[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8434]
[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, I am still very disappointed that during the 
debate of the National Defense Authorization Act that Mr. McGovern and 
I myself had an amendment, known as the McGovern-Jones amendment, and 
all it did, Mr. Speaker, was set the parameters and the benchmark for 
bringing our troops home after 2014. The amendment basically said that 
if you're not bringing the troops out by 2014, then any continuation of 
those troops would have to be voted on by the Congress.
  I'm always very disappointed that the Congress does not meet its 
constitutional responsibility when it comes to war. Mr. Speaker, 
because of my disappointment and my continued support of bring our 
troops home, I will read the names of nine servicepeople given by the 
Department of Defense who were reported in the Raleigh, North Carolina, 
paper, The News & Observer:
  Hospitalman Eric D. Warren
  Private First Class Cale C. Miller
  Corporal Keaton G. Coffey
  Petty Officer First Class Ryan J. Wilson
  Second Lieutenant Travis A. Morgado
  Specialist Arronn D. Fields
  Sergeant Michael J. Knapp
  Sergeant Jabraun S. Knox
  Specialist Samuel T. Watts.
  Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to spend money that we do not have. 
Every day our debt goes up. Every day we borrow money from foreign 
governments, and yet we will not bring our troops home from 
Afghanistan.
  It's kind of ironic that the administration has signed a security 
agreement that will continue a financial relationship with Afghanistan 
after our troops come home in 2014. That relationship is for 12 years, 
has been projected that we will spend approximately $4 billion a month 
for those 12 years to pay for a corrupt leader and a corrupt government 
that will not survive.
  It does not matter how much money we spend. Afghanistan's history is 
that no nation has ever gone into Afghanistan and changed one thing. I 
do not understand why we in the House continue to find the money--of 
course it's borrowed money, by the way, probably from the Chinese--to 
send to Afghanistan. Yet we vote on programs to cut milk for children 
in the morning at school. We vote to cut programs for senior citizens 
to get a sandwich at the senior center, and yet we continue to fund a 
war that history has shown we will never win.
  I have a poster of a photograph that was in the Greensboro paper that 
has Dover Air Force Base as they are bringing home the flag-covered 
transfer case. The nine names that I just read, they took their final 
trip in the back of a plane and they lay dead in a transfer case with a 
flag over their bodies.
  Our Congress needs to wake up, Mr. Speaker. It makes no sense that we 
will stay there to 2014 or 2015.
  I have with me a book that if I could pay for every Member of 
Congress to have this book, and they would guarantee me that they would 
read this book, then I would buy it for them. Mr. Speaker, the title of 
this book is ``Funding the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the 
Taliban.''
  The Taliban, the Taliban, that's our enemy. Yet American dollars are 
going over, and many of those dollars end up in our enemy's hands to 
buy weapons and bullets to kill young Americans. I have read only 100 
pages. I hope to finish this book next week when we are home; but I 
think if any taxpayer in this country would read this book, they would 
be up here protesting Washington sending money to Afghanistan. What is 
ironic, Mr. Speaker, is that the Taliban will eventually take over 
Afghanistan, no matter what we do.
  I hope that my friends on both sides of the aisle will support us 
from time to time as we have amendments to create a parameter for 
bringing our troops out because, quite frankly, I think we will be 
there probably until 2015 or 2016.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I ask God to please bless our men and women 
in uniform. I ask God to please bless the families of our men and women 
in uniform. I ask God in His loving arms to hold their families who 
have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask three times, God, please, God, please, God, 
please continue to bless America.

                          ____________________