distract us from those goals. our system of government depends on transparency and accountability.

and either we do this well or we face the terrifying prospect of our people having less knowledge and less power over their own government. and we owe it to future generations to make the right choice. so i ask all the members of this body to reflect on this matter and ask you to support this resolution. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, we all agree, i hink all americans agree and the attack on benghazi was a tragedy. but here we are once again, riling up the community and the country and causing again grief to the families of the four

people who died in a pursuit of some kind of truth that they were unable to find in two years of hearings over four mmittees, 13 congressional hearings, 50 briefings, five reports, 25,000 pages of documentation and waste of millions of dollars and that's just in the house. the senate has held hearings, the state department did a thorough report and yet now, after all that, we want the truth. i mean, what does it say about the house of representatives and whatever that was going on where they did not get to the truth. this is some reminiscent of what we have done in the house of representatives by doing over and over and over again, like trying to repeal health care and keep doing it until we reach whatever it is you want. we know what it is you want with a special committee. we understand that thoroughly. earlier today, i want to make a

comment that one of my friends on the other side of the aisle, i deeply regret this, signed a report claiming that the democrats were fundraising off of the class republican fundraising off benghazi. we looked into that because i was very concerned because i was the one making the charge about the fundraising and it's absolutely false that democrats are doing that. the report was from a conservative web site and all they found was that the chairman of the democrat congressional campaign committee posted a statement on his web site condemning the republican campaign committee to fund raise off the tragedy in benghazi. so let's stick to the facts here. we are going to continue as i understand it, several reporters asked the leadership do they intend to stop fund raising off

these people's deaths and the answer is no, they don't. what we are doing here again and the awful waste of time is looking for another answer to something that unless you get some answer that you want, i guess we will go on yet even another year or so. now, one more committee as we majority,favor of the will do absolutely nothing. i have an amendment to this bill that was based on a simple premise that the investigations and reports on the tragic attack in benghazi produced by the house committees so far have been nothing but partisan and political. my amendment would have made membership on the committee equally divided between the majority and minority and minority signoff on depositions and subpoenas and equal distribution of money, staffing and other resources and certainly ensured that the witnesses who come before the committee unlike the other

witnesses that the government oversight committee has had who were totally ineligible to speak on the subject, one of them knew about the details of what happened that night but he happened to be in germany at that time. we could have worked to ensure that the tragedy never happens again but it's clear that this majority will not allow that. so we have seen all the reports and we know what everybody thinks and we know once again we will be going into this because you are the majority and you have the votes to do it. i'm appalled by this postering. to use the tragedy of those four deaths for political and financial gain is shameful and contempt i believe and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i would like to yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia, majority leader of the house of representatives, the gentleman,

mr. cantor. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. mr. cantor: i thank the chairman. today in , i rise strong support of this resolution to proceed with the select committee to find out what happened at the american consulate in benghazi libya, on the night of september 11, 2012. mr. speaker, it has been two years since a terror attack claimed the lives of four brave americans in benghazi. ambassador jay christopher stevens. u.s. foreign service information management officer sean smith, dougherty sale glen and foamer navy seal and bronze star recipient tyrone woods. and over the past two years our

committees in the house have aggressively investigated what happened that night in benghazi and the obama administration preparedness and response to those terror attacks. unfortunately, the white house is engaged in a pattern of obstruction consistently ignoring subpoenas, redacting relevant information and stonewalling investigators. this obstruction gives cause to the grave concerns expressed by countless americans across the country. mr. speaker, what's worse, as the white house refuses to turn over documents, they go in front of the american people and claim to be transparent. those in the administration claim to be cooperating. they claim to be focused on bringing the perpetrators of this attack to justice.

attacks in the benghazi for the first time an american ambassador was killed in the line of duty since the 1970's. and to this day, not a single perpetrator of the attacks has been arrested or brought to justice. we should be using every tool necessary to find those responsible and bring them to justice. after ignoring for nearly a year a lawful congressional subpoena, the white house, under court der, finally released emails showing that administration officials deliberately and did he accepttively misled americans

claiming that the attack in benghazi was the result of an offensive internet video rather than a failed policy that allowed islamic terrorists to flourish in post-gaddafi libya. this object fuse occasion and refusal to come clean to congress have left us and the people of this country wondering what else is the white house hiding. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want americans to believe that this investigation is motivated by politics. no. this investigation would not be necessary had the obama administration come clean. this investigation would not be necessary had the obama administration complied with congressional subpoenas. this investigation would not be

necessary had the obama administration not misled the congress, the american people and the media about what happened in benghazi. the american people deserve the truth. and most importantly, the families of those four brave men deserve the truth. this committee will build upon the excellent oversight work conducted to this date and ask questions and demand answers. constitutional check and balances were intended to ensure that each branch of government conduct itself with the utmost integrity and do so within the law. that is our duty. and we will solemnly and jishously carry this out. today we have the opportunity to stand together and take another step closer to accomplishing that goal, to finding the truth

and i urge my colleagues in the house to support this resolution. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: mr. sessions: we reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida will control the time. mr. hastings: i'm pleased to yield five minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from maryland, my good friend and member of the oversight and government reform committee as its ranking member, five minutes to mr. cummings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for five minutes. mr. cummings: i rise in strong opposition to this resolution. benghazi was a tragedy. we lost four brave americans that night. and i extend my deepest sympathies to their families. in my opinion, we honor their memories best by bringing the killers to justice and by

working in a bipartisan way to strengthen security for all u.s. personnel overseas. as family members of ambassador stevens has stated, and i quote, what chris never would have accepted was the idea that his death would have been used for political purposes, end of quote. unfortunately, that is what house republicans have been doing for the last year and a half. n april 23, 2013, republican five n of dive -- different house committees issued a staff report with no consultation or input from a single democratic member of the united states house of representatives. their report included a reckless

accusation that secretary clinton authorized security reductions in benghazi. chairman issa then went on national television and said secretary clinton, and i quote, outright denied security in her signature in a cable, end of quote. when we located the cable, however, we discovered that the republican report distorted the facts. the cable had only a printed stamp of secretary clinton's name, the same stamp that appears on hundreds of thousands of cables sent from the state department every year. this report was issued under the direction of the speaker. it was posted on his web site. and it was prepared only for members of the house republican conference. how is this a bipartisan search for the truth? house republicans have also excluded democratic members from

fact-finding delegations to libya in violation of the rules issued by the speaker. democratic members have been denied access to witnesses and republicans have cherry picked transcripts of excerpts without any official consideration. somehow that bipartisan? republicans have also been doing something worse. they have been using the deaths of these four americans for political campaign fundraising. i call on the speaker of the house to end that process right now. for example, on february 17, chairman issa traveled to new ampshire to attend a political fundraiser where he spoke about

benghazi he suggested during his speech that our military's response on the night of the attacks was deficient because secretary clinton ordered defense secretary panetta to, quote, stand down, end of quote. that was a shocking accusation and he had absolutely no evidence, none, support it. in my opinion, his statements were reprehensible, not only to the secretary of state but to our brave men and women in uniform. and so today, we are here to consider a resolution to create another partisan committee to investigate what the speaker and his five chairmen have already been investigating. with all due respect, if the republicans want to fix the problems with their partisan investigation, they need more than just a new chairman. i have tremendous respect for mr. gowdy and i'm glad he said

that the fundraising should not be done on the deaths of these four people and i hope that the republican conference will finally agree with that. we are better than that. one that is truly bipartisan and one that seeks the facts before drawing conclusions, rather than the other way around. and so, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sessions: today is a historic day. as a result of the obama administration's unwillingness to openly work with house republicans in our ongoing effort to uncover the facts surrounding the events of the 2012 terrorist attack on the american diplomatic mission in benghazi, lib yarks the united states house of representatives is left with no option except to

select -- except to establish a select committee on benghazi. as the author of this resolution, i would like to take the opportunity to provide the american people with a sequence of events that have led taos this point to explain how the newly formed select committee will operate on their behalf. immediately following the attacks on benghazi on september 11, 2012, that took the lives of four brave americans, including then-u.s. ambassador to libya jay christopher stevens, four house committees began investigations into the events prior to the attack, those that occurred during the attack, and the administration's response afterwards. i want to thank our house chairman and the committees who did what i believe was an outstanding job in supporting this effort. chairman darrell issa of the oversight and government reform committee.

chairman buck mckeon of the armed services committee. chairman ed royce and the foreign affairs committee. and chairman mike rogers and the intelligence committee for their excellent work that has advanced this issue and brought up new facts without their dill -- new facts. without their diligent work, we would not be where we are today. but mr. speaker, that work was thwarted and by this administration not proactively in an open and i believe transparent way addressing the issue equally themselves, they have placed us where we are today. it comes as a result of their -- of -- of their being an unwilling partner. it comes as a result of many, turns, the administration

has put up roadblocks to the congressional incarery -- inquiry. whether it's not meeting with congress, delaying the delivery of important document, heavily redacting critical information and retroactively classifying previously unclassified files, this administration earned exactly the title that has been placed on them today. uncooperative. mr. speaker, this will not be tolerated. and this is what has brought us to where we are today. i will tell you that many of the things which you have heard on the floor today are accusations pitched our way, and i will tell you that the american people, through this process, will find out exactly who is after the truth and who is exactly for

hiding the truth because i believe that it's not just mismanagement at the top but bad decision this is a they should and will be embarrassed to have uncovered by the select .ommittee the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's reserves. the gentleman from florida has 20 minutes remain, the gentleman from texas has 24 minutes remaining. mr. hastings: i yield myself one minute before yielding to the gentleman from missouri. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: last night in the rules committee, ms. slaughter offered an amendment supported by the democrats on the committee. it would have allowed that membership on the committee be equally divided between republicans and democrats. it would guarantee minority signoffs on subpoenas and depositions.

it would guarantee equal disposition of money, staffing and other resources of the committee. it would require the committee to establish written rules, specifically including rules about how documents and other information may be obtained, used , or released and i'll offer a caveat there about the intelligence you're about to get into with this committee. guarantees equal access, provides for transpatientcy of the committee's expenditures and budgeting and it would ensure quorum for taking testimony or receiving evidence includes at least one minority member and finally it would ensure that the minority has a say in decisions about extended questioning and staff questioning of witnesses. that would produce a bipartisan result that would be credible. i'm very pleased at this time to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from missouri, my good friend a member of the committee on

oversight and government reform, mr. clay. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. clay: i thank my friend from florida for yielding and i rise today to oppose this misguided, highly partisan, select committee that seeks to exploit the tragedy of the attack on our consulate in benghazi for purely political purposes. here have already been eight reviews of that terrible incident. there were legitimate oversight questions about benghazi. and we explored them in exhaustive detail. more than 25,000 documents have been produced and dozens of witnesses have been interviewed. millions of tax dollars have already been spent responding to repetitive and partisan congressional requests.

the majority has alleged multiple conspiracy theories, each of which has been dispeled by the facts. -- dispeled by the facts. ambassador chris stephens, tyrone woods and glen dougherty are american hero who gave their lives in brave service to our nation but instead of honoring their memory, even before it convene this is sham select committee, it's already being used for blatantly political purposes. evidence of that comes directly from the congressional republican campaign committee which created an online fundraising solicitation esterday and it reads in part, you're now a benghazi watchdog. let's go after obama and hillary clinton, help us fight them now. so this is not about discovering

new facts about benghazi. this is about creating a partisan vehicle to exploit this tragedy to raise money. and to prvide the majority's ex-- and to provide the majority's echo chamber on cable tv and talk radio with read red meat. i urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, judge poe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. poe: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, o september 11, 2012, terrorists stormed the american consulate in benghazi. four americans were murdered. 19 months later, the killers are still running loose. one killer was even interviewed on cnn but this country cannot

capture him and his fellow outlaws? why? what's been the problem? today there are more questions than answers. americans are still not really sure what happened that night and the days following the attack. several house committees launched investigations were -- but were stonewalled. subpoenas were issued but ignored. last week a white house email was disclosed that indicated there may have been coordination to purposely deceive congress about what really happened. did the administration deceive america? if so, why? let's find out. we have no choice but to establish this select committee, ensure that the full story is told even if the evidence reveals an inconvenient truth. shine light on what happened when americans overseas were murdered in the darkness of the night. and those that oppose this bill, i ask the question, mr. speaker, why don't they want to know all

the facts? let's find the truth. the good, the bad, and the ugly truth. justice demands it and justice is what we do in this country. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentlelady from new york will control the remaining time for the minority. the gentlelady is recognize. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from vermont, a member of the committee for government and oversight reform, mr. welch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. welch: 30 years ago, america suffered an incredible tragedy. 241 marines in beirut lost their lives when terrorists bombed the barracks in which they were living. at that time we had a president whose name was ronald reagan, we had a speaker of the house named tip o'neill. different parties. that was an enormous tragedy. an investigation needed to be done and it was dobe of. it was done on a bipartisan basis. one investigation was done.

and there was a presumption that no matter how tragic this was and no matter how important it was to hold people accountable and that was done, that everybody involved had the best intentions for america's future strength. and there seems to be a premise, at least to me, that this president of the united states has any less commitment to protecting the lives and safe i have to the american people than any other president. i'll tell you, i was an opponent of the war in iraq. and i was critical of the policy and the decisions of our then-president george bush. but never once did i question that his motivations were anything less than what he thought was best for america. e're going off the rails here. this is a tragedy, but there's a real question, at least on the part of many us and i think many americans as to whether we're doing this right. how is it that there's such glee

that the decision is made to go forward after seven other committees, 25,000 documents, more work could be done but how sit that there was such glee on one side where they turned it into a fundraising opportunity? who would do that? and mr. gowdy won't do it, he's a good man, but you know what if we're going to proceed it's got to be on the level. we've got a 7-5 committee that's being organized, it's not evenhanded. you can't have these tough decisions that not only have to be made right, they have to be made so that there's credibility with the american people that they're on the level and not political where you don't have a bipartisan approach. you don't have everybody weighing in on subpoenas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you very much. there are lots of questions, the first is why didn't the military come help these men when they were in need over this fire fight for several hours.

we'll just start there. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from arkansas, mr. cotton, a member of the foreign affairs committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two nutes. mr. cotton: couple lessons i learned is you moved at the sound of gunfire and supervise the execution of the orders. when americans were fighting for their lives in benghazi, barack obama did neither. he sent no quick reaction force and didn't stay in the situation room to see the execution of his orders. we expect more from the lieutenants in the army than our president gave us that night. for two years he has stonewalled. not anymore. we will now get to the truth. what did our colleagues on the other side of the aisle say? hey express great outrage at politicizing this manner.

men anwomen that were being shot up by al qaeda, where was the outrage as they fundraised. where was the outraged as they viciously attacked our commanders and outrage when they said soldiers were war criminals and where is the outrage when they said only high school dropouts join the army. forgive me if i don't join my democratic colleagues in their fake outrage. ur america cons lost their lives. they deserve justice and the american people deserve the truth. one lesson i learned in the army, we will not leave these four men behind. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, let me yield myself 20 seconds. i would be be outraged do any of the things he has accused of us doing and i don't believe a word of it.

and i yield to mr. schiff 2 1/2 minutes. mr. schiff: i come to the floor to urge my colleagues to vote against the creation of this select committee because this is not a select committee to investigate what happened in benghazi, which has been done many times already. it is not a select committee to investigate what we can do to better protect our embassies and consulates and diplomatic corps. it is not even a select committee to hunt for those responsible, which involves classified information and done in close sessions. no, this is a proposal to create a select committee on talking points. i have been involved with the investigation into benghazi from day one as a member of the intelligence committee, because like every other american, i wanted to know what happened, why it happened and keep it from happening again and i want to bring to justice those who

perpetrated this horrible attack. after 18 months later and reports from house and senate committees and the questions that this select committee purports to investigate have been asked and answered time and time and time again. there is no question that this select committee on talking points will waste potentially millions of taxpayer dollars in a purely partisan exercise and serve as little more than a fundraising vehicle for republicans. the speaker of the house resisted the call from his base for yet another wasteful committee. here's what he said a month ago. there are four committees that are investigating benghazi, i see no reason to break up the work that has been done and take months and months and months to create some select committee. i agree with the speaker's previous assessment. democrats made a proposal to structure the committee so that equal numbers of members of each party so it required cooperation

on subpoenas and depositions and material collected by the committee. in each case, we were rejected. if this isn't a fair investigation and select committee, there is no reason for democrats to vote fort or participate in it. let's end the political circus and focus on efforts to prevent another benghazi and accelerating the hunt for the murderers of four americans including ambassador stevens. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i yield three minutes to the gentleman, member of the foreign affairs committee, mr. fortenberry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. fortenberry: when pressed last week by a reporter about the tragic events on september 11, 2012 in benghazi, the former spokesperson said, dude this was like two years ago.

this juvenile and unprofessional response has only added to the concern that we still do not have a full understanding of what occurred that night. what we do know is that our ambassador, chris stevens and three other americans are dead. several from the congressional committees have looked into this question and concluded different things and there are many lingering questions still unanswered. they reached different conclusions. but the lingering questions are made worse by the fact that we now know that emails from the administration may have been withheld from congress. this is the reason that we need a select committee. to probe deeply and get clear answers with a singular goal in mind, to restore the public trust. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from virginia, ranking member of the oversight and

government committee, subcommittee on government operations, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. we don't need a select committee because a particular chairman who is subpoena happy can't draft a subpoena to capture the emails in question. i rise in strong opposition to house resolution 567 which represents another unfortunate chapter in the majority's commitment to wasting taxpayer dollars after round after round of benghazi political theater. there is a reason that state slogan is diplomacy in action, to effectively represent our nation, american personnel and families make sacrifices. ambassador stevens' family issued this. chris was not willing to be the kind of diplomat who would strut around in fortified come pounds. he walked the streets with the

lightest of escorts, chatting with people. there was a risk to being accessible. he knew it. and he accepted it. what he would never have accepted was the idea that his death would be used for political purposes. there were security shortcomings, no doubt, both internal and outside investigations have identified and publicly disclosed them. steps are being taken to repair them. chris would not have wanted to be remembered as a victim. he knew and accepted that he was working under dangerous circumstances and did so just as so many of our professionals do every day, because he believed the work was vitally important. that's the statement of chris stevens', deceased murdered ambassador to libya -- his family. i deeply understand the demands we place on our foreign service and i know the stakes are high. as a member of the senate foreign relations committee staff from 1979 to 1989 i

advicebly recall shortly after i returned home from a visit to the u.s. bar racks in beirut a truck bomb was detonated killing 241 u.s. members of the marine corps. our embassy was blown up twice in beirut. the democrats didn't pile on. the democrats didn't call for a select committee to investigate ronald reagan and his administration for incompetence. we didn't darkly hint there was a conspiracy by the reagan administration to hide the facts to deny terrorism had occurred. we were patriots and came together and mourned our losses and worked with a republican president to make it better. that's the spirit in which we should approach this issue. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: at this time, i would like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from nebraska, mr. terry.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. terry: thank you, mr. speaker. this bill is absolutely necessary when we look at the facts as we know them currently and we look at the information that we are uncertain about. number one, we have lost four people in an attack that we now know is a terrorist attack. now know that some things cod have been done, but for some reason, to save these people, but they weren't done. now beirut has been raised a couple of times showing the ooperation between speaker tip o'neill and ronald reagan when we lost those soldiers. i remember it vividly. the difference is how the leadership between then and now reacted. so the leadership at the white house responded to this attack

by developing a false narrative, probably we don't know why they came up with this fake story ad gone imprompt tue bad. we talked about in beirut, as my friends from the other side of the aisle had mentioned about all of the documents that were received in the beirut investigation. well, that's because they were cooperative. the documents we received, despite from the gentleman from virginia just said that they were subpoenaed incorrectly. the documents we received were heavily redacted and purposely not providing that information. it was redacted. now, why was that redacted?

why was it we had to find out some of the truth about the cover-up that occurred on that narrative about a protest gone bad by an outside group that provided the unredacted. so now what we have before us is an email that was redacted from the white house and another one that was obtained through an outside source, provided us the same but unredacted that says now that the white house was telling us something different. when you have a white house that has gone out of their way to over up the truth, it is incumbent on both sides of the aisle to fight for the truth, so that the four people that lost their lives, one of which an ambassador for god's sake, they are the ones that deserve justice by this select committee. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york.

ms. slaughter: for rebuttal, i'm going to yield two minutes to the the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. connolly: it's amazing that he claims the white house is covering up when the white house gave an unredacted version to the judicial watch. i'm rebutting what i just heard. mr. terry: you are proving -- mr. connolly: mr. speaker. the gentleman says this is about getting at the truth. really? because there have been so many falsehoods propounded on this subject by the other side of the aisle. there was a standdown order. there was no such thing. we could have mobilized the military to intervene and the military did what it could but not enough time frame to intervene in the tragedy unfolding in benghazi.

the secretary of state knew and deliberately covered up. there were talking points that avoided the word terrorism even though the president of the united states did use terrorism. the islamic video had nothing to do with happened in benghazi. mr. terry: would the gentleman yield, because that's absolutely wrong, and you know it. mr. connolly: mr. speaker. the speaker pro mpore: the gentleman will suspend. let me remind the other side, the gentleman controls the time. he has been unwilling to yield. mr. connolly: i thank the speaker for returning us to regular order. these are falsehoods used to justify a needless taxpayer's dollars to beat to death for political purposes the tragedy that occurred in benghazi. and the invocation of the name of the deceased ambassador, chris steevenvens, hough his own family pleaded that he not

be used as a political pawn in a political partisan game is something that is beneath contempt. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, the eason why judicial watch received the information they did in an unredacted basis is because there are criminal penalties associated with that act. those criminal penalties do not exist in the congressional inquiry. the administration is simply taking advantage of that and they know that. and so do all members of congress. this administration was playing games. they're taking advantage of the structure which has been established in the relationship of trying to have the three branches of government