[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4529]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Today, I was going through some of the newspapers on the 
Internet and I found a very interesting article that I wanted to bring 
to the floor. This was Newsweek, March 19, 2010, and the title is, 
``The Gang That Could Not Shoot Straight.''
  Six billion dollars later, the Afghan national police cannot begin to 
do their jobs right, never mind relieve American forces. I'm going to 
repeat that. Six billion dollars later, the Afghan national police 
cannot begin to do their jobs right, never mind relieve American 
forces.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a rather long article, but I just want to read 
part tonight and I will read some tomorrow night, because I think about 
the men and women in uniform--God bless them all--over in Afghanistan 
and Iraq. I think about the situation they're in. I'm not an expert on 
history, but I know enough about history to know that any nation that 
ever tried to conquer Afghanistan never did. They basically failed.
  From this article: America has spent more than $6 billion since 2002 
in an effort to create an effective Afghan police force--buying 
weapons, building police academies, and hiring defense contractors to 
train the recruits--but the program has been a disaster. More than $332 
million worth of invoices for police training were approved, even 
though the funds were poorly accounted for according to a government 
audit, and fewer than 12 percent of the country's police units are 
capable of operating on their own.
  Let me repeat that. More than $332 million worth of invoices for 
police training were approved, even though the funds were poorly 
accounted for according to a government audit, and fewer than 12 
percent of the country's police units are capable of operating on their 
own.
  Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the State Department's top 
representative in the region, has publicly called the Afghan police an 
inadequate organization riddled with corruption. I'm going to also 
repeat that, Mr. Speaker. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the State 
Department's top representative in the region, has called the Afghan 
police an inadequate organization riddled with corruption.
  During the Obama administration's review of Afghan policy last year, 
this issue received more attention than any other except for the 
question of U.S. troop levels, Holbrooke told Newsweek. We drilled down 
deep into this. The worst of it is that the police are central to 
Washington's plans for getting out of Afghanistan.

                              {time}  1945

  Mr. Speaker, I will again tomorrow night read another portion of this 
article. What it is saying--and what we in Congress need to keep in 
mind, we can't even fix the streets in my home town in eastern North 
Carolina, yet we're spending billions and billions and billions and 
billion of dollars in a country that at best is living in the 16th 
century.
  We've debated health care this weekend. We have other issues we'll be 
debating. And even though these issues are very important to the 
American people, how in the world can we keep wearing out our troops 
overseas, spending billions and billions of dollars that we can't even 
spend here in America?
  So, Mr. Speaker, as I do every night because my heart aches for the 
military and those who have lost their lives, the families, I will ask 
God to please bless our men and women in uniform. I will ask God to 
please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I will ask 
God in His loving arms to hold the families who have given a child 
dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I will ask God to please 
bless the House and Senate that we will do what is right in the eyes of 
God.
  I will ask God to give strength, wisdom and courage to President 
Obama that he will do what is right in the eyes of God. And three times 
I will say, God, please, God, please, God, please, continue to bless 
America.

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