[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 18099]
[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, yesterday, I came to the floor to speak about 
the bilateral strategic agreement and the fact that President Karzai 
has refused to sign the proposal offered by the administration.
  Since we have been in Afghanistan, 2,285 Americans have given their 
lives for our country, and 19,514 have been wounded. The time has come 
for Congress to understand history. From the days of Alexander the 
Great, to the British, to the Russians, no one has ever changed 
Afghanistan.
  The American people are tired of the cost of war, both life and 
money. As I said yesterday, it is my hope that, in early 2014, the 
leadership of the House will permit a debate and a vote on the 
agreement that will obligate our country to Afghanistan for at least 10 
more years. I realize that the vote will not change the agreement, 
because the President does have the authority, but this will give us a 
chance to represent the people of America who, the majority, are 
opposed to this agreement.
  It is unacceptable that we will continue to spend billions of dollars 
at a time when, according to Special Inspector General John Sopko, the 
waste, fraud, and abuse is worse in Afghanistan today than it was 11 
years ago.
  We in Congress continue to cut funding for programs for the American 
people, but we refuse to withhold one single dollar from Karzai in 
Afghanistan. No wonder the American people have given Congress an 
approval rating of 9 percent.
  It is time to end the senseless waste of American lives and American 
money in Afghanistan.
  I want to thank Roger Simon for his editorial in today's Politico, 
and I would like to read the last paragraph of his editorial. He 
writes:

       Is this the neighborhood we want to stay in? And fight for? 
     And throw more money at? We have achieved our goals in 
     Afghanistan. We have won. It is time for our troops to come 
     home. If we stay for another decade, our good war could come 
     to a very bad end.

  So, again, Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that when we get into 2014, 
that both parties will come together and say that we need to debate on 
whether this agreement for 10 years is worth one life or one dollar. 
And I believe it will be a vigorous debate. I think it will be good 
that the American people can see that we hear them as it relates to 
this war in Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, before I close, I have got a poster from the Greensboro 
News & Record dated February 27, 2011. It is the military carrying a 
flag-draped coffin off the back of a plane. How many more young 
Americans will have to go and walk the roads of Afghanistan and be 
killed and lose their limbs?
  I hope that my colleagues in both parties will join those of us in 
both parties who want to have this debate on Afghanistan in 2014.
  Mr. Speaker, I will close now by asking God to please bless our men 
in uniform, to bless the families of our men and women in uniform, and 
God to hold in His arms the families who have given a child dying for 
freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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