This week the House took action to ensure the Obama Administration is kept accountable to the American people. We voted to hold former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress and to form a select committee to investigate the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya that took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

In Washington, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the politics surrounding most every issue, but I truly believe we must look at these failures of government through an unbiased lens. As I’ve said before, to achieve the consent of the people, government must be transparent, participatory and collaborative. I was especially troubled to see that a government watchdog group was able to obtain information about the Benghazi attack through a Freedom of Information Act request when the administration ignored subpoenas from House committees. Speaker Boehner made it very clear that a select committee on Benghazi would be a last resort, and unfortunately, here we are.  I am pleased that my colleague Rep. Trey Gowdy from South Carolina will lead this charge. Rep. Gowdy is a former prosecutor and has been engaged in this investigation from day one. I am confident that he will lead this select committee with integrity and conduct an investigation in a fair and unbiased fashion. Unfortunately, there are already reports that some Democrats may boycott this important process. I hope they will reconsider and allow us to push forward for answers in a bipartisan way.

Part of our responsibility to those who lost their lives is to work to answer the hard questions that still remain about what happened that night in Benghazi. There are some facts that are clear. First and foremost, our government failed these four men. While their sacrifice can never be repaid, the president and the State Department have a responsibility to truthfully explain to the American people what they knew before the attacks, why more wasn’t done to secure our personnel, and what we have learned to help ensure a tragedy like this never occurs again. When I served in the Army, I never imagined once that if I were to get into a bad situation that my country wouldn’t come for me. We must work to implement policies and procedures so that those serving their country can rest assured that we will protect them should they find themselves in harm’s way.

We must also get to the bottom of what happened with the IRS’s targeting of conservative organizations and hold the responsible parties accountable. Lois Lerner insists she is innocent, but refuses to cooperate with Congressional requests to testify and has repeatedly taken the fifth. Her silence is making it very difficult for Congress to find the truth. When you are a government official, you have a responsibility to answer to those you serve and to do so in an open, transparent way.

I didn’t come to Washington to be part of the problem, I came to fix a broken system. We can’t fix what is broken without cooperation from all sides of the aisle, which is why I am proud to support the resolutions to form a select committee to investigate the Benghazi attack and to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress. Again, it’s unfortunate that the investigations have come to this point, but it’s important we move forward to provide the American people with the answers they deserve.

Feel free to contact my office if we can be of assistance to you or your family. Our contact information can be found on our website, www.roe.house.gov.