[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      BRING HOME TROOPS IN VICTORY

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Last night, we heard President Obama's plan for 
withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan. While I share the President's 
goal of wanting to bring home our brave troops as soon and as safely as 
possible, I'm concerned that political considerations were given more 
weight in this decision than military strategy.
  As a military veteran of 27 years, I understand how important it is 
to base decisions like this on the guidance of our commanders in the 
field. Our military commanders are the best military strategists in the 
world, and they are the ones in a position to know how many and what 
type of troops they need to do their mission.
  When the President announced his troop surge, he included the lasting 
influence of Taliban among his reasons. The Taliban remains allied with 
al Qaeda, and both terrorist networks would rather see Afghanistan 
destroyed than lose their influence over the Afghan people.
  Mr. Speaker, we've learned that fighting our Nation's wars from the 
Oval Office does not work. Let's make sure our troops come home in 
victory.

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