[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15158]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, while we were home for the district work 
period in October, 18 American troops died in Afghanistan. In my home 
county of Pitt in North Carolina, Army Specialist Joshua Nelson was 
killed by the very Afghans he was sent to train. He is just one of the 
60 killed by these insider attacks.
  My adviser, a former United States Marine Corps commandant, recently 
said to me, I am more convinced than ever that we need to get out of 
Afghanistan. When our friends turn out to be our enemy, it is time to 
pull the plug.
  It is such a tragedy when American servicemembers are sent to 
Afghanistan to train police and military and end up being killed by 
their own trainees.
  Mr. Speaker, the whole war in Afghanistan is a tragedy. On October 7, 
there was a national article titled, ``A Mother Mourns a Grim 
Milestone,'' referring to the 2,000 American casualties from the war in 
Afghanistan.
  Lisa Freeman, who was interviewed in the article, lost her son, 
Captain Mathew Freeman, in 2009 in Afghanistan. Ms. Freeman said:

       I just sat here, reliving the pain and wondering: Where is 
     America's outrage? Where is America's concern that we're 
     still at war?

  My question is, Mr. Speaker, why is the House of Representatives 
still supporting a war that costs $10 billion a month? This money is 
borrowed primarily from the Chinese. All we hear about is the financial 
cliff, this crisis that is facing America. My question is, after 11 
years, where is the outrage from Congress for our men and women in 
uniform dying in Afghanistan?
  2014 is the date that the President has said that we will start 
bringing the troops out. That is 25 more months. Why do we have to wait 
until the end of 2014 to start bringing our troops home? How many more 
have to die at the hands of the very Afghans they are training?
  An October 14 New York City Times editorial title ``Time to Pack Up'' 
has a subtitle that says it best: ``It should not take 2 more years for 
the United States to leave Afghanistan.''
  Mr. Speaker, I have a petition on my Web site, Jones.House.gov. I'm 
asking people around this country to please sign this petition with 
their name and State, nothing else, who agree with us. We have people 
from both sides, but we need more Members, that 2013 is the time to 
start bringing our troops home, not waiting until 2014.
  Mr. Speaker, beside me, again, I bring posters to the floor to show 
the Members of the House that we are still at war. The poster beside 
me, Mr. Speaker, is an Honor Guard bringing a flagged-draped transfer 
case off a plane.
  Again, I join my friends and ask the Members of Congress to start 
debating the policy, and let's start bringing our troops home in 2013 
and not wait until December of 2014. As a former commandant said, when 
our friends start killing us, then it's time to pull the plug.
  I close by asking God to please bless our men and women in uniform, 
to bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I ask God in His 
loving arms to hold the families who've given a child dying for freedom 
in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  God, please bless the House and Senate, that we will do what is right 
in Your eyes for Your people here in the United States of America.
  God, please give strength, wisdom, and courage to President Obama, 
that he will do what is right in Your eyes for his people.
  And I close by saying three times: God, please, God, please, God, 
please continue to bless America.

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