[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.