WASHINGTON, DC—Representative Eliot L. Engel, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement calling for the House Select Committee on Benghazi to be shut down:

 

“Last night on FOX News, Speaker-in-waiting Kevin McCarthy admitted with pride what many of us have known for a long time: the Benghazi Committee is part of a GOP ‘strategy’ to derail Secretary Clinton’s presidential bid.  The victims of the attack in Benghazi and their families deserve better than to be used as a prop in a political sideshow.  It’s time to put a stop to it.

 

“The Benghazi Committee is now one of the longest Congressional investigations in history—longer than the investigations into Watergate, Iran-Contra, Hurricane Katrina, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  And after 16 months and $4.5 million spent, the Benghazi Committee has held exactly three hearings and uncovered nothing that wasn’t addressed by the numerous other investigations into the attack.  Even those who wanted to give this committee the benefit of the doubt should now admit it’s time to shut it down.

 

“Congress is facing no shortage of important issues.  That’s where lawmakers’ time and taxpayers’ resources should be focused.  The circus needs to pack up and leave town.”

 

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