[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 28, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H971-H972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AFGHANISTAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
[[Page H972]]
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, today the Republicans held a conference--the
Democrats do the same thing during the week, talk about issues--and I
had a couple of minutes to remind our Speaker of the House, John
Boehner, whom I like, think the world of him, that as he was talking
about the domestic policies of the President and how many of them seem
to be failed policies, I said, well, how about the failed policy in
Afghanistan?
I had written the Speaker back in November asking him to please take
just a few minutes to talk to a retired marine general who has been my
adviser on Afghanistan for 3 years. He agrees with me, the general
does, that we're not going to win anything there; we just let our
precious resources, our children, go there and lose their legs and
lives, for what, we don't know.
I asked the Speaker--we did it in a bipartisan way. In fact, the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan), who will be speaking shortly
after me, we did a bipartisan letter, three Democrats and three
Republicans, asking Mr. Boehner and also Ms. Pelosi to go read the
National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan that came out in
December.
{time} 1020
If they would read it, they would be better informed and better
understand those of us who want to get out.
I had emailed the commandant of the Marine Corps who has been my
adviser. He is retired now. Right before the burning of the Koran in
Afghanistan--what I'm going to share for the record is an email that
happened before the burning of the Koran. I quote the general:
Attempting to find a true military and political answer to
the problems in Afghanistan would take decades, not years,
and drain our Nation of precious resources--with the most
precious being our sons and daughters.
Simply put, the United States cannot solve the Afghan problem, no
matter how brave and determined our troops are. We need to bring our
people home and prepare for the real danger that is growing in the
Pacific.
Mr. Speaker, I read that today in the conference. As you know, Mr.
Speaker, we only have 1 minute and a lot of Members want to speak on
different subjects. In addition, I did get time to read from a VSO team
leader. The VSO team leader happens to be a young marine officer. VSO
means village stability operation. This young marine, this team leader,
emailed a friend of mine who emailed to me:
If you ask me if it's worth a single American life to build
governance here in Afghanistan, I would have to say no.
Sometimes it is very perplexing to me in terms of just where is the
outrage in this country. I've seen so many wounded from my district of
Camp Lejeune, of marines and soldiers who have lost legs and arms. I
have even seen four young men that have no body parts below their
waist. They are living and they will live, but they have nothing below
their waist.
I don't know where the Congress is, quite frankly. We're going to be
there until 2014 unless we get out sooner. I've got a feeling we'll
probably be there a little bit longer than 2015, knowing the way both
parties feel about this. There's nothing we're going to change. Karzai
half the time doesn't like us; the other half he does. It is all about
the $10 billion a month. He wants that money to buy some roads and fur
caps and stick some money in foreign countries so when his
administration collapses in Afghanistan, he's got some money to fall
back on.
Mr. Speaker, I'm just going to take another minute and then I'm going
to close.
In Marine Times recently there was an article called: ``TriCare Costs
Would Jump in Budget Plan.'' If we forget our veterans of yesterday and
our veterans of today, I think God will punish America. These young men
and women and now the older veterans are older men and women and did so
much for America to make it the greatest Nation in the world because
they were willing to sacrifice and give of themselves. But if we're
going to continue to borrow money from China to send $10 billion a
month to Karzai, $120 billion a year, that to me is a sin, quite
frankly.
We need to wake up in this country and figure out if we're going to
fix our problems. We should start right here in America and fix our
problems before we worry about the world's problems. Seventy-two of our
servicepeople have been killed by the trainees in Afghanistan that they
were trying to train to be policemen or soldiers. Seventy-two have been
shot or killed by the people they were training. Where in the world
does that make any sense? It doesn't make any sense. It is time for
America to wake up and demand that Congress get our troops out now, not
in 2014.
Before I close, as I always do, I ask God to please bless our men and
women in uniform. I ask God to please bless the families of our men and
women in uniform. I ask God in His loving arms to hold the families who
have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. I ask God
to bless the House and Senate, that we will do what is right in the
eyes of God for His people here in the United States of America. I ask
God to please bless the President of the United States, that he will do
what is right in the eyes of God for God's people here in the United
States.
And I close three times: God, please, God, please, God, please
continue to bless America.
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC, February 10, 2012.
Hon. John Boehner,
Speaker, House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol, Washington,
DC.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Democratic Leader, The Capitol, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker and Democratic Leader: I would like to
bring your attention to Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis'
recent assessment of the situation in Afghanistan that was
published in the New York Times on February 6, 2012
(attached). It is vastly different than the one that the U.
S. Congress has been receiving from the Obama Administration.
Many of us have read the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE)
for December 2011 and found it supports Lieutenant Colonel
Davis' analysis. We encourage you to read the NIE as well.
Therefore, we think that Lieutenant Davis' analysis merits
attention by the relevant committees of jurisdiction in the
U. S. House of Representatives and we respectfully request
that you encourage the relevant Chairmen to hold hearings as
soon as possible and invite Lieutenant Colonel Davis to be a
witness. As we withdraw from Afghanistan, it is vital that
the Congress hear another perspective from what we have heard
for over ten years. Thank you for your careful consideration
of our request.
Sincerely,
Walter B. Jones,
Member of Congress.
Jimmy Duncan,
Member Congress.
Jim McGovern,
Member of Congress.
John Garamendi,
Member of Congress.
Timothy V. Johnson,
Member of Congress.
Barbara Lee,
Member of Congress.
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