[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 471-472]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              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. Mr. Speaker, last night I stood here and spoke about my 
experience visiting Bethesda Naval Hospital and seeing the broken 
bodies of our country's young men and women.
  After that visit, I was very pleased to see an article this morning 
about Grover Norquist speaking out and encouraging fellow conservatives 
to speak out against the war in Afghanistan.
  The article is from The Huffington Post on January 12, and one 
sentence in particular came to my mind. Norquist also suggested that 
many prominent conservatives privately hold the view that the war in 
Afghanistan should end quickly.
  It is time for them to speak out publicly, Mr. Speaker. We need to 
become more engaged in the issue and make our feelings known.
  Mr. Speaker, I had mentioned before that a retired military general 
has been my adviser on Afghanistan for the past year. I would like to 
share two points that he made in a recent email.
  The first point he made is: ``What is the end state we are looking to 
achieve? What are the measures of effectiveness? What is our exit 
strategy? Same old questions. No answers.''

                              {time}  1810

  The second point that the general made in his email to me: ``What do 
we say to the mother and father, to the wife of the last soldier or 
marine killed to support a corrupt government and

[[Page 472]]

corrupt leader in a war that cannot be won?''
  Mr. Speaker, I'm going to repeat that very quickly. From the retired 
general: ``What do we say to the mother and father, to the wife of the 
last soldier or marine killed to support a corrupt government and 
corrupt leader in a war that cannot be won?''
  These are valid points that we must think about. It is time that 
Congress and the American people look at what is really going on and 
what war really means. I would like to thank prominent conservative, 
Grover Norquist, for speaking out on Afghanistan. I hope this inspires 
others to do the same. History has shown that we cannot fix 
Afghanistan. It is in our best interest to learn from what history is 
trying to teach us, that no country has ever conquered Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, I have beside me ``The Pain of War: A Broken Body.'' 
It's a young soldier who has lost both legs and an arm, and his young 
wife taking him into a room in a wheelchair. This party of mine, which 
I'm very proud to be a Republican, needs to learn, and again I want to 
thank Grover Norquist for speaking out and saying to conservatives, 
stop sending our boys and girls over there to come back with broken 
bodies or to come back in a coffin. It is time to end the war in 
Afghanistan. It is time for Mr. Obama to keep his word to the American 
people, and that is to bring them out in July of 2011.
  Mr. Speaker, before closing, I would like to say, as I always do, God 
please continue to bless our men and women in uniform. God please in 
Your loving arms hold the families who have given a child dying in 
Afghanistan and Iraq. God, please bless the House and Senate that we 
will do what is right in Your eyes for Your people. God, please give 
strength, wisdom, and courage to the President of the United States 
that he will do what is right for Your people. And God, three times I 
will ask, please, please, please God, continue to bless America.

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