Washington D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith made the following statement in response to the death of Anwar al-Awlaki:

“The death of Anwar al-Awlaki is a significant blow to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and to the Al Qaeda movement, which has repeatedly tried to carry out terrorist attacks against the United States and the people of Yemen.

“Anwar al-Awlaki will no longer be able to propagate hatred and manipulate impressionable youth to take up arms against the United States and our allies. His hate-filled sermons have inspired multiple recent terror plots and Yemen and the world are safer places now that he is gone.

“Following the death of Osama Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki’s death is the latest in a long line of successes by the President and the men and women of our intelligence community. I applaud them for their excellent work in keeping our country safe.”

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