Panetta, Dempsey to testify on Libya attack
By Associated Press
Feb 4, 2013 9:24 AM CST

The Senate Armed Services Committee says Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will testify on Thursday about the deadly assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya last September.

The Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Republicans have pressed for Obama administration officials to testify on the raid. Hillary Rodham Clinton, then secretary of state, defended the administration in her appearance last month.

The testimony by Panetta, who is stepping down, could be his last on Capitol Hill. President Barack Obama has nominated former two-term Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to replace him, a choice that has faced GOP opposition.