This week, the chairmen of the five standing U.S. House committees who share jurisdiction of the investigation into the Benghazi terrorist attack released their 43-page “interim progress report” to indicate to the American public that their committees are indeed working on this most important oversight priority.
While the report did reveal some solid work and initial findings, it’s not close to where the U.S. House should be more than seven months into their investigation. That’s why, in the same week as the non-binding report was released, 13 more members of the U.S. House added their names in support of H.R. 36, the resolution that would create a high-profile select committee to investigate thoroughly and methodically what exactly happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
The number of co-sponsors on the resolution has now swelled to 130, well over a majority of the Republican members of the U.S. House. Speaker John Boehner, to his credit, addressed the surging support for a select committee on Monday. While he wants to give his five chairmen precious more time to move their varied investigations forward, he also did not close the door on the need for the select committee being sponsored by Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia.
Tuesday’s progress report should have told Speaker Boehner all he needs to know about the five existing investigations. At a mere 43 pages long, the committees’ work to date has clearly been sporadic, unaggressive, and incomplete. Frankly, the families of the deceased and wounded and the survivors of the attack deserve better.
The American people are demanding better from their government, and the inability of the House leadership to give this investigation the stature it deserves is about to become an enormous missed opportunity that could have told the voters that at least one House in one branch of their government is serious about accountability and honesty.
I would suggest Speaker Boehner use the progress report as a road map for the select committee to start with. Chairmen Buck McKeon (R-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Mike Rogers (R-MI)–all good men–should combine their expertise by endorsing and joining the select committee and work to issue a report the American people can be proud of before the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack in Benghazi.
Call your Member of Congress today at (202) 225-3121 and demand they sign onto House Resolution 36!
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