[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10942]
[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, like all of my colleagues, I went home to my 
district as the other Members went to their districts. I live in 
eastern North Carolina. As do a lot of people, I love my district, and 
I'm getting the same message: Why are you still in Afghanistan? Why 
don't you Members of Congress vote to bring our troops home? Why are 
you spending the money we don't have, and young men and women are 
getting killed?
  Again, I'm coming to the floor of the House and reporting on a book 
I'm reading. It's called ``Funding the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers 
Bankroll the Taliban.'' That's the whole issue. We have defeated bin 
Laden. He is dead. Al Qaeda has been dispersed all around the world, 
but we continue to fund a corrupt leader who will not survive in the 
long term. We all know that, but yet we're playing this little game of 
spend the American taxpayers' money to keep him in office, and let's 
borrow the money from the Chinese that we're spending--because that's 
the way it's happening--to keep Karzai in office. Seventy-two percent 
of the American people have agreed with most of us in the House--not 
all--that it's time to bring our troops home. There is not one thing 
that we're going to accomplish over there.
  Mr. Speaker, when I saw the national security agreement that the 
Secretary of State and this administration have signed with 
Afghanistan, what we're talking about is, after 2014, we will continue 
to have a military presence of anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000. We are 
spending approximately $4 billion a month--that's probably a lowball 
figure, Mr. Speaker--but $4 billion a month for 10 years. That adds up 
to about $480 billion in addition to what we've already spent, which is 
over $1 trillion, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. The poor American people 
are paying the taxes and are getting their programs cut for children, 
for schools, for senior citizens, for health programs. Yet we in 
Congress continue to fund the war in Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, this book is an eye-opener to the fact that the Taliban 
is the biggest recipient of our taxpayers' money, going to pay to kill 
American kids. I'm going to keep bringing this to the floor until I 
finish the book, and I'm about halfway through.
  Its summary says:

       This is the first book to detail the toxic embrace of 
     American policymakers and careerists, Afghanistan kleptocrats 
     and the opportunistic Taliban. The result? U.S. taxpayers 
     have been footing the bill for both sides of a disastrous 
     Afghanistan war.

  Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, we had eight Americans killed--eight 
Americans killed. I write families. I have signed over 10,740-some 
letters to families across this Nation because I bought the lie by the 
previous administration that said Saddam has weapons of mass 
destruction, which he never did have. So I will continue to come to the 
floor at least once a week, several times a month, and talk about the 
fact of buying this book for every Member of Congress, which is called, 
``Funding the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.''
  When I listen to our debates on the floor--sometimes part of them, 
sometimes not--talking about cutting Federal programs for those people 
who need them the most--but yet we will find the $8 billion a month to 
send to Karzai--and when we keep sending our soldiers, marines, 
sailors, and airmen over there so they can be shot and killed and have 
their feet blown away, it is time for this Congress to wake up. When we 
debate the appropriations bill for the Department of Defense, I hope we 
will be permitted to bring amendments one after another to the floor, 
asking Members of Congress to bring our troops home.
  Mr. Speaker, with that, I will ask God to please bless our men and 
women in uniform.
  I will ask God to please, in his loving arms, hold the families who 
have lost children in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  I will ask God to please bless the House and Senate that we will do 
what is right in the eyes of God for God's people today and God's 
people tomorrow.
  I will ask God to please bless President Obama that he will do what 
is right in the eyes of God for God's people today and God's people 
tomorrow.
  I will close by asking three times: God, please, God, please, God, 
please continue to bless America.

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