[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 157 (Monday, September 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6447-S6448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Afghanistan
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, September 11, 2001, is a date that
is seared in the memories of those of us who lived through that day and
experienced the trauma and the fear of that day.
What has always struck me about that day and the days following, even
standing here 20 years later, is how the entire free world stood united
against what we saw as a common threat. It came to us as naturally as
breathing. We understood that as witnesses to mass murder, we shared a
duty to avenge those who had died. It may have been fear that forced us
together, but in the days that followed the attacks, we, as Americans,
rediscovered the ties that have bound us for centuries and solidified
our faith in the common cause of freedom.
But the more time that passes between each September 11 and the
September 11 attacks, the more obvious it becomes that history slips
away from those who fail to heed its lessons. The defensive action we
took as a nation in the wake of the attacks was among the most forceful
and effective the world had ever seen, but still, even 20 years later,
it is obvious that our work in Afghanistan and the Middle East is far
from over.
My colleague from Maine talked about the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
I would say, as I talk to Tennesseans, it is not withdrawing from
Afghanistan; it was the manner in which the Biden administration chose
to end the military mission in Afghanistan that didn't seem to reflect
the reality of what was going on on the ground.
Last week, I sent a letter to Chairman Reed, with several of my
colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, asking for formal hearings
on the withdrawal. We need to know exactly what happened, how they were
advised. Without sworn testimony from Secretary Austin, General Milley,
General McKenzie, and General Miller, we will never be able to untangle
the chaotic course of events that led to the deaths of 13
servicemembers in Kabul and the abandonment of an unknown number of
American citizens and our Afghan partners.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed
in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record as follows:
U.S. Senate,
September 8, 2021.
Senator Jack Reed,
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee, Washington, DC.
Chairman Reed: It is necessary and appropriate for Congress
to examine the manner in which our military mission ended in
Afghanistan. We should do so with transparency, candor, and a
dedication to ascertaining the facts without regard to
politics.
We understand that in the coming months, many committees
will claim the authority to ask questions regarding our
military's withdrawal. Yet, because our committee bears the
special responsibility of authorizing and overseeing
America's armed forces, we acutely feel the obligation to
seek answers. The American people. and in particular many of
those who serve our country in uniform, are hurting, angry,
and disappointed. We owe them a clear and comprehensive
understanding of what happened, why, and how best to learn
from these events for the future. Time is of the essence.
These hearings should be our top priority when the Senate
reconvenes.
We write to formally request that the Senate Armed Services
Committee fully exercise its oversight authority by holding
both opened and closed hearings on this matter and that our
committee ask the Department of Defense to preserve any and
all records pertaining to the conclusion of our operations in
Afghanistan. In particular, we seek sworn testimony from
Secretary Lloyd Austin, General Mark Milley, General Frank
McKenzie, Jr., and General A. Scott Miller.
We owe it to our nation, those who served, their families,
and our allies and partners who fought alongside us, to
preserve the records of how our fight in Afghanistan
concluded. The insights we gather will help prevent future
loss of American blood and treasure, a solemn responsibility
and sacred trust we believe all members of our committee will
seek to uphold.
Sincerely,
Tommy Tuberville, Roger Wicker, Tom Cotton, Joni K.
Ernst, Thom Tillis, Dan Sullivan, Kevin Cramer, Rick
Scott, Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley, U.S. Senators.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Beyond the fact-finding mission, I plan to use these
hearings to impress upon my Democratic colleagues the importance of the
words that we use to describe our enemies, how we talk about them, how
we frame their actions.
Since day one--since day one of this administration--the Biden
administration has used their words to rehabilitate the Taliban in the
eyes of their radical base. The problem, of course, is that their
diplomatic calls for inclusivity and equality, this supports a lie
about who the Taliban actually is. The Taliban--like ISIS, like al-
Qaida--is a terrorist organization. They rule by fear. They rule
through public beheadings, rape, forced marriage, brutality against
anyone who questions their regime, against anyone who disagrees with
them. Look at the way women and children are treated.
Now, in my opinion and from a lot of Tennesseans whom I have talked
with as I have been home, they feel that expecting terrorists to behave
like normal people is reckless and stupid. And they feel that some of
the actions that have come from this administration and comments that
they would have that expectation would reflect that reckless stupidity.
These are terrorist organizations.
If you need another example of this, just look at their approach to
border security. Even before the transfer of power, massive migrant
caravans had begun moving out of Central America and toward the
southern border. They were eager to take advantage of then-Candidate
Biden's promises of open borders and amnesty for all.
Where did that get us? Well, this is what we have learned. The CBP
reports that migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border reached a
20-year high in July. That is right, massive numbers. They heard those
promises. So what did they do? They got to work contacting a cartel,
and they made this journey after, of course, they paid the cartel. Most
of the nearly 200,000 people our Border Patrol caught in July were
traveling alone. Families might be holding back, but the international
traffickers certainly are not holding back.
On August 29, CBP officers in Memphis found three kilograms of
[[Page S6448]]
ketamine in a shipment of furniture from France coming in because of
the cartels.
In the first week of September, CBP officers in Texas seized two
separate stashes of cocaine with a combined street value of almost
$300,000. In the month of July alone, cocaine seizures increased 91
percent, and meth seizures increased 20 percent. Why are they doing
this? They know that the border is open.
On September 8, Texas State Troopers and CBP officers stopped two
human smuggling attempts running just hours apart from each other. Our
CBP officers have made it standard procedure to scour remote terrain
for migrants who have been abandoned and left to die by their cartel
transporters. Why is this happening? Because it is obvious to everyone,
from the migrants, the cartels to the foreign officials who refuse to
police their own borders, that the Biden administration won't do
anything to stop it. Tennesseans see this as reckless. It makes no
sense.
I talked to some local law enforcement officers this week. They are
seeing an uptick in meth, fentanyl, and heroin on the streets--all
coming out of Mexico. They repeatedly say: Secure the border.
We live in the greatest Nation on Earth. We are still the world's
best example for freedom, and we are the last hope for millions of
people suffering under authoritarian rule. It is important to
understand that it doesn't have to be the way it has been when you look
at this withdrawal from Afghanistan, when you look at this open border,
when you look at the fact that, yes, this year, the border patrol has
apprehended terrorists at the southern border. That is right. It
doesn't have to be that way, but when you have weak leadership--
leadership that is not focused, leadership that says ``it is my way or
the highway''--and when you have that reckless disregard for the truth,
that can and will destroy us.
The actions of the Biden administration have already emboldened our
enemies. They have made our allies doubt our commitment to them and to
the work that they are trying to do to advance freedom for themselves--
the work that we are doing to advance freedom here in this country and
abroad.
So I would encourage my Democratic colleagues to resist the urge to
fall in line with the White House on the issue of the Afghanistan
withdrawal and to, instead, join me in demanding as many hearings as it
takes to restore accountability and transparency and to find out
exactly what happened.
What were our military advisers saying to President Biden? To Vice
President Harris? To Jake Sullivan? To Susan Rice? To Antony Blinken?
What were they telling them? What was the expectation? Did they have a
plan? Did they plan to leave Americans behind enemy lines? Did they
plan to give up Bagram Airfield? Did they plan to leave all of the
equipment for the Taliban to use? Did they plan on that? Was it
intentional that they made those decisions or was it reckless stupidity
that got us here?
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.