[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 5, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H6557-H6558]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TEN YEARS OF WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: THE COSTS ARE TOO HIGH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, on Sunday, newspapers across the country 
reported that the total number of U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan 
since 2001 is 1,780. This tally may be slightly

[[Page H6558]]

incomplete because of lags in reporting.
  One thousand seven hundred and eighty servicemen and women, Madam 
Speaker. Husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, sons and daughters, 
brothers and sisters--holes created in families and communities that 
can never be filled, losses that will be felt for a generation or more.
  Saturday began a new fiscal year, Madam Speaker, fiscal year 2012. 
According to the Congressional Research Service, the estimated war 
funding for Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 through fiscal year 2011 is 
$1.283 trillion; $443 billion of that has been spent in Afghanistan.
  For fiscal year 2012, which began on Saturday, we will spend another 
$113.7 billion in Afghanistan. By this time next year, our total 
spending in Afghanistan will be $557.1 billion, or over half a trillion 
dollars.
  And when I say ``spend,'' Madam Speaker, I really mean ``borrow,'' 
because from day one of the Afghanistan war--and the Iraq war, for that 
matter--we have not paid for these wars. We have borrowed nearly every 
single penny of that money, put it on the national credit card, let it 
rack up over a quarter of our cumulative deficit, helped explode our 
debt year after year for a decade.
  There has only been one other time in the history of the United 
States that a war was financed entirely through borrowing, Madam 
Speaker, without raising taxes, and that was when the colonies borrowed 
from France during the Revolutionary War.
  I know lots of Members in this House believe in the Tea Party, but 
that's just stupid economics.
  Even if we were to leave Afghanistan and Iraq tomorrow, our war debt 
will continue for decades. Future bills will include such things as 
caring for our military veterans and providing them the benefits they 
have earned through their services. It will require replacing military 
equipment, rebuilding our Armed Forces and paying interest on the 
trillions we have borrowed for these wars. These costs are significant.
  Madam Speaker, this Friday, October 7, marks the 10th anniversary of 
U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. Ten years, Madam Speaker. Ten 
years of support for a corrupt government. Ten years of sacrificing our 
brave uniformed men and women. Ten years of borrowing money we never 
had.
  This war is no longer about going after al Qaeda, which I voted to 
do. Osama bin Laden is dead. Instead, we're now bogged down in a 
seemingly endless occupation in support of a corrupt, incompetent 
Karzai government. This is not what I voted for.
  And the human and financial costs of the war in Afghanistan go on and 
on and on, not just on the battlefields of Afghanistan, but in veterans 
hospitals and counseling clinics around the country. Another $8.4 
billion to care for our veterans wounded in both body and soul.

                              {time}  1010

  We continue to struggle with soaring posttraumatic stress and suicide 
rates among our soldiers and our veterans. Their impacts are 
devastating on families, friends, colleagues, and military buddies.
  It is hard to explain how we could borrow and spend so freely, so 
casually, while our men and women bled in the plains and mountains of 
Afghanistan, but now we have to face the consequences of that lack of 
accountability, that lack of responsible governance.
  When the supercommittee makes its decisions on how to handle the 
deficit and the debt, I say ending the wars as rapidly as possible must 
be the first item on the table. I also say that, from this point 
forward, the wars must be paid for. No more emergency funding. No more 
overseas contingency funds that get a free pass from responsible 
budgeting. I believe President Obama has to bring this to the 
negotiations, and the House and Senate members of the supercommittee 
have to step up to the plate and end these wars. End these wars now. 
They have undermined our economy, and they have undermined our 
security.
  Ten years into the Afghanistan war, the violence shows no signs of 
abating; the Karzai government shows little interest in cleaning up 
corruption; and no one is interested in the kind of region-wide 
negotiations required to bring stability and security to all parties.
  So I say enough is enough. Get out of Afghanistan. The costs in blood 
and treasure have been too high. Ten years is more than enough. After 
10 years, it's time to come home.

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