[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H455]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    AMERICA'S BEST DOING INCREDIBLE WORK IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Inglis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. INGLIS. Mr. Speaker, I'm just back from a trip led by our 
colleague, Steve Lynch, to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and what we saw 
there, Mr. Speaker, was America's best doing incredible work. The U.S. 
military is clearly the best trained, best equipped and most 
disciplined fighting force in the world.
  I'm committed to keeping it that way and to supplying them with the 
resources they need to get their work done. I'm also committed to 
confining their mission to achievable objectives and to the protection 
of America's national security interest.
  There are many memorable moments from this trip, Mr. Speaker. When we 
stepped off the plane in Pakistan, the first person I saw was 
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Simmons of Pickens, South Carolina. Formerly 
the Veterans Affairs Officer of Pickens County, Colonel Simmons is now 
the Chief of Protocol in the Office of the Defense Representative to 
Pakistan.
  Skipping a dinner with the delegation gave me the opportunity to have 
dinner with Colonel Simmons and seven other American service personnel 
at Simmons' apartment in Islamabad.

                              {time}  2000

  In Kabul, Afghanistan, I talked with Susan Anderson, who is serving 
in the American Embassy as an economic analyst. Susan is a graduate of 
Union High School and the College of Charleston.
  In Kandahar, I met two members of the National Guard unit from 
Wellford, South Carolina, which deployed recently to Afghanistan. 
Justin McAbee of Travelers Rest and Zack Gregg of Pelzer. Justin's home 
is about 5 miles from mine. Passing by Benson Road as I travel on 
Highway 25 North will remind me to pray for Justin and those serving 
with him.
  He is on the explosive ordnance detonation team. When I thanked him 
for serving our country and tried to compliment him on doing his very 
dangerous work, he gave me the standard response of our incredible all-
volunteer force: ``It's my job, sir.''
  At a dinner hosted by America's ambassador, Mr. Eikenberry, with 
female members of the Afghan parliament, we were called on to offer 
comments. I used my remarks to remember Geoff Whitsitt of Travelers 
Rest, who was killed last month by an improvised explosive device in 
Afghanistan. I wanted them to hear his name in Afghanistan, exactly one 
week to the hour after the Upstate paused for his funeral. I wanted 
them to know how precious his life was to his parents, to his brother, 
and to our mutual friends. I wanted them to understand that Geoff died 
for the protection of America.
  I told them that we were willing to give our treasure in Afghanistan 
to help build their nation because we are sure that, using our 
creativity and entrepreneurship, we will make the money back. But, I 
told them we are willing to give the lives of our sons and daughters 
only for America.
  On this point, Mr. Speaker, we must be clear. While we are hunting 
down terrorists, we are going to give the Afghan people the opportunity 
to reject al Qaeda outsiders and to build a future free of the Taliban. 
The Afghan people should seize the opportunity, as it will not last 
indefinitely.
  At present, more of America's best are arriving in Afghanistan. They 
are there to kill terrorists. They are there to facilitate the work of 
an army of American civil servants and contractors who can show a way 
forward to a stable constitutional republic. They are there to serve 
America's national security interests by draining a terrorist cesspool.
  But there will come a day when the brave men and women of America's 
Armed Forces will have completed their work. Not that they will have 
taken out every terrorist, for that would be impossible. But there will 
come a day when we will have destroyed enough of the terrorist networks 
in Afghanistan that America will be reasonably safe from murderous 
plottings, at least from within Afghanistan's borders.
  Until then, we fight on, committed to finishing the job, clear-eyed 
and determined to avoid mission creep.
  The trip also include crew rest stops in Romania and in Tunisia. In 
Tunisia, we visited the World War II North Africa American Cemetery and 
Memorial near Tunis, where 2,841 Americans are buried and 3,724 missing 
Americans are memorialized on a limestone wall called the Tablets of 
the Missing.
  After a wreath-laying ceremony, the delegation walked among the 
graves. It was especially meaningful to walk among the graves with two 
of our young military escorts, Sergeant Rob Mennell and Sergeant Aaron 
Moss.
  We tend to think of the members of the Greatest Generation as 
granddads, but they weren't granddads as they were serving in World War 
II. They were young, very young, as young as the two Army sergeants who 
were accompanying us on this trip.
  I was grateful for the opportunity to tell those sergeants how much 
their service means to me and to all Americans, and I was grateful to 
remember why freedom is worth fighting for.

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