[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 35 (Thursday, March 11, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E354-E355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AFGHANISTAN WAR POWERS RESOLUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 10, 2010

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I oppose this 
resolution.
  I have serious reservations about the presence of U.S. Forces in 
Afghanistan. I opposed the President's plan to send additional troops 
into that country, and I opposed funding for the surge. I was reassured 
when the President said that he wanted to begin withdrawing U.S. troops 
beginning in 2011. I joined 137 of my colleagues to vote with 
Representative McGovern to demand that the President provide a plan for 
withdrawing from Afghanistan, and have been deeply concerned that the 
mission for our troops there is not clear. If their mission is not well 
defined, how can we expect to judge success?
  I do not support an open-ended commitment without clear goals. But I 
also cannot support a sudden withdrawal without a plan to protect 
American lives and American interests. And that's why I will vote 
against this Resolution.
  This Resolution directs the President to remove all U.S. forces from 
Afghanistan 30 days from adoption, unless the President decides it is 
not safe to do so. He would then have until the end of 2010 to remove 
all U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
  This language is absolute and provides no exceptions.
  It does not provide exceptions for U.S. forces that might be 
necessary to safeguard U.S. embassy personnel.
  It does not provide exceptions for our intelligence community or 
Special Forces so they can continue to support Afghanistan and Pakistan 
in the search for al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

[[Page E355]]

  It does not provide exceptions for U.S. military personnel who are 
engaged in training the Afghanistan National Army or Afghanistan 
National Police to provide their own security.
  We should not be involved in a civil war in Afghanistan, but there 
are a few, limited missions in Afghanistan that may be necessary to 
protect our national interests. This Resolution does not allow us any 
flexibility to address those missions, and this is why I cannot support 
a policy that endangers the lives of U.S. personnel on the ground and 
allows al Qaeda to continue to destabilize the border region between 
Afghanistan and Pakistan, and potentially strike us here at home.
  I hope Representative Kucinich will refine his legislation and work 
with the President to present us with a plan to bring our troops home 
safely and in a timely manner.

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