[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12172-12173]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF THE TRANSITIONAL 
                      ISLAMIC STATE OF AFGHANISTAN

  President KARZAI. Thank you for the great honor. Mr. Speaker, Mr. 
Vice President, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, the great 
people of the United States of America, it is my distinct honor to 
speak on behalf of the Afghan people in this august assembly.
  I thank you and the people of this great country for your generosity 
and commitment to our people. You have supported us with your 
resources, with your leadership in the world community and, most 
importantly, with the precious lives of your soldiers.
  With your support, Afghanistan has accomplished a number of 
significant achievements. We have begun to rebuild our schools. Over 5 
million children, boys and girls, attend schools across Afghanistan. We 
have also commenced to develop health centers to provide basic services 
to our people, especially to our women and children, who have suffered 
the most during the decades of war and turmoil. We have embarked upon 
the reconstruction of our roads to encourage traders and businessmen to 
transport products to markets.
  We have started to reconstitute our national army, our national 
institutions, national police, in order to both defend our sovereignty 
and provide security to our citizens. Our national army is being 
trained by American forces, American troops, and wherever we have 
deployed them the Afghan people have welcomed them. We have initiated 
the fight against narcotics to save our children, to save your children 
and children across the world from the evil of addiction to drugs.
  The confidence of our citizens in the future of our country is 
clearly signified by the return of 3 million refugees in the past 2 
years.
  Once again, ladies and gentlemen, Afghanistan is the home of all 
Afghans. We have today in Afghanistan our former king back in his old 
home. We have today in Afghanistan the leaders of the former resistance 
of Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. We have also millions of 
refugees who have left Afghanistan because of tyranny and invasion. 
They are all back in their country, and more are returning.
  Ladies and gentlemen, Afghanistan has emerged from a very dark era, 
one of oppression and terror. We have adopted an enlightened 
Constitution, establishing a democratic Islamic government. It 
guarantees equal rights and equal protection for every citizen of our 
country. With your support, men and women of Afghanistan have now equal 
rights before the law and the Constitution. The new Constitution 
replaces the Taliban-imposed gender discrimination by assigning 25 
percent of the seats in our future parliament for women. Together we 
have furthered democracy by creating a climate where 35 percent of the 
voters so far registered for our election are women. And as I speak 
today, ladies and gentlemen, I received a report this morning from the 
election commission in the central part of the country that the reg-
istrators for voting are more than 50 percent women, and in the rest of 
the country they are more than 30 percent. As this process continues 
through September, we will have at least 6 to 7 million registered, and 
I am sure we will reach nearly 70 percent of them to be women.
  We have secured and opened an inclusive society where minority 
languages are accorded official recognition and where the press enjoys 
unprecedented freedom.
  We, the Afghan people, have once again established ourselves as a 
proud and sovereign nation. Without your support and commitment and 
without the partnership between our two nations, none of this would 
have been achieved.
  Ladies and gentlemen, together we have come a long way, but our 
common journey is far from over. Many obstacles exist, and numerous 
milestones remain to be reached before we can fully realize our shared 
vision of a stable, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan.
  We have to travel further. Private militias pose a threat to the 
consolidation of stability and democracy in our country. They continue 
to oppress our people and challenge law, order and government 
authority. The Afghan people demand and insist on disarming and 
demobilizing private militias. Only with your support and that of the 
international community can we achieve this necessary goal.
  We are also confronted with the evil of narcotics. Drug profits 
finance private militias, terrorists and extremists. Drug profits 
undermine our efforts to build a healthy and legitimate national 
economy. Drugs threaten the lives and future of children, yours and 
ours. We are determined to cleanse Afghanistan from this menace.
  In the economic dimension, despite our achievements over the past 
2\1/2\ years, we continue to be one of the poorest countries. We still 
have the second highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the 
world. We have one of the highest illiteracy rates. Very few Afghans 
have access to safe drinking water. While our country has rich 
hydroelectric potential, oil, gas and coal reserves, only 6 percent of 
the Afghans have reliable access to electricity. While Afghanistan has 
great rivers, our farmers ironically suffer from a shortage of water. 
Even now our vast mineral resources such as iron ore, copper and 
precious stones remain undeveloped. Our delicious fruits are not 
reaching major markets due to the lack of refrigeration and proper 
marketing.
  Ladies and gentlemen, these are significant impediments, yet we are 
confident that with your continued support and commitment, we, the 
Afghan people, will overcome them as we have triumphed over other 
challenges in the past 2 years. To succeed, we ask for your continued 
investment. Afghanistan is open for business and American companies are 
most welcome. Together we will make Afghanistan a great success and an 
enduring example of a prosperous democratic society.
  Our shared success in Afghanistan is vital to achieving victory over 
the greatest menace the world faces today, terrorism and extremism.
  Long before the horrific tragedy of September 11, terrorists 
subjected the people of Afghanistan to unspeakable brutality and 
oppression. Even though we were among the most pious Muslims in the 
world, we were the first and foremost victims of al Qaeda. In the name 
of Islam, a religion of peace and tolerance, they terrorized and killed 
the Muslim people of Afghanistan and deprived us of our basic rights. 
These atrocities continued for many years, and the world remained 
unengaged.
  The tragedy of September 11 once again tied the destinies of our two 
nations. You came to Afghanistan to defeat terrorism, and we Afghans 
welcomed and embraced you for the liberation of our country. Together 
we ended the rule of terrorism.
  Ladies and gentlemen, this was not the first time America confronted 
a

[[Page 12173]]

great evil and rescued the world. Two weeks ago, on Memorial Day, you 
remembered the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who gave 
their lives for defending democracy and freedom around the world. You 
led the world in eliminating fascism. You stood with the Afghan nation 
in our heroic fight against the former Soviet Union. Just last week, we 
honored one of our great fellow freedom fighters in that struggle, the 
late President Ronald Reagan.
  Today, the United States is once again leading the global effort to 
defeat terrorism and extremism. Afghanistan is a central front in the 
war against terrorism. The Afghan people are and will remain with you 
in this struggle.
  Ladies and gentlemen, in this great Chamber, in the House of the 
American people, democracy and liberty thrive. Afghans are honored to 
have become partners in this noble tradition. The Afghan people will 
not forget your help and will always remember and cherish your 
friendship. The Afghan people desire to further build on this solid 
foundation of mutual trust and friendship by creating a strong 
partnership between our two nations.
  We must build a partnership that will consolidate our achievements 
and enhance stability, prosperity, and democracy in Afghanistan and in 
the region. This requires sustaining and accelerating the 
reconstruction of Afghanistan through long-term commitment, a free 
trade agreement between the United States and Afghanistan, and 
providing incentives to the private sector for investing in 
Afghanistan. We must enhance our strategic partnership. The security of 
our two nations is intertwined.
  In December of 2001, a U.S. bomb went astray and exploded a few 
meters from where I was staying. This was the last day of our 
resistance against the Taliban. This was the day that the Bonn process 
announced me as the chairman. This was the day the Taliban were to come 
and surrender. This was also the day that the stray bomb came to us and 
killed more than 20 of my people and also four U.S. soldiers. In the 
midst of all that confusion and pain, an old man walked up to me. I did 
not know him. I had not seen him before, and I have not seen him since 
then. He came to me and said, ``Mr. Karzai, go to the Americans. Tell 
them that in a war like this, things like that happen. Tell them not to 
lose heart. Tell them that we shall continue to fight and we must 
win.''
  Ladies and gentlemen, upon my arrival in the United States last week 
I stopped at Fort Drum, New York, to meet some of your troops who had 
served in Afghanistan. Senator Clinton graciously came to receive us. 
We honored two American soldiers who recently returned from Afghanistan 
and who a few months ago in Kandahar were traveling in a vehicle. 
Somebody, a terrorist, threw a grenade at them. The grenade landed in 
their vehicle. They took the grenade. Instead of throwing it into the 
street where there were people around them, civilians, these heroic men 
stuck the grenade under their seat. The grenade exploded. Fortunately, 
they survived. But they were badly injured. To us, this was also an 
example of heroism and care for humanity, and we are proud of these two 
American soldiers. These stories tell a tale of partnership, tell a 
tale of joint struggle, tell a tale of care and courage and care for 
humanity.
  Ladies and gentlemen, together we have a long road ahead, but we will 
move forward to make the world a better place. For us in Afghanistan, 
we remember you for every help that you have given us, and we will have 
that in our books written in golden letters. This road, this journey is 
one of success and victory. We will continue to triumph and win the war 
against terrorism and make the world a better place for us and the rest 
of the world. May God bless America and Afghanistan and our two 
nations. Thank you very much.
  [Applause, Members rising.]
  At 9 o'clock and 56 minutes a.m., His Excellency Hamid Karzai, 
President of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan, accompanied 
by the committee of escort, retired from the Hall of the House of 
Representatives.
  The Deputy Sergeant at Arms escorted the invited guests from the 
Chamber in the following order:
  The members of the President's Cabinet.
  The Acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

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