Published Jun 9, 2026, 5:28 PM EDT
The congressman said survivors deserve recognition, closure and justice 59 years later.
Follow
Published Jun 9, 2026, 5:28 PM EDT
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) used a floor speech on the 59th anniversary of the USS Liberty attack to call for a new investigation into one of the most controversial incidents in modern U.S. naval history, arguing that surviving crew members deserve “closure” and “justice “while they are still alive.” Massie, speaking on the House floor on June 8, described the attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six-Day War and criticized both the original investigation and decades of congressional inaction. He also entered into the Congressional Record a declaration from the late Capt. Ward Boston, former chief counsel to the Navy Court of Inquiry, who later argued that the official “investigation” was flawed. The USS Liberty was a U.S. Navy intelligence-gathering ship operating in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula on June 8, 1967, when it came under attack from Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats during the Six-Day War. According to the Naval History and Heritage Command, 34 Americans were killed and 171 were wounded in the attack. Israel later stated that the strike was a case of mistaken identity. The United States accepted the explanation at the time, although the incident has remained the subject of debate for decades.
