Here's reaction to the White House release of Benghazi emails from Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio:

"The House interim report found that senior State Department officials requested the talking points be changed to avoid criticism for ignoring the threat environment in Benghazi’ and that those changes were ultimately made.

"Those findings are confirmed by the emails released today, and they contradict statements made by the White House that it and the State Department only changed one word in the talking points. The seemingly political nature of the State Department’s concerns raises questions about the motivations behind these changes and who at the State Department was seeking them.

"This release is long overdue and there are relevant documents the Administration has still refused to produce.  We hope, however, that this limited release of documents is a sign of more cooperation to come.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is moving quickly on legislation that would provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people and "limited lethal and non-lethal weapons to vetted Syrian groups."

“The Assad regime has crossed a red line that forces us to consider all options,” Menendez said. “The greatest humanitarian crisis in the world is unfolding in and around Syria, and the U.S. must play a role in tipping the scales toward opposition groups and working to build a free Syria.”

He insisted "there will be no greater strategic setback to Iran than to have the Assad regime collapse, and cause a disruption to the terror pipeline between Tehran and Hezbollah in Lebanon."

Here's his office's summary of his bill, which the full committee plans to begin considering next Tuesday:

President Obama announced his pick for Secretary of State Friday at the White House, saying that Mass Sen. John Kerry will need little on the job training.

"In a sense, John's entire life has prepared him for this role," Obama said, noting that Kerry is the son of a Foreign Service officer, served in Vietnam and was chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

He's "played a central role in every major foreign policy debate for nearly 30 years," Obama said, adding that "as we turn the page on a decade of war, he understands that we've got to harness all elements of American power and ensure that they're working together -- diplomatic and development, economic and political, military and intelligence, as well as the power of our values which inspire so many people around the world."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid maintains Susan Rice could have been confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of State.

And he said the behavior of some Senate Republicans toward Rice was a "disgrace."

Rice withdrew her name from consideration Thursday.

Here's the statement from Reid, D-Nevada:

"Ambassador Rice is eminently qualified to serve as Secretary of State and she could have been confirmed by the Senate. The politically-motivated attacks on her character from some of my Republican colleagues were shameful.

"Based on her impressive career and accomplishments as a Rhodes Scholar, a top official in the State Department and our Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Rice deserved far more respect than she was shown by certain Senate Republicans.

"Their behavior was a disgrace to the Senate’s tradition of bipartisan cooperation on national security issues, and beneath the stature of senators with otherwise distinguished records on national security. I hope that moving forward, senators will act based on fact-finding and serving the public interest, not advancing partisan political agendas or settling old scores.”

"I believe Ambassador Rice should continue to help steer our nation's foreign policy, as she has done so successfully, and I look forward to continuing to work with her."

Mitt Romney's campaign continued to blast the Obama administration for its foreign policy Thursday, this time urging people to read a column by Liz Cheney calling the White House response to the Egypt and Libya crises "appalling."

"It has certainly been a terrible 48 hours," the conservative commentator, and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, wrote in the Wall Street Journal. "In Libya, violent extremists killed American diplomats. In Cairo, mobs breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy, ripped down the American flag and replaced it with the al Qaeda flag.

"In response to the attack in Cairo, diplomats there condemned not the attackers but those who 'hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.' The president appeared in the Rose Garden less than 24 hours later to condemn the Libya assault and failed even to mention the attack in Egypt. The message sent to radicals throughout the region: If you assault an American embassy but don't kill anyone, the U.S. president won't complain.

"Though the administration's performance in the crisis was appalling, it wasn't surprising—it is the logical outcome of three-and-a-half years of Obama foreign policy."

Cheney went on to argue the U.S. looks weak.

Mitt Romney kept up the criticism of the Obama administration Wednesday, reiterating a controversial comment he had made late Tuesday, before the death of the U.S. ambassador and others was reported.

Here's the Republican presidential candidate's latest statement:

"Americans woke up this morning with tragic news and felt heavy hearts as they considered that individuals who have served in our diplomatic corps were brutally murdered across the world. This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous, it's disgusting. It breaks the hearts of all of us who think of these people who have served, during their lives, the cause of freedom, and justice and honor. We mourn their loss and join together in prayer that the spirit of the Almighty might comfort the families of those who have been so brutally slain.

“Four diplomats lost their life, including the U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, in the attack on our embassy at Benghazi, Libya. And, of course, with these words, I extend my condolences to the grieving loved ones, who have left behind, as a result of these who have lost their lives in the service of our nation, and I know that the people across America are grateful for their service and we mourn their sacrifice.

“America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We will defend also our constitutional rights of speech and assembly and religion. We have confidence in our cause in America. We respect our Constitution. We stand for the principles our Constitution protects. We encourage other nations to understand and respect the principles of our Constitution because we recognize that these principles are the ultimate source of freedom for individuals around the world.

“I also believe the Administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions.  It's never too early for the United States Government to condemn attacks on Americans, and to defend our values.  The White House distanced itself last night from the statement, saying it wasn't ‘cleared by Washington.’ That reflects the mixed signals they’re sending to the world.

“The attacks in Libya and Egypt underscore that the world remains a dangerous place and that American leadership is still sorely needed. In the face of this violence, America cannot shrink from the responsibility to lead. American leadership is necessary to ensure that events in the region don’t spin out of control.  We cannot hesitate to use our influence in the region to support those who share our values and our interests.  Over the last several years, we have stood witness to an Arab Spring that presents an opportunity for a more peaceful and prosperous region, but also poses the potential for peril, if the forces of extremism and violence are allowed to control the course of events.

“We must strive to ensure that the Arab Spring does not become an Arab Winter.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is considered to have excellent taste in clothing and appearance. Rep. Barney Frank, who announced last week he will retire from the House of Representatives, less so.

So in recalling Thursday some memories of the colorful Frank--as well as the gruff former Rep. David Obey, Pelosi offered reporters this anecdote:

"I was now the new Ranking Member (top Democrat) on Foreign Ops (House foreign operations panel). Now, when I was outside the Congress, you know, carrying pickets, Russians, Soviets out of Afghanistan, going to Central America, end the war. To me the most important place in the world was the Foreign Ops Committee of the House.

"They could stop the funding of all these things or make policy—not policy, but statements that related to our national security and human rights throughout the world. So to be the Ranking Member on Foreign Ops—never—it was one of those things I never expected, but this, that, and that and that and, you know, that around here, there I was, and when I came to Congress, I said does anybody know anybody on Foreign Ops because I want to talk to that person. Now I am the Ranking.

"So I go to make my first bill on the floor, managing the bill. I wasn't the Chairman, but we worked very closely together. Our Chairman, Sonny Callahan from Alabama, was just wonderful. We worked very closely together, but we had some differences, one of them being international family planning. Here we go again.

"Anyway, so I come to the floor, I have on a suit that I hadn't worn before and now mind you, Dave Obey had been the Chairman of that committee for, like, 13 years. He knew every semicolon, dot, everything in the bill. So he is the Chairman of the committee—no…the Ranking on the committee. It is his baby. You know, he thinks of this as his bill.

"I go to the floor, the first person I ran into is Barney Frank. Barney Frank, he says, 'That suit, give it away, give it away. Don't wear that suit anymore.'

"So I do the bill. I get everything accomplished that I set out to do. I was so proud. David is sitting there where David sits there and David says to me, 'You did what you came to do, you got the job done, but you could have been more diplomatic.'

"So I said this is really my day. I'm getting fashion advice from Barney Frank and diplomacy advice from Dave Obey. Can you imagine? Can you imagine?"

Longtime Iraq war critic Dennis Kucinich was not happy with President Barack Obama's Friday announcement about the war.

The Ohio Democratic congressman's statement:

"As one of the first Members of Congress to oppose the war in Iraq, I welcome the President’s announcement that he will withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq at the end of the year. The U.S. has spent over $806 billion on a war that was based on lies. The war in Iraq has cost the lives of over 4,421 U.S. troops and an estimated 1 million innocent Iraqis.

 "Yet today’s announcement fails to acknowledge that we will simply be replacing one U.S. occupation with another. Under the State Department’s current plans to take the place of the Department of Defense as the main U.S. force in Iraq post-military withdrawal, we are still maintaining a massive presence there, now with the State Department and its heavily armed private security contractors. And it is the presence of armed U.S. contractors that is the problem. It will continue to foment instability and violence in Iraq and the region. We need to get out now, not just trade uniforms and personnel. It is reasonable to ask whether the people of Iraq will notice any change."

By unanimous consent, the Senate confirmed former Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the new U.S. ambassador to China.

The usual suspects are there, of course: Madeleine Albright, Christiane Amanpour and hubby James Rubin, Supreme Court Justice Stepehen Breyer, martial arts movie star Jackie Chan, jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

But what's Lloyd Blankfein, chairman of Goldman-Sachs doing at the state dinner for the visiting Chinese chairman? Perhaps a secret investment deal for Facebook?

Read the full guest list here.

The official White House program for the dinner, with menu, can be found here.