[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        NOT AS OWNER OR TENANT: NO MILITARY BASES IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, a year and a half ago, we were promised a 
new way forward in Afghanistan, a way that would include a significant 
military drawdown. The date for the redeployment to begin was July 1, 
2011, just 2 weeks away. Then last year, the goalposts were removed and 
it was decided that, in fact, our troops would remain in Afghanistan 
through 2014.

                              {time}  1040

  But apparently that wasn't enough. Negotiations are now under way 
with the Karzai government--negotiations that are happening apparently 
in secret and without proper accountability and transparency--for the 
construction of military bases in Afghanistan. Officials are being very 
careful not to say that these bases would be permanent, but it's clear 
that our government could be hammering out the details of an agreement 
that would call for a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan for as far 
as the eye can see.
  I can't understand the logic here, Mr. Speaker. Why can't we grasp 
the very idea that the longer we are perceived to be an occupying 
power, the more resentment we breed in Afghanistan? The longer we're 
there, the more we fuel the insurgency, the more we leave our troops 
vulnerable, the more we put our own national security in jeopardy. 
Erecting permanent bases would be the biggest favor we could do for the 
Taliban.
  I salute my good friend and fellow Californian, Congresswoman Barbara 
Lee, for her leadership on this issue, and I would urge my colleagues 
to consider my legislation that would require the President to 
negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement that would clearly prohibit the 
establishment of permanent bases.
  Mr. Speaker, the outgoing Defense Secretary, Mr. Gates, says we're 
seeking joint bases where the United States acts as a tenant as opposed 
to an occupying force, but I don't believe for a minute that the 
Taliban appreciates the subtlety of that distinction.
  As long as there are boots on the ground, and not just boots but 
large installations with American trappings and English language street 
signs and so forth, the more we embolden the very radical forces we're 
trying to defeat.
  We're going exactly the wrong direction, Mr. Speaker. At a moment 
when the American people are crying out for this military occupation to 
end, our leaders look as if they are preparing to extend it into 
perpetuity. At a moment when casualties are on the rise, we're 
preparing for a long-term presence that will further endanger, not 
protect, Americans.
  We can't afford permanent war. It's unsustainable. We can't afford 
the cost in blood, treasure, lost credibility or dwindling moral 
authority. It's time to bring our troops and our contractors home and 
leave no military footprint behind.

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