[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4761]
[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 on the House floor today to bring 
attention to an article from the World Affairs Journal, titled, ``Money 
Pit: The Monstrous Failure of U.S. Aid to Afghanistan.'' This is an 
eight-page article documenting case after case of American tax dollars 
being wasted in Afghanistan.
  I would like to bring one specific example to your attention, keeping 
in mind that many more months have now passed since this article was 
published and these figures are now even larger.

       In a recent quarterly report, the U.S. Inspector General 
     for Afghan Reconstruction said that when security for aid 
     workers is figured, the total amount of nonmilitary funds 
     Washington has appropriated since 2002 is ``approximately 
     $100 billion''--more than the United States has ever spent to 
     rebuild a country.
       Since then, Congress has appropriated another $16.5 billion 
     for ``reconstruction.'' And all that has not brought the 
     United States or the Afghans a single sustainable institution 
     or program.

  As I traveled through the Third District of North Carolina last week, 
I spoke on this subject many times and was met with frustration from 
the audience at the waste of taxpayer money in Afghanistan.
  When I went on to explain that the Afghan Parliament was able to vote 
on the bilateral strategic agreement that we are in the process of 
finalizing with Afghanistan, but we have not even debated the issue in 
the House, the individuals with whom I spoke were incredibly 
disappointed in Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot blame the American people for wanting a vote 
on this agreement, which will spend billions of American dollars in 
Afghanistan with little to no accountability over at least the next 10 
years.
  This is not a partisan issue. Congressman Jim McGovern and I have 
signed a letter asking the leadership of both parties for a debate on 
the expenditure of tax dollars to prop up the corrupt nation of 
Afghanistan.
  To further explain why this debate is necessary, I will briefly read 
two more examples from the ``Money Pit'' article.

       The Special Inspector General's office, widely known as 
     SIGAR, noted that for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years the 
     United States has been providing Afghanistan, practically the 
     most corrupt nation on Earth, with $1.1 billion in fuel for 
     the Afghan military--even though the United States has made 
     no effort to determine how much fuel the military actually 
     requires.

  The article goes on to cite a GAO report, stating that for $130,000, 
Afghan contractors built a large shower/bathroom facility, ``without 
holes in the walls or floors for plumbing and drains.'' What's more, 
the walls were constructed of ``crumbling cinder blocks.'' The report 
named insufficient oversight.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time that we bring to a close the era of waste, 
fraud, and abuse of the United States' resources overseas and in 
Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope the leadership of both parties will allow this 
Congress to debate whether we should stay in Afghanistan for 10 more 
years. If the Parliament in Afghanistan can have that debate, why can't 
the United States House of Representatives?
  In closing, I would like to ask God to please bless our men and women 
in uniform and their families.
  I will close by saying we have spent enough blood and treasure on 
this failed policy in Afghanistan. Let's debate the issue and stop 
spending the taxpayers' money in Afghanistan.

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