[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 188 (Tuesday, October 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7360]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Afghanistan

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I speak today to recognize the 3 million 
men and women, Americans, who have served our Nation in the two decades 
since September 11, 2001, in what has become known as the Global War on 
Terrorism.
  The days during--in just the last month--during this botched and 
chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, were a terrible time of reckoning 
for our Nation. I am angry, discouraged, and concerned about the way 
and the manner by which the United States of America departed.
  President Biden's announcement in April to completely withdraw 
American troops by September 11 without taking appropriate security 
precautions, including preparation for a return of the Taliban to 
Kabul, was irresponsible and will damage America's interest for years 
to come and endanger the lives of thousands of women and children in 
Afghanistan.
  Additionally, the lack of urgency to do right by the thousands of 
Afghans who worked alongside Americans will forever be a source of 
shame for this administration. But as I said many times before, the 
withdrawal from Afghanistan was not the fault of the men and women in 
uniform.
  In the days following September 11, 2001, the call to service was 
answered by thousands--thousands--of Americans who sought to defend the 
United States. These men and women left behind their families and 
careers to serve a greater good. I cannot think of anything more 
honorable than stepping up to defend our homeland from a threat that 
was, at the time, relatively unknown.
  For most of our men and women in uniform, the Global War on Terrorism 
has been the primary mission of their entire careers. I run into people 
regularly who tell me about their service, and they saw what happened 
on 9/11 in New York City at Ground Zero. They saw what happened in the 
fields of Pennsylvania and what happened at the Pentagon. They decided 
it was their moment to step forward and defend and protect their 
Nation, to make sure that freedom and liberty remained the hallmark of 
who we are. And all of the sacrifices they and their families have made 
were in support of that effort and it was an effort they believed in 
and I certainly hope they still do.
  Those who stepped forward to serve, eradicated vast networks of 
terrorists who wished to do America harm, making it absolutely clear 
that no one can harm Americans without our swift and certain 
retribution. They also brought Osama bin Laden to justice, destroyed 
the ISIS caliphate, and eliminated its founder.
  In Afghanistan, our men and women serving in the military brought 
hope to a brutalized, war-torn country for the first time in decades. 
Incredibly, an entire generation in Afghanistan came to age knowing 
what it feels like to see freedom and to feel freedom.
  Tragically, we saw Afghanistan quickly fall to the Taliban. It 
happened because of a haphazard and unorganized withdrawal process that 
has made our country and our world a less secure place. We all saw the 
images of terror and desperation as Afghans tried to flee their fate, 
many at the cost of their lives. We saw the footage of the chaos, the 
tear gas, and the explosion. We lost 13 lives of our honorable brave 
men and women in uniform to an attack outside the airport gates as they 
tried to rescue innocent families from their Afghan brothers and 
sisters in arms.
  These scenes captured our Nation's attention, rightfully so. But 
unfortunately, in the days that followed, mainstream media's interest 
in Afghanistan began to wane. Take a look to see what is happening in 
Afghanistan now. See the desolation, the death, the destruction, the 
hunger, and the fear. This failure to have attention on what is going 
on in Afghanistan must not and should not be the case. We must continue 
to honor those who served and who will serve our country in the future.
  We should consider S. 535, the Global War on Terrorism Memorial 
Location Act. This bill was introduced by the Senator from Iowa, 
Senator Joni Ernst, herself a veteran. It will authorize the location 
of a memorial on the National Mall to truly honor those who served to 
eradicate terrorism. It will honor the 3 million men and women who 
served and especially the thousands of servicemembers who gave that 
ultimate sacrifice--their lives. This memorial will also honor, heal, 
empower, and unite soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coasties who 
made those sacrifices.
  I would guess many of us in the U.S. Senate have seen--we witnessed 
some of the healing that personally occurs in times that have met with 
the Honor--as I have met with the folks who have been here on the Honor 
Flights, those visitors who gather at our war memorials to remember, to 
be together, and, yes, to heal.
  Last week, I was at a number of our memorials here in our Nation's 
Capital with a group of over about 160 Vietnam veterans from Kansas. I 
have been visiting with those veterans in almost all of the visits of 
Kansans who come here, and in those visits, I met the World War II 
veterans, the Korean war veterans, and the Vietnam war veterans who 
have a place of honor on the Mall where they can go to meet other 
veterans, to lay flowers, to pause and reflect, and remember the 
brothers and sisters that they have lost.
  Just this weekend, back in Valley Center, KS, the Moving Wall--a 
tribute to those who lost their lives in Vietnam; the thousands, the 
627 Kansans who lost their lives in Vietnam--was a place in which 
people gathered to do exactly that.
  I hope someday I will be able to attend an Honor Flight to the Global 
War on Terrorism Memorial and meet with the generation of veterans who 
fought to bring peace to the Middle East and who fought to bring the 
United States into a safer and more secure place. It will be my honor 
and privilege to do so.
  I am here on the Senate floor to pay tribute, to honor and respect, 
and to tell those who served in the Global War on Terrorism that we 
respect them; we thank them for their service; and we love them.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.