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Exclusive Interview: Congressman Walter Jones Discusses The Battle To Declassify 28-Page 9/11 Report

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On the death certificates of victims of 9/11, the causes of death are identified as homicides. The families of those homicide victims are demanding answers and the declassification of 28 pages of a 9/11  congressional investigation report.

Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC), Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) are sponsoring a bill to declassify those pages from the report entitled “Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.”

BenSwann.com’s Joshua Cook spoke with Representative Jones about those 28 pages.

“We have put in this new resolution, asking the President to keep his promise to the families of the 9/11 tragedy have been calling for this to be declassified ever since the report has been made public,” said Jones.

Jones said he doesn’t know why President Bush decided to classify those pages, or why President Obama continues the embargo.

“If I was in the shoes of President Obama, he has no reason to not declassify this information,” he said. “If any family that could be embarrassed, it’s the Bush’s, but why should he care about that?”

“Not implying that there was anything illegal, but if you remember, there were relationships with the Bush administration and the Saudi king. In fact there are pictures of President Bush holding the King’s hand while they were walking in an area of Crawford, Texas,” he said.

And that’s what Jones says is in those pages.

“There is nothing in the 28 pages about national security. Absolutely nothing. It’s all about relationships and whether those relationships participated financially in seeing the 9/11 tragedy becoming a reality by supporting those people intended to do harm,” he explained.

“How can a nation remain free if the American people don’t know the truth about a tragedy like 9/11?” He questioned.

For now, Jones, with his cosponsors, continues to fight for declassification and encourages Americans to visit www.28pages.org and to write or call (202-224-3121) their elected officials to support House Resolution 428 to encourage the President to declassify.

“He promised the 9/11 families on two separate occasions. These occasions were reported in the print media that he would declassify this information. Stephen Lynch and I wrote a letter in April 2014, asking the administration to please keep their promise to the 9/11 families and the promise to the American people and declassify this information,” he said.

“To this day, we have not gotten a response,” he added.

Rep. Jones asked, “How can we have a sound foreign policy when we don’t know who are friends are?” During the interview, Jones cited an important article by the New York Times entitled “Moussaoui Calls Saudi Princes Patrons of Al Qaeda” which points fingers at the Saudi government. 

Rep. Jones encouraged Sen. Rand Paul to offer up a companion resolution for H. Res. 428 and encouraged Paul to make releasing the 28-pages a campaign promise if he decides to run for President in 2016.

Listen to Joshua Cook’s entire interview with Congressman Walter Jones below:

Politics, US

Rep. Justin Amash Joins Call For New House Speaker

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U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) provided a statement ahead of today’s vote for House Speaker thanking John Boehner for his service but called for a change in leadership in a Facebook post:

Republicans have a historic opportunity in this Congress. We can pass significant legislation and push President Obama to the bargaining table for the first time in his presidency. We can uphold the Constitution and the Rule of Law. We can expand liberty and economic freedom for all Americans.

Our success is not assured. To accomplish our goals, we need sound strategy, crisp messaging, and a commitment to running the House as a deliberative body in which all its diverse voices are heard. Committees must be given enough time to do their work. Rank-and-file members must have sufficient time to read and debate legislation that can profoundly affect the lives of our constituents.

We have been told much over the last few years about opening up the House’s legislative process and returning to regular order. Yet time and again, it seems that Congress governs by crisis and raw partisanship.

Our party and our country are different than they were a generation ago. Americans at home have learned from the policy mistakes our Congress has made over the last few decades. It’s not clear that the men and women in congressional leadership have done the same. To appeal to more Americans and better reflect today’s Republicans, we need modern leaders who respect the diversity of ideas within the House of Representatives.

Speaker Boehner has been the leader of our party in the House for eight years. We have welcomed at least three large waves of new representatives during that time. Republican conference rules limit chairmen to six years in their offices to promote fresh thinking and new priorities. We should apply those same principles to all our party’s leaders.

The speaker of the House has one of the most challenging jobs in government. Speaker Boehner has given his best to our conference, and I thank him for his service. But it’s time for Republicans to change our leadership. This afternoon, I will vote for a new speaker.

Amash has joined several other Republicans in publicly stating their intent to vote for a new House Speaker: Reps. Jim Bridenstine, Marlin Stutzman, Thomas Massie, Ted Yoho, Steve King, Louie Gohmert, Walter Jones, Dave Brat, Paul Gosar, Rep.-elect Gary Palmer, Curt Clawson, Randy Weber, and Jeff Duncan have stated they will vote for someone other than Boehner.

The Washington Post reports that a minimum of 29 House Republicans would need to vote against Boehner in order to have a second ballot.

Gohmert and Yoho offered themselves as alternatives to Boehner over the weekend. “We’ve heard from a lot of Republicans that ‘Gee, Id rather vote for somebody besides Speaker Boehner, but nobody will put their name out there as running, so there’s nobody else to vote for. Well this changed yesterday when my friend Ted Yoho said ‘I’m putting my name out there, I’ll be a candidate for Speaker’ and I’m putting my name also out there also today to be another candidate for Speaker,” Gohmert told Fox News on Sunday.

According to Politico, those against Boehner’s reelection believe that neither Yoho and Gohmert will win, but are hopeful that if the election moves to a second ballot they may be able to find a new Speaker. Boehner’s supporters have stated that they will continue to vote for Boehner until the opposition concedes.

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Congressmen King, Jones, Massie and Duncan Call for National Guard to Secure Border

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Congressmen Steve King (R-IA), Walter Jones (R-NC), Thomas Massie (R-Ky), and Jeff Duncan (R-SC) are the few leaders in Washington who are trying to take action on America’s southern border.

The first item on their agenda: secure the border.

In a press release this weekend, Rep. Jones called on border state governors to deploy their National Guard forces to gain control of the border and turn back any individuals attempting to cross without legal immigration status.

Rep. Jones cosponsored H. Res. 675, which would make this request of the governors of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California as well as recognize and defend the constitutional authority of any governor to deploy the National Guard to secure the border.

“In order to resolve the crisis on our southern border, we need to strictly enforce our immigration laws – something the Obama administration has failed to do,” said Congressman Jones.  “Securing our borders and deporting individuals who have arrived illegally sends a clear message that such behavior will not be rewarded with citizenship in the future, and the National Guard is critical to this effort.”

Rep. Jones, along with other Congressmen, seem to be taking the first step by using a common sense approach to immigration – similar to what Congressman Ron Paul suggested in his book Liberty Defined – by simply “enforcing the laws already on the books.”

Below are excerpts from Ron Paul’s Liberty Defined on fixing our current immigration problem:

Enforce the laws now on the books with more border guards; permit states to enforce the law; allow landowners to provide private property security assistance, just as we do every day throughout the United States, and to work with Federal Border Control authorities. Private landowners have a right to post No Trespassing signs on their property to achieve this.

Do not grant automatic citizenship to children of illegal immigrants born in the United States, deliberately or accidentally.

Stop all federal mandates on the states to provide free education and medical care for illegal immigrants. The absurdity that South Texas schools are overburdened with Mexican children going back and forth over the border each day to our public school systems is resented by cash-strapped school districts.

End the drug war. The deteriorating economic conditions and the mess with immigration invite the violence of the drug lords and corrupt officials on both sides. It’s time to break up the coalition of the religious drug warriors and the drug dealers who fight any effort to decriminalize drugs. It’s time to treat all drugs the way we treat alcohol and cigarettes, substances that kill millions more than hard drugs do.

With free markets and private property, a need for immigrant labor becomes obvious. Make it legal and easy with a generous visitor work program.

Immigrants who can’t be sent back due to the magnitude of the problem should not be given citizenship—no amnesty should be granted.

 

US

Congressmen “absolutely shocked” of Foreign State involvement behind 9/11 attacks (VIDEO)

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If al Qaeda had support from foreign governments during 9/11, should the public know about it? Many Americans are demanding it, especially those who lost loved ones. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.)  said they were “absolutely shocked” at the level of foreign state involvement in the attacks after reading the classified section of the 9/11 report.

Rep. Jones and Rep Lynch introduced H. Res. 428 this month that asks President Obama to declassify the entire 2002 report, “Joint Inquiry Into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.”

Piers Morgan from CNN asked Rep. Lynch about his resolution in the video below.

The New York Post published an article this week stating that some information from this report already has leaked from the classified section, which is based on both CIA and FBI documents, and points back to Saudi Arabia, a presumed ally.

Paul Sperry states, “The Saudis deny any role in 9/11, but the CIA in one memo reportedly found “incontrovertible evidence” that Saudi government officials — not just wealthy Saudi hardliners, but high-level diplomats and intelligence officers employed by the kingdom — helped the hijackers both financially and logistically. The intelligence files cited in the report directly implicate the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks, making 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war.”

Currently the resolution to declassify the 28 pages of the report was referred to the House Committee on Intelligence on Dec. 2nd, but will it gain support from other members in the House?

Benswann.com asked Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC): “Will you support H. Res. 428 that declassifies the 28 pages in the 9/11 report?”

“There are a lot of classified documents in our government regarding war and those things should remain classified” said Duncan.

Many Americans, however, want to know what the government knows regarding 9/11. One mother on Facebook writes, “I’ve been fighting for 12 years to get these pages and both Congressman have told us they were “just shocked” to see what was in those pages. I want to see those pages. My son was murdered and I want to know what happened and what the government knows.”

Joan, one of the members of the 9/11 families told Benswann.com’s Joshua Cook, “We need these 28 pages to help us pass Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (S. 1535), which was introduced in the Senate on Sep 19, 2013. We believe these 28 pages will say what we have been saying all along.”

“9/11 families are not going away no matter what Congress thinks or what people think. My son’s death certificate says homicide on it, they all do. This was definitely funded. These hijackers were sponsored,” said Joan.

“My son was a fireman who died in the towers. He was only 32 years old and my only son. He left behind a 2 year old daughter and a 21 day old son. And I miss him every day. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him. Not an hour goes by that I don’t think about him.”

Rep. Jones states, “Twelve years after the United States suffered a horrendous attack on our own soil, the families of the victims deserve to know all the facts concerning that tragic day,” said Congressman Jones.  “Furthermore, the information contained in the redacted pages is critical to our foreign policy moving forward and should thus be available to the American public.  If the 9/11 hijackers had outside help – particularly from one or more foreign governments – the press and the public have a right to know what our government has or has not done to bring justice to all of the perpetrators.”

 

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Shocking: Obama Administration Doesn’t Know the Casualties or Costs of the Afghan War (VIDEO)

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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) asked Obama administration’s top Afghanistan specialists: (1) How much is the U.S. spending in Afghanistan? (2) How many American troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year? None of the specialists could answer which shocked Rohrabacher.

“We’re supposed to believe that you fellas have a plan that’s going to end up in a positive way in Afghanistan?” Mr. Rohrabacher asked. “Holy cow!”

While military waste overseas is running rampant, military retirees face as much as $124,000 in lost retirement income if the bipartisan budget agreement is enacted, according to the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA).

The American government has already spent about $107 million — double the initial estimate — on the five-story Defense Ministry headquarters, which will include state-of-the-art bunkers and the second-largest auditorium in Kabul.

According to the Washington Post, “for years, audits and inspector general’s reports have documented waste and mismanagement in American aid projects in Afghanistan. But the Defense Ministry building is a dramatic example of how poor oversight continues to plague the massive U.S. investment here.”

Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) responded to the video above on Facebook.com, “At a time when we are spending billions of dollars and risking the lives of our service members overseas, it is absolutely unacceptable that Obama administration officials could not answer the simplest of questions about our operations in Afghanistan.”