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January 07, 2015

Rep. Schiff Statement on Attack Against Charlie Hebdo in France

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a senior Member of the Intelligence Committee and chair of the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press, released the following statement:

“Today’s murderous assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris has left a dozen people dead and touched off a manhunt for the terrorists, who escaped in a car and are still at large.  I join with the French people in mourning their dead and hope for the quick capture of the murderers who perpetrated what French President Francois Hollande rightly termed ‘an act of exceptional barbarism.’  The Paris attack was also a direct assault on the most cherished pillar of a free society – the freedom of speech – and all of us have a duty to defend the right of journalists, commentators and other creators to speak and write freely and without fear.

“For more than two centuries, the United States and France have shared a commitment to the ideals of democracy.  We have fought and died together to defend liberty, from the Battle of Yorktown, where France helped secure our independence, to Omaha Beach, where thousands of American GIs died to liberate the French people from Nazism. The attack on Charlie Hebdo reminds all of us that the fight for freedom goes on, and that we stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of France.”