[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S170-S171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Afghanistan

  Mr. President, President Biden's decision to remove our remaining 
troops from Afghanistan was the right one, no question about it.
  President Trump set the Biden administration up for failure. Trump's 
agreement with the Taliban committed us to withdrawing all of our 
troops, and had Biden torn up that agreement, he would have had to send 
tens of thousands of troops into Afghanistan to push back the Trump-era 
Taliban gains. The American public would not have supported another 
Afghanistan troop surge and for good reason. The overnight collapse of 
the Afghan Army and Government was, frankly, proof that 20 years of 
nation building had failed, and another 20 years wasn't going to result 
in a different outcome.
  President Biden made the right decision to leave. The American 
people, by a large margin, support that decision.
  But right now we need to be honest. The question of what to do now, 
as Afghanistan crumbles into a nightmarish failed state, is a moral 
knot almost impossible to untangle.
  As chair of the Foreign Relations subcommittee that oversees 
Afghanistan policy, I thought a lot about this question, and I have 
come to a few conclusions that I want to share quickly with my 
colleagues.
  First, let's just take a minute to talk about what it is like to be 
living in Afghanistan right now. It is a nightmare. Once the U.S. 
military occupation and all the foreign aid that came with it 
disappeared, the Afghanistan economy collapsed, predictably.
  Today, winter is setting in, and more than half of the population--23 
million people--don't have enough food to eat. By this summer, 97 
percent of Afghans will be living below the poverty line, trying to 
survive on less than $2 a day. With 9 million people just one step away 
from famine, this humanitarian crisis could kill more Afghans than the 
past 20 years of war.
  And herein lies the quandary. On one side is what sounds like a 
pretty clear and convincing argument. Essentially, the Taliban has to 
own this. We warned the Taliban that this collapse would occur if they 
took the nation by force. That is why we sat at a table with them and 
tried to explain that it was in their best interests and the best 
interests of the nation for the Taliban to share power with the elected 
Afghan Government.
  But the Taliban did not listen. They took Kabul and should own the 
results. To send billions to solve the humanitarian crisis they caused 
would be to bail the Taliban out and incentivize other insurgent groups 
to make similar, rash decisions.
  But on the other hand is an equally clear and convincing argument.
  We stood by the Afghan people for two decades--protecting them, 
working with them. We spent hundreds of billions of dollars helping to 
raise up the future of millions Afghan families, women, and girls. And 
now those same Afghans, those same families, the ones who, frankly, 
have nothing to do with the Taliban are dying, potentially, by the tens 
of thousands. And we have the power to do something about it. How could 
we let the Afghan people die needlessly if we have the power to stop 
it?
  Now, we possess this power because it is U.S. policy toward the 
Taliban government that is contributory toward this crisis. It is not 
the proximate cause, but it is contributory. When Kabul fell suddenly 
last August, the administration sensibly froze $7 billion of the former 
Afghan Government's assets that are held at the Federal Reserve that we 
didn't want the Taliban to control. But that money isn't ours; it 
rightfully belongs to the Afghan people. Further, our sanctions on the 
Taliban--completely justified because of the Taliban's embrace of 
terrorism--essentially handcuffs the Afghan economy and therefore 
contributes to the country's economic descent. So we need to understand 
that our policies are contributing to the humanitarian crisis in 
Afghanistan.
  But what if these two points--that the Taliban should own this and 
that we can't stand by, idly, while people die--what if they aren't in 
100-percent contrast? What if we could help the Afghan people without 
directly empowering the Taliban? Wouldn't that be the best possible 
answer?
  The good news is, is that the middle road is possible. I am going to 
be honest. It is not easy, but it is possible.
  Over the last 20 years, the United States has spent billions in our 
taxpayer dollars to build schools and health clinics and a robust civil 
service. The number of schools today, for instance, is five times 
higher in Afghanistan than it was in 2001. That is because of American 
investment.
  We can and we should find ways to pay the salaries of those who work 
at these nonpolitical institutions through the U.N. and NGOs on the 
ground, going around the Taliban-led government to keep those essential 
services running and to inject some much needed money into the economy. 
Again, this isn't easy to do, but it is worthwhile given the stakes.
  We can also support the U.N. directly. Yesterday, the U.N. asked for 
a $4.5 billion call in humanitarian aid to stave off catastrophe in 
Afghanistan. This is the largest single-country appeal in history. That 
should tell you about the scale of the crisis that we are facing. It is 
larger than what we see in Syria or Yemen or Ethiopia.
  I support the administration's decision to dedicate an additional 
$308 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. That money can help 
save lives. But Congress should authorize more.
  Make no mistake, the Taliban and, frankly, 20 years of corrupt Afghan 
Government do own this debacle. The choices they made have led to this 
day.

[[Page S171]]

But our hands aren't clean. Our mismanaged occupation is part of the 
story.
  Right now, as the Afghan economy collapses and families face 
starvation, burying our heads in the sand is not a solution. We can 
find ways to save lives without unreasonably empowering the Taliban.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The Senator from Arkansas.