[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 8 (Wednesday, February 6, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E105-E106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AFGHANISTAN TRIP REPORT--JANUARY 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 6, 2002

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I recently returned from a visit to 
Afghanistan with Congressman Frank Wolf and Congressman Tony Hall. We 
were greeted with warm, friendly smiles wherever we went, from meetings 
with Interim Administration officials to hospitals, schools and 
orphanages. There is a hope in Afghanistan that the country will be 
different and new opportunities and life will emerge out of the 
terrible suffering the Afghan people have endured.
  The visit was a highlight, but it was also sobering. The best 
children's hospital in the nation, the Indira Ghandi Pediatric 
Hospital, lacked basic medicines to treat the children, two children 
and their mothers shared each bed, one of three children in the 
malnutrition ward died each night, there is a lack of basic medical 
equipment, and no hospital employees have been paid for six months. 
Yet, the doctors and nurses worked valiantly to save the lives of the 
children in their care.
  We visited a girls school, the Dorkhanai High School, that had re-
opened one week earlier after being shut down for over five years. The 
concrete building was full of bullet holes from the Soviet invasion, 
one room had no roof, and no rooms had glass in the windows. The girls 
sat on blankets on the concrete or dirt floor as their were no desks or 
chairs. Yet, the students were so motivated to learn they raised the 
money from the meager earnings of their families to buy thick plastic 
to cover the window holes and pay for kerosene heat to keep out some of 
the biting cold in the schoolrooms. The girls greeted us with big 
smiles and chants of ``Welcome, welcome.'' They were delighted to be 
back in school. Teachers need to be re-hired, 80 percent of the 
teachers were women, and the government needs assistance with providing 
basic supplies such as paper, pens, chalk and books.
  The Allauddin Center Orphanage has 900 children in their care--800 
boys and 100 girls. The children, many obviously suffering from 
malnutrition and trauma from the violence of the war and the loss of 
their loved ones, gave us huge smiles and recited and sang for us. A 
delegation of firefighters from New York City had visited recently and 
donated enough food for the children for the next three months, but 
after that, it will again be a struggle to feed these young children. 
The firefighters also provided warm blankets for these children who, in 
the winter due to lack of adequate heating facilities, sleep three to a 
bed with three rooms of children crowding into one room--this way they 
can all be in rooms in which there are heat sources.
  We also visited a women's bakery with the United Nations World Food 
Program Women's Bakery Project that has been vital in helping women, 
particularly widows, support and feed their families. During our visit, 
we learned that one woman had been a doctor at the hospital, but she 
left to work at the bakery so that she could earn money to actually 
support her family.
  There is an almost overwhelming humanitarian crisis that continues 
today. Food, medicine and shelter are lacking for much of the country's 
population. Yet, there is hope--hope that the American people will 
cement their friendship with the Afghan people by remaining engaged in 
their country through various avenues. Government aid to Afghanistan is 
vital, but people to people diplomacy, sister relationships between 
schools and hospitals in the US. partnering with schools and hospitals 
in Afghanistan, will be invaluable in helping to rebuild the nation and 
the historic friendship between our nations.
  Our meetings with government officials also gave us hope. The 
Chairman of the Interim Administration, H.E. Hamid Karzai, is an 
impressive, capable, straightforward man who has the capacity to lead 
his country to establish a coalition that will last through the 
historic transitions the nation is experiencing. The Loya Jirga (Grand 
Assembly) in June will mark a key transition for the people of 
Afghanistan and Hamid Karzai appears to be the one who can lead the 
people through that transition.
  In response to our visit, there are several key points that must be 
addressed as our nation, government and people remain engaged with the 
people of Afghanistan:
  1. The United States and the international community must continue to 
support Chairman Karzai and the Interim Administration in Kabul as well 
as the Administration's clarifying to the various regions of 
Afghanistan that federal authority rests in Kabul. In addition, it is 
vital that the international community ensure that the Bonn Agreement 
is fully implemented and culminated in the Loya Jirga to be held on 
June 22, 2002. The Loya Jirga is the traditionally accepted Afghan 
method of solving problems and reaching consensus. We must continue our 
support for the new government, otherwise lack of stability could 
create the opportunity for another pre-September 11 environment of 
factional fighting, violence and upheaval, and a central power vacuum 
that would have severe implications for our national security.
  2. Humanitarian Aid must continue. The UN World Food Programme and 
U.S. and other NGOs serving the people there are doing a great job. But 
the need remains high. The UN estimated that they would be feeding 8 
million people within Afghanistan, not to mention refugees in 
neighboring countries, in the next three months to help avert an even 
greater crisis. Food aid is needed, as is medical and educational 
assistance. People to people diplomacy can be conducted through 
Chairman Karzai's office in Kabul.
  3. U.S. assistance must be deliberate. Security is the primary need, 
mentioned in every meeting and site visit we had. Unless there is 
security, no amount of effort will ensure that the new government 
leaders can implement the very necessary changes in the country. 
Second, the economy must be developed, primarily through developing the 
agricultural sector of society.
  Prior to the 1997 Soviet invasion, Afghanistan was self-sufficient 
and even exported agricultural products to neighboring countries. 
Studies show that before 1979, 80 percent of the socieity was in 
farming. The skills are there, but the opportunity needs to be 
developed. Unfortunately, the four-year drought in the country has 
drastically affected the output of farms and the ability of animal 
herders to keep animals alive. Irrigation systems and drought 
assistance need to be constructed and provided as soon as possible. In 
addition, development of the agricultural sector with alternative crops 
is a proactive avenue of fighting against narcotics production.
  Third, development of the education system is one of the primary 
needs. An overwhelming portion of the population has been affected by 
lack of access to education. As reflected in our visit to the girls' 
school, the people have a desire to pursue an education as they view 
this as the primary avenue for bettering their lives. Studies from 
around the world support this: the development of educational systems 
changes nations. The Afghan people may lack the basic materials for 
education, but not the desire to learn.
  Mr. Speaker, there are tremendous needs in Afghanistan, but there 
also is a tremendous amount of hope and an expectation that this time 
will be different. I look forward to visiting Afghanistan in the future 
and seeing these hopes and expectations lived out. As Chairman Hamid 
Karzai said during our meeting together, ``Think of the help as help to 
our children. The families will do well if the children do well.'' As 
we look forward to the hopes and expectations of a new Afghanistan, I 
will be working with the generous people of Pennsylvania and others 
across this nation to extend a hand of friendship, partnership and care

[[Page E106]]

through practical projects that will help build up the Afghan people.

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