[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15301]
[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, this afternoon, a group of Members from both 
parties are going to meet together to discuss the possible legislative 
options to start a process of bringing our troops home from Afghanistan 
in 2013.
  Yesterday I was on the floor speaking about Army Specialist Joshua 
Nelson, from my home county, who was killed by the very Afghans he was 
sent to train. Specialist Nelson is just one of 60 U.S. servicemembers 
who have been killed this year by the Afghans that they were sent to 
train.
  I don't know where the outrage is by the United States Congress. I am 
very disappointed in both parties and their leadership to allow our 
young men and women to stay in a war that has no end to it. This makes 
no sense to the American people. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the American 
people have said time after time, in poll after poll, that they want to 
bring our troops home now--not in 2014, but now.
  On October 7, there was a national article written, and the title 
was, ``A Mother Mourns a Grim Milestone,'' referring to the 2,000th 
American casualty from the Afghan war. Lisa Freeman, who was 
interviewed in the article, lost her son Captain Matthew Freeman in 
2009. He was shot by a sniper 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.

  And, Mr. Speaker, I made reference to this yesterday. The October 14 
New York Times editorial, ``Time to Pack Up,'' with the subtitle, ``It 
should not take 2 more years for the United States to leave 
Afghanistan.''
  ``It should not take 2 more years for the United States to leave 
Afghanistan.'' Since I strongly agree with that statement, I have 
started an online petition to start bringing our troops home in the 
summer or fall of 2013. The petition can be signed through my Web site 
at jones.house.gov. And, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell you that in 
just 3 weeks, we have over 2,000 Americans that have signed this 
petition. Our goal is to reach as many people as possible to put the 
pressure on our leadership to stop the loss of life and treasure in 
Afghanistan.
  Congress, let's get together and work on legislation to bring our 
troops home before the current timeline of December 2014.
  Mr. Speaker, before I close, this is one of the many posters that I 
have that I bring to the floor. There's a flag-draped coffin. There's a 
group of Army officers. There's a woman holding the hand of a child. 
And you can see in the face of the child, Why is my daddy in that flag-
draped coffin?
  Congress, let's wake up. Let's come together. Let's start the process 
of bringing our troops home in 2013. Please, God, continue to bless our 
men and women in uniform. Please, God, continue to bless America.

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