WASHINGTON -- House Republicans on Thursday rammed through a measure opening a new investigation of the deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya, vowing to dig deeper in a search for truth. Democrats declared it merely a political ploy to raise campaign cash and motivate voters.
The House voted 232-186 to establish the panel that Speaker John Boehner insisted would answer questions that linger almost 20 months after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission. Seven Democrats, many facing re-election campaigns, broke ranks and joined Republicans in supporting the probe.
Republican Reps. Tim Griffin, Tom Cotton and Steve Womack of Arkansas voted in favor of the measure. Rep. Rick Crawford, also a Republican from the state, did not vote.
The panel's investigation will be the eighth on Benghazi and examine the entirety of the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Independent, bipartisan and GOP-led probes have faulted the State Department for inadequate security at the outpost, leading to four demotions. No attacker has been brought to justice.
Republicans say they're unsatisfied with explanations so far, and they have leveled a range of accusations against President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other senior administration officials. Chief among them: that the administration misled the American people about the nature of the attack during a presidential election campaign and stonewalled congressional investigators.
"We will not take any shortcuts to the truth, accountability or justice," Boehner said during House debate.
Democrats remain divided over whether to boycott the select committee. They are concerned that their participation would grant legitimacy to what they believe will be a partisan forum. But they also worry that if they avoid it they won't have the chance to counter GOP claims and defend potential witnesses -- including Clinton, a possible 2016 presidential candidate.
Party leaders will meet with their rank and file today to decide on the next step.
Cotton, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, took to the House Floor ahead of the vote in favor of creating the committee.
He said soldiers are trained to quickly respond to news of an attack and to make sure orders are followed.
"When Americans were fighting for their lives in Benghazi, Barack Obama did neither," Cotton said. "He sent no quick reaction force and he didn't even stay in the situation room to supervise the execution of his order."
"For two year's he's covered up this failure of leadership by stonewalling," he said. "Not anymore."
Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida criticized the "song and dance" she said came from Clinton when House members wanted to question her about Benghazi a few months after the attack. Clinton's testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was delayed when she missed a month of work toward the end of her tenure after suffering from a virus, then a fall and concussion, and then a brief hospital stay for a blood clot near her brain.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said no evidence uncovered in any of the investigations suggests wrongdoing by the administration. Republican claims have descended into "the crass and unbelievable," she said.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the questions "have been asked and answered time and time and time again."
The Benghazi attack and response to it has produced 13 public hearings, the release of 25,000 pages of documents and 50 separate briefings. The select committee won't be the only inquiry, as other GOP-led congressional panels continue their probes, including a House Oversight investigation that just last week subpoenaed a Cabinet member. Secretary of State John Kerry hasn't said when he might testify.
Democrats deride the effort as a conservative campaign designed to energize Republican voters in typically low-turnout midterm elections.
Boehner's legislation creates a select House committee through the end of the year. It will have to be reapproved when a new Congress begins in January or cease to exist. The select committee has no explicit financial constraints.
Earlier this week, the National Republican Congressional Committee sent an email vowing that "no one will get away" from the committee's investigation and asking people for donations.
Rep. Steve Israel of New York, the Democratic campaign committee chairman, called fundraising off Benghazi "despicable and insulting."
Asked about the appropriateness of the fundraising pitch, Boehner said the probe will focus on finding the truth about the attack for the U.S. and the families of the four Americans who died.
In an opinion piece Thursday in USA Today, Republican Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, the congressman whom Boehner has chosen to head the probe, signaled he'd re-examine the response to the Benghazi attack, including questions that Democrats and some senior Republicans consider settled.
The GOP-led House Armed Services Committee concluded months ago the U.S. military couldn't have responded in time to save Stevens and the others. Still, Gowdy asked: "Was our military response during the pendency of the siege sufficient?"
The Obama administration says officials tried to provide the public with the best information available after the attack at a time when U.S. embassies, consulates and other facilities were facing angry demonstrations across the Muslim world over a YouTube video mocking Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The administration originally attributed the attack to a similar protest that extremists hijacked, but retracted that account amid severe criticism.
House Democrats have issued several demands if they are to participate in the select committee. Boehner already has rejected their call for equal representation on the panel, deciding instead to fill it with seven Republicans and five Democrats.
The Democrats also seek guarantees they'll have equal access to documents, say on subpoenas and right to question witnesses. Negotiations continue.
Information for this article was contributed by Bradley Klapper, Donna Cassata and staff members of The Associated Press and by Sarah D. Wire of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 05/09/2014