Bachmann and Cravaack say Obama shouldn’t nominate Rice for State
WASHINGTON - House Republicans, including Minnesota U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann and Chip Cravaack, stepped up their campaign against U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and comments she made immediately after the Sept. 11 attack on an American diplomatic compound in Libya.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Bachmann, Cravaack and 95 other House Republicans say Rice "propagated a falsehood" that the attacks were unplanned. Republicans have suggested that the Obama administration sought to conceal whether an Islamic militia group was behind the attack, which killed four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya.
Rice's name has been floated as a potential Secretary of State in the second Obama administration but the House Republicans' letter says all 97 will oppose any effort elevate Rice to the nation's top diplomatic post.
That means very little as cabinet nominees are confirmed by the Senate, not the House. Also, neither Rep. Mike Rogers, the chair of the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee, nor Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, are signers of the letter.
Cravaack's attempt for a second term ended earlier this month with his defeat by former Rep. Rick Nolan, so this letter also represents what is likely to be one of Cravaack's last forays into the world of foreign affairs.
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