House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul announced Tuesday the committee will hold a roundtable discussion at the end of the month with Gold Star families of U.S. service members killed in the terrorist attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport Abbey Gate on Aug. 26, 2021.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican, excoriated the administration for its negligence that led to the catastrophic and deadly withdrawal. Mr. McCaul, Texas Republican, announced the roundtable on the heels of the families giving statements at a congressional forum arranged by Rep. Darrell Issa of California at the Escondido City Hall, near the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in Southern California.
Alicia Lopez, mother of slain Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez, told News Nation that her son’s fellow servicemembers say they were told to stay quiet about the attack. Another Gold Star mother, Cheryl Rex, during Mr. Issa’s forum, said President Biden compared the death of her son, Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, to his son Beau Biden.