[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14364-14365]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I have been on the floor so many times over 
the last year or so talking about the 16 years of war in Afghanistan 
and the waste of money, but, more importantly, the waste of life.
  The titles that I am going to share with the House today have 
appeared in October and November in articles, national articles, about 
the failed policy in Afghanistan. I would like to share those very 
quickly.
  ``U.S. Pledges Another $800 Million to Afghanistan Despite Rampant 
Corruption.''
  ``Four Americans Die in Suicide Blast At U.S. Base in Afghanistan; 17 
Others Wounded.''
  These are headlines, Mr. Speaker.
  ``Latest Afghan Attack Raises Perplexing Questions on Security.''
  Another title: ``The U.S. Spent Billions Building Roads in 
Afghanistan. Now Many of Them Are Beyond Repair.''
  Another title: ``Inspector General: Pentagon Must Explain Afghan 
`Ghost Soldier' Problems. Funding for Afghan Military Wasted on Non-
Existent Soldiers.''
  Mr. Speaker, 200,000 Afghanistan ghosts that the taxpayers of America

[[Page 14365]]

have been paying for their services, and they don't even exist.
  When I read that, I wrote a letter to the Defense Secretary, Ash 
Carter, and I said to Secretary Carter: Please explain how much money 
did we pay to the ghosts that don't even exist? How long have we been 
paying the ghosts that don't exist? We are talking about 200,000 Afghan 
soldiers that don't even exist.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not understand why the House of Representatives 
does not have a debate on our policy regarding Afghanistan. How much 
longer can a nation that is $19.8 trillion in debt--that is America, 
$19.8 trillion in debt--and how many more billions of dollars can we 
keep putting into the black hole of Afghanistan and keep losing our 
young men and women in a country that is never going to change?
  It goes back to Alexander the Great. It goes back to the British. It 
goes back to the Russians. Anyone who has ever gone into that country 
known as Afghanistan has eventually left, and they knew there was 
nothing they could change.
  Not America, though. We have been there 16 years. We don't even 
debate it on the floor of the House. We will be passing a DOD funding 
bill pretty soon, and there will be billions of dollars going to 
Afghanistan and there will be very little debate on it. There are those 
on the Democratic side and the Republican side, Mr. Speaker, who do 
care about our troops, who do care about the wasted money, and who do 
care about a policy that has no end to it.
  It is not fair to our men and women in uniform. They deserve better 
from this Congress. It is our constitutional duty that we debate policy 
that sends our young men and women to die. Yet we do not debate it. It 
just goes on and on.
  This poster that I brought with me today, Mr. Speaker, before I 
close, I have signed over 11,000 letters to families and extended 
families who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq. Recently, we 
have had seven Americans killed in Afghanistan. I do not understand why 
we are so void of a debate. James Madison would have been very 
disappointed, Mr. Speaker. It was Madison who said that it is the 
legislative branch that will debate and vote on war, not the executive 
branch.
  But we have abdicated our responsibility to the President and let the 
President decide what the foreign policy should be and how we should 
use our men and women in uniform. That is a sad day for America.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the House for this time. I close by 
asking God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please 
bless the families of our men and women in uniform and hold in His 
loving arms those young Americans who have given their life for this 
country. God bless America.

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