[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 11 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              AFGHANISTAN CONTINUES TO BE A FAILED POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, as we in Congress are faced with another 
continuing resolution, I cannot help but think about the wasted lives 
and money in Afghanistan.
  On Sunday night's 60 Minutes, I watched, with great interest, a 
segment about the 16-year war in Afghanistan. The title was: ``Kabul 
under siege while America's longest war rages on.''
  During the interview, Correspondent Lara Logan detailed the growing 
danger in Afghanistan and interviewed General John Nicholson, commander 
of American forces in Afghanistan, as well as Afghanistan's President 
Ghani. While I do not have the time to go into detail, this segment 
made it very clear--and I think anyone watching would agree--that 
Afghanistan continues to be a failed policy.

                              {time}  1045

  At one time, Lara Logan stated to Nicholson: ``A lot of people at 
home just don't buy that terrorists are coming from Afghanistan to 
attack them at home. They are worrying about the guy going to rent a 
truck from Home Depot and drive into a crowd of civilians.''
  In General Nicholson's response, there was a sentence that caught my 
attention, where he said: ``We need to defeat the ideology.''
  I was amazed and astonished by his response. It has been said that 
you cannot kill an ideology with a bullet or a bomb. So why are we 
still trying?
  This is why I am calling on Speaker Ryan, once again, to permit the 
House of Representatives to have a policy debate on Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, I have beside me a poster of a young woman whose husband 
was killed in Afghanistan. It is so pathetic because the woman and the 
mother of the little girl sitting in her lap is crying, yet the little 
girl is looking at the Army officer with a look like: Why am I here? 
Why is there a flag-draped coffin? Why is my mother crying?
  The little girl is too young to really understand what is happening.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on Speaker Ryan to let us have a debate on the 
policy issue of Afghanistan and its future.
  I will close with the words of the 31st Commandant of the Marine 
Corps, General Chuck Krulak, who said: ``No one has ever conquered 
Afghanistan, and many have tried. We will join the list of nations that 
tried and failed.''
  Mr. Ryan, the Speaker of the House, it is your time to call for this 
House to debate the future of Afghanistan. Please make that call to the 
House of Representatives that we will have that debate.

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