[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 24, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H4358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AFGHANISTAN DEBACLE

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, first of all, to all those who served in 
Afghanistan, we thank you. God bless you. You did everything you were 
asked to do. You did your duty with honor. But like most Americans, I 
watched with disgust as the Taliban retook Kabul last Sunday.
  Any shame of that operation lies here in D.C. with the suits, not 
with the boots, who allowed this to happen. Yet, what are we hearing? 
Rhetoric. White House communications director Jen Psaki says: Now, it 
is irresponsible for those to be talking about Americans that are 
stranded in Afghanistan.
  We see the word ``stranded'' on the front page of the newspaper. We 
see the word ``hostage.'' We see the words--all sorts of things--
showing what a debacle this has been, including ``debacle'' right on 
the front page. So what do we get from the White House? We are not 
getting transparency, as promised by the Biden administration, unless 
you want to define ``transparency'' as invisible, which they have been.
  We have to do much better to get our people out of this country, and 
all that material that was left behind is now in the hands of our 
enemies.

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