A bipartisan resolution is expected to pass through the House next week, recognizing the four Americans killed in the attack this week on the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican leader, drafted the resolution late Friday evening, along with Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, and Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic whip, to honor those killed in the attack and to condemn the anti-American violence that rippled throughout Egypt and Yemen.
“The House of Representatives recognizes the selfless commitment to United States national security and to Libya's hard-won, transitional d emocracy by the brave United States citizens who lost their lives in the unjustified attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya,†they wrote.
The Congressional leaders also expressed “profound concern†for the security situation in the region, echoing President Obama's call in his weekly address for foreign governments to strengthen cooperation with the United States in protecting diplomatic facilities.
While the White House is struggling to persuade Muslims that the inflammatory video that prompted the violence was not endorsed by the American government, the resolution issued support for Libya's “transitional democracy,†but expressed dismay because “many diplomatic facilities remain threatened by terrorist attacks or violent protests.â€
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was the first American ambassador killed by an attack in more than 30 years. The resolution honoring him and the four others who were killed will be submitted t o committee early next week.
