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[Page H190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1210
AFGHANISTAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.
Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, I read an article by the
Associated Press that the French have made a decision to fast-track
their withdrawal from Afghanistan and bring troops home by the end of
2013 instead of the end of 2014. If France follows through with this
accelerated drawdown, they will join other countries like Canada and
the Netherlands, who have also drawn down their forces in recent years.
I believe these countries are on the right track.
The Department of Defense has recently been asked to find over $490
billion in cuts. We are currently spending $10 billion a month, which
equates to $120 billion a year, in Afghanistan. By bringing our troops
home now, we would be saving hundreds of billions of dollars, which
would prevent the Department of Defense from cutting other military
programs. It simply is common sense to bring our troops home now and
not wait.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote from a January 20, 2012, New York
Times article by Matthew Rosenberg, titled, ``Afghanistan's Soldiers
Step Up Killings of Allied Forces'':
``American and other coalition forces here are being killed in
increasing numbers by the very Afghan soldiers they fight alongside and
train, in attacks motivated by deep-seated animosity between the
supposedly allied forces, according to American and Afghan officers and
a classified coalition report obtained by The New York Times.''
Mr. Rosenberg further states in his article, ``A decade into the war
in Afghanistan, the report makes clear that these killings have become
the most visible symptom of a far deeper ailment plaguing the war
effort: the contempt each side holds for the other, never mind the
Taliban. The ill will and mistrust run deep among civilians and
militaries on both sides, raising questions about what future role the
U.S. and its allies can expect to play in Afghanistan.''
Mr. Speaker, more important than the money are the young men and
women who are sacrificing their lives, limbs, and families by serving
in a corrupt nation led by a corrupt leader.
Beside me, Mr. Speaker, is a poster that I have been bringing to the
floor from time to time of a young soldier from Fort Bragg, North
Carolina, who is sitting in a wheelchair with both legs gone and an arm
gone, with his lovely wife standing beside his wheelchair showing him
their new apartment.
How many more young men and women have to die? How many more young
men and women have to lose their legs, their arms? And the sad part
about it is that, as history has shown, no great nation in the history
of the world has ever changed Afghanistan; and we're not going to
change it either. History has proven that fact time and time again. It
is time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan.
Before closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the story of my visit to
Walter Reed, which is in Bethesda, Maryland. A young Marine corporal
from Camp Lejeune, which I have the privilege to represent, said to me,
with his mom in the room: Why don't we come home, Congressman? Why
don't we come home?
It is time that this administration and this Congress say to the
American people: We're not going to wait until 2014 to bring our troops
home. We're going to start bringing them home in 2013.
And with that, Mr. Speaker, in closing, I ask God to please bless our
men and women in uniform. I ask God to please bless the families who
have given a loved one dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I
will close by asking God three times: God, please, God, please, God,
please continue to bless America.
____________________
