Congressman Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) delivered a powerful opening statement at the outset of the House Select Committee hearing on Benghazi.
Gowdy, who has accused the Obama administration of engaging in a "systematic effort" to hide documents relating to the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, dismissed attempts by Democrats to portray the Select Committee as a politically-motivated witch hunt aimed at tarnishing the record of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
To those who believe it is time to move on, to those who believe that there is nothing left to discover, that all the questions have been asked and answered and we learned all the lessons there are to be learned, we have heard all of that before.
The people we work for yearn to see the right thing done for the right reasons, and in the right way. And they want to know that something can rise above the din of partisan politics. They want to trust the institutions of government.
So to fulfill the duties owed to those who serve and in honor of those who were killed, maybe just maybe we can be what those four brave men were, neither Republican nor Democrat. Just Americans. And pursue the facts, and justice, no matter where that journey takes us.
Gowdy said it was necessary to review the most recent recommendations by the State Department's Accountability Review Board and to ask why recommendations that have existed for decades, in some cases, have not been implemented.
"Why does it take an attack on our people or facilities for to us make a recommendation?" Gowdy asked. "Why not evaluate the threat before the attack? Why not anticipate rather than react?"