[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 24, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H5135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1020
                              AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, I had the privilege to speak 
to well over 200 retirees. Many of the retirees are veterans of our 
previous wars for this country. They wanted me to be there with them to 
discuss sequestration, their benefits, and what do I think is going to 
happen, which I could not honestly tell them. And none of us really 
seem to know until we get back after the election in November.
  But, Mr. Speaker, when I spoke to this group of retirees, I took this 
poster down, and I had it on a stand like this one. It says: ``Funding 
the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.'' And I told these 
veterans that it was time to get our troops out of Afghanistan. It was 
time to stop sending money to a corrupt leader named Karzai and time to 
bring the troops home and spend the money here in America on our own 
people and guarantee the benefits for our veterans, which they have 
earned.
  Mr. Speaker, I got a strong applause from those people, who have 
served this Nation, and their spouses. This took place in Jacksonville, 
North Carolina, which is in my district. The Camp LeJeune Marine base 
is in my district. And many of these in attendance served in the Marine 
Corps, the Navy, a few in the Air Force. And they agree with me, it is 
time to stop spending money, digging a hole that has no end to it, 
known as Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, in a critique on this book, ``Funding the Enemy,'' I 
read one of the most candid behind-the-scenes examples of war 
reportage. This book contains a host of voices that spell out the chaos 
and mayhem of America's longest war.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a no-win situation. I'm a history major from 
college, but I'm not an expert on history. But in everything I have 
ever read about Afghanistan, the end is always the same. No nation has 
ever gone to Afghanistan and changed anything, nothing at all.
  And, Mr. Speaker, speaking of mayhem, yesterday in The New York 
Times--and I will quote the article--the title of the article is ``Top 
Afghans Tied to Nineties Carnage, Researchers Say: Activists Say 
Powerful Figures Are Blocking 800-Page Report'' of carnage in the 
nineties by many of those that are leading Afghanistan today.
  I don't know why there is not more outrage from Congress. Anytime we 
have a debate about Afghanistan, it's a few Republicans and a few 
Democrats who stand up. And we might get 10 minutes, but that's about 
all. Ten minutes? We are spending $10 billion a month; young men and 
women are losing their legs and arms. And 10 minutes is all we're going 
to debate the policy in Afghanistan? That, in itself, is crazy.
  In this article, it further states:

       The American Embassy here has been another source of 
     objection to the mass-graves report. American officials say 
     releasing the report would be a bad idea, at least until 
     after Afghanistan's 2014 Presidential election is complete.

  This has been a failed policy. It should have stopped after Mr. Obama 
got bin Laden. The reason we went into Afghanistan was to get bin Laden 
and al Qaeda which was responsible for 9/11. Well, he is dead now; al 
Qaeda has been disbursed all around the world. It is time to stop this 
failed policy in Afghanistan.
  And I will say to the embassy that does not want this report out, 
Why? Why do you continue to play this game with the American young men 
and women who give their lives and limbs in Afghanistan? Why won't you 
be honest with the American people and Congress and say, Bring the 
troops home; stop spending money we don't have.
  The money is actually borrowed from China, Mr. Speaker. We owe China 
$1.3 trillion. We can't pay our own bills. Yet we're going to borrow 
the money from China to send to a corrupt leader named Karzai in 
Afghanistan. And, Mr. Speaker, the subtitle of this book, ``How U.S. 
Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban''--it's the Taliban that are killing 
Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will ask God to please bless our men and 
women in uniform.

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