[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12635-12636]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                AFGHANISTAN FREEDOM SUPPORT ACT OF 2002

  Mr. HAGEL. Madam President, this week I introduced the Afghanistan 
Freedom Support Act of 2002, S. 2712. I am pleased to be joined in this 
effort by the senior Senator from North Carolina, Mr. Helms, the former 
chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Senate. I ask 
unanimous consent his name be added to this bill as an original 
cosponsor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. HAGEL. This legislation is similar to H.R. 3994, sponsored by the 
chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Congressman 
Hyde. This bill was passed in the House of Representatives on May 16 by 
a vote of 390 to 22.
  The Afghan Freedom Support Act commits the United States to the 
democratic and economic development of Afghanistan. In addition to the 
economic and political assistance found in title I of this legislation, 
title II seeks to enhance the stability and security of Afghanistan in 
the region by authorizing military assistance to the Afghan Government 
and to certain other countries in the region, including assistance for 
counternarcotics, crime control, and police training.
  The United States must stay closely and actively engaged in helping 
Afghanistan through a very dangerous and difficult transition to 
stability, security, and, ultimately, to a democratic government. We 
are at the beginning of a long process. We cannot be distracted or 
deterred from this objective. Our credibility, our word, and our 
security, are directly linked to success in Afghanistan. And there 
cannot be political stability and economic development in Afghanistan 
without security.
  My legislation, and the companion legislation passed by the House, 
would authorize $1.15 billion over 4 years for economic and democratic 
development assistance for Afghanistan, as well as up to $300 million 
in drawdown authority for military and other security assistance. The 
main elements of my legislation are as follows:
  It authorizes continued efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in 
Afghanistan and among Afghan refugees in neighboring countries; it 
authorizes resources to help the Afghan government fight the production 
and flow of

[[Page 12636]]

illicit narcotics; it assists efforts to achieve a broad-based, multi-
ethnic, gender-sensitive, and fully representative government in 
Afghanistan; it supports strengthening the capabilities of the Afghan 
government to develop projects and programs that meet the needs of the 
Afghan people; it supports the reconstruction of Afghanistan through 
creating jobs, clearing landmines, and rebuilding the agriculture 
sector, the health care system, and the educational system of 
Afghanistan; and it provides specific resources to the Ministry for 
Women's Affairs of Afghanistan to carry out its responsibilities for 
legal advocacy, education, vocational training, and women's health 
programs.
  This legislation also strongly urges the President to designate 
within the State Department an ambassadorial-level coordinator to 
oversee and implement these programs and to advance United States 
interests in Afghanistan, including coordination with other countries 
and international organizations with respect to assistance to 
Afghanistan. In general, the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act provides a 
constructive, strategic framework for our Afghan policy, and flexible 
authority for the President to implement it. We must not allow this 
fragile interim Afghan government to unwind. We must put forward the 
appropriate investment of men, effort, and resources to complete the 
objective of a democratic government in Afghanistan.
  If Afghanistan goes backward, this will be a defeat for our war on 
terrorism, for the people desiring freedom in Afghanistan and in 
central Asia, for America, symbolically, in this region, and for the 
world. It would be disastrous for our country because it would crack 
the confidence that people all over the world have in the United 
States. Afghanistan is the first battle in our war on terrorism. We 
must not fail.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cleland). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Michigan.

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