IV
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 808
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 24, 2023
Mr. Pence (for himself, Mr. Bost, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Golden of Maine, Mr. Miller of Ohio, Mr. Gallagher, and Mr. Wittman) submitted the following resolution
October 25, 2023
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the 40th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983.
Whereas October 23, 2023, marks the 40th anniversary of the 1983 United States Marine Corps barracks terrorist bombing attack in Beirut, Lebanon;
Whereas the United States had deployed members of the Armed Forces to Lebanon in 1982 as part of a multinational peacekeeping force;
Whereas, at 6:22 a.m. local time on October 23, 1983, a truck packed with explosives detonated outside of a building at Beirut International Airport that served as quarters for several hundred members of the United States Armed Forces deployed as part of the peacekeeping force;
Whereas 241 members of the Armed Forces lost their lives in the blast;
Whereas the attack killed 220 marines, and members of the 1st Battalion and 8th Marines Battalion Landing Team;
Whereas October 23, 1983, was the deadliest day for the Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945 during World War II;
Whereas in addition to the Marine Corps casualties, 18 Navy sailors and 3 Army soldiers were killed, and more than 100 other members of the Armed Forces were injured;
Whereas members of the Armed Forces from 39 States and Puerto Rico died while serving in Beirut, Lebanon, from 1982 to 1984;
Whereas on the same day as the bombing of the Marine Corps barracks, another suicide bomber killed 58 French paratroopers housed at another barracks in Beirut;
Whereas this terrorist attack on October 23, 1983, was preceded by a separate tragic suicide bombing on April 18, 1983, that killed 63 people, including 17 United States citizens, and injured 120 others in front of the United States Embassy in Beirut; and
Whereas it is fitting and proper that the events of October 23, 1983, and the members of the United States Armed Forces who died in Beirut on that day are remembered: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives—
recognizes the 40th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983;
remembers the faith and loyalty of the soldiers, sailors, and marines who laid down their lives to protect our freedoms and all veterans who have so nobly worn the uniform of our Armed Forces;
honors the Gold Star Families who lost their loved ones more than 4 decades ago; and
reasserts its commitment to opposing violent extremism arrayed against United States interests and to providing the United States military with the resources and support to do so effectively and safely.