In The News

             As a Member of the Pennsylvania National Guard for the last 33 years, I’ve deployed to Bosnia, Iraq, South Korea and other locations around the world.  Each time, I was honored to serve alongside thousands of soldiers willing to put themselves in harm’s way to defend our nation.  I also was honored to serve with countless members of our diplomatic corps: civilian men and women who serve overseas to promote peace and stability in areas of vital interest to America.

             On September 11, 2012, terrorists attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. This was the first murder of a U.S. ambassador in nearly 35 years. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed an independent Accountability Review Board (ARB) to review the events leading to the attack.  Since 1988, 19 ARBs have been assigned by the State Department to investigate attacks on American diplomats and diplomatic facilities worldwide.

              The Benghazi ARB found that in the months preceding the September 11 attack, senior employees at the State Department were not performing their jobs sufficiently and demonstrated a serious lack of management and leadership ability. The ARB found that these systemic bureaucratic failures led to “grossly inadequate” security at Special Mission Benghazi.

              Incredibly, despite these conclusions, the ARB could not recommend disciplinary action against a single State Department employee because the panel legally was not allowed to do so since it could find no breach of duty - a standard that is extremely high and very unclear.  Maybe it’s because I’m new to Washington, but I was raised to believe that if you didn’t do your job, you were fired. Not reassigned to another job, not asked to take a temporary vacation, but fired.

             Appearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January, Secretary Clinton testified that a legislative remedy would be required to allow future ARBs to make disciplinary recommendations. To address this, I reached across the aisle and joined with my colleague Congresswoman Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York City, to introduce “The Securing Accountability in Foreign Embassies (SAFE Embassies) Act” (H.R. 925), which increases accountability by giving the Secretary of State more authority to discipline State Department employees whose negligence put diplomats in danger.   Specifically, H.R. 925 would allow an ARB to recommend disciplinary proceedings if it finds that a State Department employee’s unsatisfactory performance left a diplomatic facility vulnerable to a security incident. I am proud that this common sense reform has attracted bi-partisan support.

            One of our nation’s greatest responsibilities is ensuring that our diplomatic personnel are provided the security they deserve. Clearly, this was not the case in Benghazi. This legislation is a first step in our committee’s efforts to better understand how this attack occurred and prevent it from happening ever again.

            The ARB found a “pervasive realization” among those serving in Benghazi that security “was not a high priority for Washington.”  This is unacceptable.  America still faces enemies who will continue to target our diplomatic personnel. The murder of 25-year-old American diplomat Anne Smedinghoff this past weekend in Afghanistan is a sobering reminder of that fact.

            More than six months later, many questions regarding the attack in Benghazi remain unanswered. Who was responsible for the “grossly inadequate” security?  Within days, we knew this was a coordinated terrorist attack, yet why were the American people initially told the cause was a spontaneous demonstration based on an internet video?  The attack in Benghazi has faded from the headlines, but the lack of accountability and transparency regarding this tragedy remains a disservice to every American who serves overseas. If Congress doesn’t ask the tough questions, and if we don’t address the mistakes that led to this attack, then our fellow Americans who serve our nation with such skill and bravery will continue to be at risk.