[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 29, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SUPPORTING OUR PARTNERS IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Crenshaw) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation 
called the HOPE and ALLIES Act to support our interpreters in 
Afghanistan.
  I can't tell you how important this is on a personal level to me. In 
2012, I was hit by an IED blast. That IED went off because one of our 
interpreters stepped on a pressure plate. His name was Raqman. He was 
responding to a call, responding to do his job, like they do day in and 
day out. They never get a break. And he stepped on that IED, about 10 
to 15 pounds of explosives, and it ripped off all four of his limbs 
right away. I couldn't see him because I was blinded by the blast, but 
I could hear him.
  When someone gets hit by an IED--you have probably seen in the 
movies--you think they scream. But they don't scream. They don't have 
the energy to scream. It is more like a groan. It is the deepest kind 
of pain that you can imagine. And I will never forget that sound.
  Before he was hit, he expressed to us that one of his dreams would be 
to come back to San Diego, California, enlist in the military, and 
become a Navy SEAL. That was the kind of patriotism that he had. He 
wasn't even a citizen. Imagine if our own citizens loved their country 
the way that these guys did.
  And that story is not unique. Raqman later died, but that legacy 
lived on. These interpreters showed such dedication to the cause; it is 
unimaginable, really. And as military units rotate in and out, we get 
to go home, we see our families. The interpreters stay out there. It is 
just another day for them. Meanwhile, their families are under threat. 
They are receiving anonymous phone calls constantly, threatening their 
lives, calling them infidels all because they supported the United 
States.
  Now we are about to leave them. This administration is not doing 
enough to make sure that they don't get left to die. I am confident 
this body will do what it can, but it takes this administration to 
actually do something now before this hasty retreat occurs and before 
thousands and thousands and thousands of interpreters and contractors 
are killed; and they will be killed. They absolutely will be killed. 
Their families will be killed. The threats have already come, and it 
will happen if we don't do something about it.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on this administration to do something about it. 
I call on the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security 
to get this process going, to expedite this process as quickly as 
possible. These people are heroes and they need to come to their new 
home here in the United States.

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