Senior State Department officials testified on the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that led to the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Deputy Secretary Thomas Nides said that several recommendations from the report take effect before the end of 2012, the rest before Secretary of State Clinton’s successor would take office in 2013. Deputy Secretary William Burns in his remarks said that officials at the highest levels of the State Department were aware of the “deteriorating security situation” in Libya prior to the attack.