S.Amdt. 4594

SA 4594. Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. McCain) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2943, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1216. SENSE OF SENATE ON THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE
ADVICE OF MILITARY COMMANDERS TO ENSURE FORCE
LEVELS IN AFGHANISTAN AFTER 2016 ARE
CONDITIONS-BASED.

(a) Finding.--The Senate makes the following findings:
(1) The United States vowed to hold those responsible for
the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks accountable, and
seeks to ensure that terrorists never again use Afghan soil
to plot an attack on another country.
(2) Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,
the United States decisively expelled the Taliban from
control of Afghanistan and sought to promote a multilateral
agenda to stabilize and reconstruct Afghanistan and rebuild
its institutions and economy.
(3) The United States and Afghanistan signed a Bilateral
Security Agreement (BSA) on September 30, 2014, that provides
for an enduring commitment between the Government of the
United States and the Government of Afghanistan to enhance
the ability of the Government of Afghanistan to deter
internal and external threats against its sovereignty.
(4) The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has
metastasized beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria, announcing
its formation on January 10, 2015, in Afghanistan where it
carries out bombings, small arms attacks, and kidnappings
against civilians and security forces in a number of
provinces.
(5) On September 28, 2015, Taliban fighters took over the
city of Kunduz, Afghanistan, after government forces fully
retreated, giving the insurgents a military and political
victory that had evaded them since 2001.
(6) Since the beginning of 2016, current Commander of
Resolute Support and United States Forces-Afghanistan,
General John W. Nicholson Jr., former Commander of Resolute
Support and United States Forces-Afghanistan, General John F.
Campbell, and current Commander of United States Central
Command, General Joseph L. Votel--the senior military
commanders closest to the fight--have testified that the
security situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating and
support a withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan
only when conditions warrant.
(7) On April 19, 2016, the Taliban carried out a suicide
bomb and gun assault on a government security building in
Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 28 people and wounding
more than 320, marking the single deadliest attack in the
capital of Afghanistan since 2011.
(8) In the first three months of 2016, the United Nations
reported that Afghanistan documented 600 civilian deaths and
1,343 wounded, with almost one-third of the casualties being
children.
(b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the future trajectory of security and stability in
Afghanistan is contingent upon the proper force levels of the
United States and coalition partners, which must be
conditions-based;
(2) adjustments to force levels in Afghanistan should be
made with all due consideration to the assessment and advice
of military commanders on the ground;
(3) decisions on force levels in Afghanistan should take
into account the capabilities required to preserve and
promote the hard-fought gains achieved over the last 15
years;
(4) United States force levels in Afghanistan should be
determined in a timely manner and made known to allies and
partners to afford adequate planning and force generation
lead times;
(5) the United States must continue its efforts to train
and advise the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in
warfighting functions so that they are capable of defending
their country and ensuring that Afghanistan never again
succumbs to the fate of being a terrorist safe-haven for
groups like the Taliban, al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL);
(6) the United States must continue, in conjunction with
the Afghan National Security Forces, to operate a robust
counterterrorism force to deal with evolving and immediate
threats to the national security interests of the United
States;
(7) the decision of the President in October 2015 to
maintain the current United States force level of 9,800
members of the Armed Forces in Afghanistan was in the
national security interests of the United States; and
(8) Congress would support the President if the President
decided to maintain the current level of United States forces
in Afghanistan and adjust such level based on conditions on
the ground.
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