Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) delivered an impassioned attack against House Democrats on Thursday for their “outrage” over Republicans’ fundraising off the creation of a Benghazi Select Committee, and reminded his colleagues from across the aisle of their ardent attempts to raise money off of opposition to the Iraq War.
“When I was leading troops in Iraq in 2006, men and women who were being shot at and blown up by al-Qaeda, where was the outrage as they fundraised endlessly off the Iraq War? Where was the outrage as they viciously attacked our commanders? Where was the outrage when they said that solders were war criminals? Where was the outrage when they said the war was lost? Where was the outrage when they said that only high school dropouts join the Army?” Cotton, who faces Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) in the state’s Senate race, said. “Forgive me if I don’t join my democratic colleagues in sharing in their fake outrage.”
Cotton, who served as an Army Ranger during the Iraq War, took to the House floor to express his support for the creation of a Benghazi Select Committee. The House approved the committee Thursday evening.
Following House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) announcement that a committee would be formed, Democrats criticized the National Republican Congressional Committee for fundraising off of the left’s failure to fully investigate the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks that left four Americans dead.
The Benghazi Select Committee, led by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), will further delve into the events of that night and the actions of both the State Department and the White House.
“Four Americans lost their lives that night in Benghazi,” Cotton concluded. “They deserve justice and the American people deserve the truth. One other lesson I learned in the Army is we leave no man behind. We will not leave these four men behind.”
