[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 31, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H3763-H3764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE McGOVERN-JONES AMENDMENT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, like most of my colleagues, I had the
opportunity to speak to a number of veteran groups on Memorial Day in
my district. As always, I was very humbled when I stand before those
who have fought for this Nation and the families whose loved ones did
not come back from wars.
I would like the House to know that when I talked about the McGovern-
Jones amendment to get our troops out of Afghanistan, the statement
received very strong applause, showing the very strong support of the
veterans of the Third District for getting our troops home from
Afghanistan. After my comments, I had many of these veterans come up
individually who wanted to
[[Page H3764]]
talk to me, expressing their support and telling me that they agree
with McGovern and myself.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the 26 Republicans who voted in
favor of the McGovern-Jones amendment last week. I believe we came
within 11 votes of passage. Mr. McGovern and I will continue to fight
until there's a definite plan to bring our troops home before 2015.
Bin Laden is gone, and there is zero al Qaeda presence in
Afghanistan. We have done our job.
In closing, I would like to quote Leslie Gelb from his May 9 article
in The Wall Street Journal: ``Afghanistan is no longer a war about
vital American security interests. It is about the failure of America's
political elites to face two plain facts: The al Qaeda terrorist threat
is no longer centered in that ancient battleground, and the battle
against the Taliban is mainly for Afghans themselves.''
Mr. Speaker, I have with me, as I have many times--the true cost of
war is those who die, and those who lose their arms and legs, and those
who are paralyzed and blind for the rest of their life. Beside me is a
very, very frank picture of war. It is an Air Force honor guard at
Dover Air Force Base with the officer in charge saluting the transfer
case that is covered with the American flag.
I would say, Mr. Speaker, to both parties, how many more have to die
in the next 4 or 5 years before we as a Nation and we as a Congress
wake up to the fact that Karzai is a corrupt leader? He has a corrupt
government. We are spending $8.2 billion a month to prop him up. And
yet, Mr. Speaker, on this floor of this House, I've been part of many,
many debates where people are saying, well, we've got to cut the senior
citizens, we can't keep their programs going; we've got to cut the
children so they can't get milk in the morning at school.
We make sure that Karzai gets his $8.2 billion every month in
Afghanistan for what we can't even account for.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. McGovern and I will again this summer have an
amendment on the floor to bring our troops home from Afghanistan. And I
will say to the moms, the dads, the wives, and the husbands who have
lost loved ones in Afghanistan, you have won the war. The war is over.
Bin Laden is dead, and al Qaeda does not exist in Afghanistan anymore.
So, Mr. Speaker, before I close, as I do always on the floor, as I
look at this poster with the flag-draped coffin, I will ask God to
please bless our men and women in uniform. I will ask God to please
bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I will ask God, in
His loving arms, to hold the families who have given a child dying for
freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. I will ask God to please bless the
House and Senate, that we will do what is right in the eyes of God for
His people and this great Nation. I will ask God to please give wisdom,
strength, and courage to President Obama, that he will do what is right
in the eyes of God for this Nation.
And I will say three times, God please, God please, God please
continue to bless America.
____________________