Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts Authorization Act of 2024

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge and thank my Republican colleague from Indiana (Mr. Baird) for joining me on this bipartisan legislation to establish the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts Authorization Act, H.R. 8368.

Over the course of our 20-year mission in Afghanistan, more than 300,000 Afghans worked shoulder to shoulder with U.S. servicemembers, diplomats, and aid workers. They provided valuable support for nearly 800,000 U.S. troops who rotated through Afghanistan. They served primarily as translators, guides, and informal advisers to U.S. personnel on the ground.

These are, in every sense of the word, our valued allies. They stood with us through difficult conditions, advancing U.S. interests.

In August 2021, the U.S. conducted an historic and heroic evacuation that carried 70,000 Afghans to safety along with tens of thousands of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, as well as citizens from other countries.

Since July 2021, the State Department has worked around the clock to relocate U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from Afghanistan who wanted to depart and who were eligible Afghan allies who worked with us.

Secretary Blinken has made this a top priority for the Department and has said that there is no deadline for this important work. He underscores the commitment that the Biden administration has to this effort and the promise of Operation Enduring Welcome.

In 2022, to solidify these relocation efforts, the State Department established a specialized office called the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, appropriately known as CARE.

CARE serves as the hub for a whole-of-government priority, working closely with various Federal departments and agencies, international partners, veterans groups, former diplomats, government officials, and NGOs to ensure the safe and efficient relocation of individuals who have qualified to immigrate to the U.S., either as special immigrants or refugees, during the 20-year U.S. mission to Afghanistan.

The Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program, also stood up by Congress and relying on our regular reauthorization of additional visa numbers to meet demand, long faced challenges and processing delays, but the situation changed dramatically early in 2021, when the Biden administration ramped up resources to clear an SIV processing backlog that had accumulated in the prior administration.

Working together, Congress and the administration have prioritized and streamlined the Afghan SIV program to meet evolving demand and uphold our moral obligation.

In fiscal year 2023, the administration issued the most SIVs in a single year since the start of the program in 2009. In the most recent report, the Department issued 1,894 SIVs, ensuring that almost 8,000 additional Afghan allies and their families had a pathway to safety.

Similarly, the State Department has announced the establishment of a new P-2 category for refugees, in addition to the P-1 referrals, to expand available pathways for persecuted Afghans. As a result, we have welcomed more than 130,000 Afghans to safety.

The CARE program has been the linchpin of this work, serving as a valuable conduit for all of the different organizations I mentioned and Afghans themselves as they navigate a pathway to their new home. The work, however, is not codified in statute. It exists across a number of agencies and programs.

Congress should be unambiguous here. We support this work. We want to see the job continue, and we should do so by authorizing it as a new agency.

That is what this bill would do. It would authorize the CARE office in the State Department for 3 years and grant it important authorities to continue this work as an identified legislative priority for the State Department.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, to acknowledge the obligation that we have, our moral obligation to help those who helped us so much, and to fulfill our promise to all of those who stood with us.

I thank Ranking Member Meeks and Chairman McCaul of the Foreign Affairs Committee for their support in helping move this bill to the floor, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8368. There is one thing I believe unites us on the issue of Afghanistan, and that is unwavering commitment to the Afghan allies who stood by us during our nearly two-decade mission in the country. This bill is about honoring that commitment.

H.R. 8368 formally authorizes the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, or CARE, which has been leading the essential work of supporting those who risked their lives to assist the United States by helping eligible Afghan applicants and their families relocate to the United States.

By providing a clear bipartisan mandate, along with the authorities that the State Department has requested, this legislation sends a strong message of support for CARE's mission that can't simply be waved away. It demonstrates that Congress stands firmly behind the creative, tenacious efforts by the CARE office to relocate and protect our deserving Afghan partners.

These are individuals who risked everything to support our mission. They served as interpreters, guides, and partners in some of the most dangerous conditions imaginable. To turn our backs on them now would be unconscionable.

Let's remember that our commitment is not just a matter of policy or party, but it is a matter of principle. This bill is a step in the right direction, but it cannot be the final word on our support for our Afghan allies, particularly since Congress will need to continue to act to ensure Afghan special immigrant visas remain available and CARE's work is appropriately resourced during the period authorized by this bill. There are bipartisan bills we can bring to the floor in this Congress to accomplish exactly that.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this bill introduced by Representative Titus, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same so that we can continue to uphold our promises to those who stood by us in Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus), an esteemed member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the author of this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, for over 20 years, our Afghan allies risked everything to support the U.S. mission, and we must not turn our backs on them now. The CARE office deserves a clear, bipartisan mandate. I hope my colleagues will join me and support this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8368) to establish a Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts in the Department of State, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bipartisan legislation to codify the establishment of the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts.

When the Biden administration executed its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, we left behind thousands of Afghans who had risked their lives to assist the United States' mission in Afghanistan.

The subsequent Taliban takeover put these brave individuals at serious risk, and we have seen many Afghans who worked for the U.S. be targeted in reprisal killings and forced disappearances. It is our duty as Americans to help bring these vulnerable Afghans to safety in the

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this administration failed the Afghan people by abandoning them to the Taliban rule. It is our responsibility as Americans to remedy this failure. I am proud to support this bipartisan legislation today, and I encourage my colleagues to join me in voting for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I was unable to cast my vote on H.R. 3012, the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act, as amended, and H.R. 8368, the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts Authorization Act, as amended. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 474 and YEA on Roll Call No. 475.

Mr. Speaker, during Roll Call Vote No. 475 on H.R. 8368, I mistakenly recorded my vote as NAY when I should have voted YEA.