Moran Statement on Republican Attacks on Ambassador Susan Rice

Washington, DC – Congressman Jim Moran, Northern Virginia Democrat, released the following statement regarding Republican attacks on UN Ambassador Susan Rice:
 
“Ambassador Susan Rice is a visionary diplomat, a leader among her generation of foreign policy professionals, and an outstanding model of public service.
 
“Attacks on Ambassador Rice by Republican Senators and Members of Congress are misguided and wholly inappropriate. They are also a distraction from important national security concerns.
 
“Regarding her statements following the Benghazi attack, Ambassador Rice simply relayed the assessments given to her by the intelligence community at that time. She did nothing less than her duty, as has been made clear in the intervening weeks by the testimony of former Director of the CIA David Petraeus. Multiple sources have reported his testimony to a closed door session of Congress, which made clear that Ambassador Rice’s talking points had been carefully edited following an inter-agency review in order to avoid tipping off the perpetrators of the attack.
 
“There’s rich irony in the Republican efforts to sully Ambassador Rice’s reputation. When the Bush administration built a case for war in Iraq on the flimsiest of evidence, Republican dissent was nowhere to be found. Now that the President is of a different political party, a chorus of Republican voices suddenly appears, notwithstanding their lack of substantive allegations.
 
“President Obama should nominate the best qualified candidate to represent the United States as Secretary of State. Secretary Clinton, whenever she decides to vacate the post, will leave a legacy of high standards and outstanding accomplishments. In my view, there is no more worthy nominee than Ambassador Rice to continue her exemplary service. A graduate of Stanford University and a Rhodes Scholar, she earned her Ph.D. at 25 from Oxford University. The Ambassador went on to serve in various high-level posts in the Clinton Administration, from Assistant Secretary of State for Africa during the time when Al Qaeda bombed our missions in Kenya and Tanzania, to the National Security Council. She is uniquely qualified to hold the post of Secretary and should be courted rather than castigated.”

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