Lee Metcalf: “I rise today to share my outrage at our State Department's callous and thoughtless dismissal of the young men and women…”

“I rise today to share my outrage at our State Department's callous and thoughtless dismissal of the young men and women who died on the U.S.S. Cole. I will quote from an October 16 State Department memorandum telling Voice of America to quash an editorial on terrorism, and I quote from that: ``The 17 or so dead sailors does not compare to the 100-plus Palestinians who have died in recent weeks.'' Since when are American lives less valuable to our State Department than Palestinian lives? Yes, my colleagues heard me right: our State Department dismissed the lives of our young sailors who died on the U.S.S. Cole. Something is really wrong when the Federal bureaucracy is writing off our servicemen while the rest of the Nation is mourning. Mr. Speaker, I do sincerely grieve for the Palestinians and Israelis who have lost their lives in the tragic conflict over the recent weeks; however, when our own State Department dismisses the lives of our young men and women protecting our national interests overseas, something is truly wrong and heads should roll.”