Ed Royce: “Let me thank the gentleman for mentioning the State Department authorization. We are still working on that measure. We…”

“Let me thank the gentleman for mentioning the State Department authorization. We are still working on that measure. We hope to move that. In the interim, though, the ability to move on the floor now with the embassy security measure is important. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, of course, a senior member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and he is the author of this bill. Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, the Embassy Security Authorization Act. Embassies are really the physical representation of the United States abroad. An American Embassy is the means in which the United States conducts its foreign policy and advances our interests around the world. Therefore, protecting our embassies and diplomats should be our number one priority. That is why my bill authorizes over $2.3 billion for embassy security. If enacted into law, this would be the first embassy security authorization in 15 years. Furthermore, my bill makes critical reforms in how we build future embassies and think about our security. In 1998, we had to reassess our embassy security when terrorists, at the direction of Osama bin Laden, bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing over 220 people and injuring 4,000 more. In retrospect, these attacks foreshadowed bin Laden's intentions to attack America.…”