[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 28967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TIME TO END THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

  (Ms. PINGREE of Maine asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Madam Speaker, $2.5 billion--that's my State's 
share of the wars we've been fighting for the last 8 years, and now 
this country is being asked to spend another $30 billion a year to send 
more troops to Afghanistan. It's too much, Madam Speaker, for a war 
that just isn't working.
  At a time when we are struggling to put Americans back to work, we 
just can't afford to escalate a war that we need to be winding down. At 
a time when we have asked our men and women in uniform to return to 
combat again and again, we cannot afford to send them back one more 
time to fight to protect a government that is now considered the second 
most corrupt on Earth. At a time when we are working to bring 
affordable health care to every family in this country, we just can't 
afford to spend $1 million per soldier to occupy a country that doesn't 
want us there.
  Don't be mistaken, Madam Speaker. When we need to protect our vital 
national interests, there is no cost too great, and the greatest Armed 
Forces in the world will rise to meet any challenge. But this is not 
the time to pay that price. This is a time to end this war and bring 
the troops home.

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