On both sides of the aisle, members of the high profile House Select Committee on Benghazi say they want to rise above partisanship.
“We’re better than that,” Ranking Member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said.
“Maybe, just maybe, we can be what those four brave men were. Neither Republican nor Democrat. Just Americans in pursuit of the facts,” Committee Chair Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said.
The panel’s first hearing Wednesday focused largely on risk management procedures at the US Department of State, and what could have been done to better protect Americans posted at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya when it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2012. Todd Keil, a member of the Independent Panel on Best Practices, said those procedures are severely lacking.
“We asked ambassadors, deputy chiefs of mission and foreign service officers as we traveled overseas, tell us about the State Department’s risk management process,” Keil said. “Without exception, each one said there is none and they make it up.”
“While we can do everything we can to reduce the risk, we can never eliminate it fully,” State Department Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Greg Starr said.
Starr says the department is constantly evaluating external risks to consulates, embassies and diplomats. But some, like Keil, remain unconvinced.
“The first question has to be, do we need to be there? Do we need to be in Benghazi? Do we need to be in Peshawar? And the department lacks a risk management process to make those informed decisions,” Keil said.
The committee has asked the State Department to report back to the committee within the next few months to provide further detail about ongoing efforts to improve its risk management capabilities.
