[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10570-10571]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WHAT DOES $10 BILLION A MONTH BUY?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Woolsey) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, since 2005, I have spoken from this very 
spot 399 times. On nearly every occasion that House rules allow, I have 
stood to deliver a 5-minute special order speech highlighting the moral 
outrage of the United States' continued military engagements in Iraq, 
Afghanistan and now Libya. I speak of the need also for a new Smart 
Security to keep America safe.
  Today will be my 399th speech. I look forward to reaching number 400 
next week, and I will continue this drumbeat until my last day as a 
Member of Congress, which gives me approximately 18 months, 1\1/2\ 
years, time to bring our troops safely home.
  During this week, the week that the House is debating defense 
appropriations, I thought it would be fitting to focus on war spending, 
on the staggering costs that taxpayers are being asked to bear for our 
military occupations.
  Ten billion dollars a month is a lot of money. That's the price tag 
for the privilege of continuing to wage a 10-year war against 
Afghanistan: $10 billion a month. The American people who are writing 
that check have a right to ask and to get answers to some very 
important questions: Where is that money going, and what exactly is it 
accomplishing? What are we getting for our $10 billion a month? Are we 
more secure here at home? Is the Afghanistan central government 
introducing the rule of law? Have we not already defeated al Qaeda? And 
so who are we fighting and why?
  For $10 billion a month, Mr. Speaker, our expectations as taxpayers, 
as Americans, and as Members of Congress, should be high. Is it too 
much to think that $10 billion a month could

[[Page 10571]]

buy a stable ally, an ally capable of standing on its own two feet, 
taking responsibility for its own security, and having respect for the 
rule of law? Instead, corruption and chaos are ruling the day in Kabul. 
Basic government institutions are failing to provide services. 
President Karzai has tried to establish a special court, in fact, for 
the purpose of stripping 62 members of Parliament of their seats. The 
financial system is teetering on the brink of collapse with the head of 
the central bank fleeing the country and accusing Karzai's regime of 
fraud and cronyism.
  And just a few days ago, Mr. Speaker, a brawl broke out on the floor 
of the Afghan Parliament with one member throwing a shoe at another 
member when a motion was proposed to impeach President Karzai. For $10 
billion a month, is it not too much to ask that the Afghan Parliament 
not look like an episode of the ``Jerry Springer Show''?
  There is so much we could do with $10 billion a month right here at 
home, especially at a moment when so many of our people are struggling 
and so many of our communities so badly need public investment, 
especially at a moment when the clock is ticking toward a catastrophic 
default on the national debt. I'm not suggesting that we ignore or that 
we run away from Afghanistan's deep-seated problems, but I believe we 
cannot begin to address their needs with a military solution. It will 
never work. It is time to reinvest at pennies on the dollar in Smart 
Security efforts, humanitarian and civilian aid, aid that will promote 
democracy, and economic support to address poverty and to rebuild 
infrastructure in Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a moment and this is a time where we put our 
priorities in order, but it's not a job for our troops. They have 
served with unbelievable valor. Now it's time to bring them safely home 
and invest in a humanitarian way in Afghanistan.

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