[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3655]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          FUNDING AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, today the House Budget Committee will reveal 
the budget for fiscal year 2016. That budget will contain more money 
for Afghanistan, which is why I am speaking on the floor today. 
Afghanistan is an absolute waste of taxpayer money. It is a true 
graveyard of empires.
  Mr. Speaker, just 2 years ago, I was speaking on the floor about a 
New York Times article titled, ``Karzai Says He Was Assured CIA Would 
Continue Delivering Bags of Cash.'' I will quote from that article 
again today: ``The CIA money, Mr. Karzai told reporters, was `an easy 
source of petty cash,' and some of it was used to pay off members of 
the political elite and a group dominated by warlords.''
  This past Sunday, an article was published in a Raleigh, North 
Carolina, paper titled, ``CIA Cash Helped to Refill Al Qaeda Coffers.'' 
According to the article: ``The CIA contribution to al Qaeda's bottom 
line was just another in a long list of examples of how the United 
States, largely because of poor oversight and loose financial controls, 
has sometimes inadvertently financed the very militants'' who have been 
killing American soldiers. Finally, the article stated: ``The cash flow 
has slowed since a new Afghan president, Mr. Ghani, assumed office in 
September, Afghan officials said, but they added that cash was still 
coming in.''
  For at least 5 years, it has been reported that cash from the United 
States has been funneled to the Afghan Government through the CIA as a 
sort of slush fund, and some of that money has made its way to al 
Qaeda. This is only one example of the waste, fraud, and abuse in 
Afghanistan, yet the current administration has obligated the American 
taxpayer and soldier to 9 more years in Afghanistan, without even a 
debate on the floor of the House.
  Let me remind the House: Al Qaeda is our enemy. Congress owes the 
American people and the soldiers a debate to end this failed policy.
  Mr. Speaker, after over $685 billion in taxpayer dollars, blood, and 
limbs lost in Afghanistan, it is time to stop the waste, fraud, and 
abuse of American taxpayer money there and to start reallocating that 
money right here in America to help our veterans, to help the 
infrastructure of America, and to help our children, America's future. 
Why are we spending this kind of money in Afghanistan that is abused 
and wasted and used to kill American soldiers? I do not understand it, 
Mr. Speaker.
  Our debt is over $18 trillion. When President Clinton left office in 
the year 2000, our debt was $5.6 trillion. Today, it is over $18 
trillion in debt, and we are going to continue with 9 more years of 
waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan. We, in Congress, owe the 
American people a debate.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, before closing, I will ask God to please 
bless our men and women in uniform. God, please bless the families who 
have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I 
will ask God to please bless the President and the House and the 
Senate, that we will do what is right in the eyes of God for God's 
people today and God's people tomorrow.

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