Tea Party House Members Visit Beirut

Steve King, Louie Gohmert and Michele Bachmann went to Lebanon.  

posted on December 16, 2013 at 12:54pm EST

Rosie Gray  BuzzFeed Staff

Gohmert, Bachmann and King in July. Win McNamee / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — A congressional delegation consisting of Reps. Louie Gohmert, Michele Bachmann and Steve King has arrived in Beirut, Lebanon, according to Lebanese paper The Daily Star.

The Star reports that the three arrived from Cairo on Monday and were greeted at the airport by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale.
Gohmert, Bachmann and King are some of the biggest Tea Party names in Congress. All have been major critics of the Obama administration’s Middle East policy, particularly the administration’s abandoned plan to intervene in Syria and its aid to Syrian rebels, which Bachmann called a sign of the “end times.”
Gohmert has made the plight of Christians in the Middle East a particular cause and met last week with Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross, a Lebanese-born nun based in Syria, who has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the Syrian opposition.
Spokespeople for Gohmert, Bachmann and King did not immediately return requests for comment about the trip.
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut put out a press release describing the group’s activities on Monday: they “met with Minister of Justice Shakib Qortbawi, leader of the Lebanese Forces Party Samir Geagea, and representatives from faith-based NGOs.”
“The visit focused on the Lebanese judicial sector and also the unique role that the Lebanese Christian community plays, in partnership with other faith communities in Lebanon, in contributing to a stable Lebanon that respects and protects the rights of all citizens,” the release reads.