Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, along with other Members of Congress, I attended a classified briefing on the swap of our soldier for the five Taliban leaders. I won't go into that, but I did have an opportunity to make a comment to the presenters.

I made a comment regarding my concern about the bilateral strategic agreement, known as BSA, and the fact that we continue to spend money in Afghanistan that we borrow from foreign nations.

Mr. Speaker, beside me today, I have a cartoon that was created by Mr. Milt Priggee, and it makes a point very well. It has Uncle Sam pointing out saying:

I want you.

Then the language beside it says:

To understand that if you can't afford to take care of your

veterans, you can't afford to go to war.

Well, that makes my point very well because we seem to find all the money we need for Afghanistan to waste, and we know that waste, fraud, and abuse is worse today than it has ever been in the 12 years we have been in Afghanistan.

I would like to quote from the Daily Journal Online. The title is, ``No end for Afghanistan's war on the U.S. taxpayer.'' I want to read two paragraphs from this online article:

John Sopko, the inspector general for Afghanistan

Reconstruction (SIGAR), may have taken Uncle Sam and shaken

him by the lapels last month, but the media missed it. In

short, Afghanistan is on life support, and Joe Citizen is its

permanent IV. From your pockets, Uncle Sam has taken $103

billion to build Afghanistan so far.

By the way, that figure doesn't include the cost of war-

making. That is more money than we have spent on

reconstruction for any one country in the history of the

United States.

Mr. Speaker, I just heard the Congressman from Connecticut talking about the infrastructure of his State, as well as America, and the poor shape it is in, but yet we find all the money we need for Afghanistan, so we can build their roads, so that the Taliban can blow up the roads. It makes no sense.

Mr. Speaker, SIGAR, on the job since 2008, has produced 118 audits and inspection reports and made 23 quarterly reports to Congress. I have read a few of these, certainly not all, but all you have to do is hear Mr. Sopko speak or read some of the reports from his organization, and you will be disgusted, as I am disgusted, with the stupidity of continuing to find money for Afghanistan while we cut programs right here in America.

Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, I went to Walter Reed Hospital. I knew there were two marines who had been injured in Afghanistan from my district, Camp Lejeune, which is in the Third District of North Carolina.

I happened, while being there, to meet four soldiers, one a colonel from Fort Bragg, which is not in my district, but in North Carolina. All four had lost at least one leg. Then when I met this young man from Louisiana, who is a marine from Camp Lejeune, his father was standing beside him.

He had lost both legs and an arm, and he is 23 years of age. I looked in the eyes of the father, who could not have been more than 50. I saw pain. I saw hurt. I saw worry about the future of his son's life, missing two legs and an arm.

Why are we still sending troops to Afghanistan? Yes, we are going to cut the troops, but we are going to keep 9,000 to 10,000 there. The Taliban will still go after them and try to blow off their legs and kill them.

Mr. Speaker, I want to quote Pat Buchanan, who I have great respect for, particularly on foreign policy, because he and I agree:

Is it not a symptom of senility to be borrowing from the

world so we can defend the world?

Let me repeat that:

Is it not a symptom of senility to be borrowing from the

world so we can defend the world?

Mr. Speaker, I would put one word in there. I would change ``senility'' to ``stupidity,'' and I will read it now: Is it not a symptom of stupidity to be borrowing from the world, so we defend the world?

Mr. Speaker, again, Uncle Sam is saying, Don't spend money overseas when you have got problems right here in America and our veterans are not being adequately cared for.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to end the spending in Afghanistan. It is time to stop sending our troops over there to be killed and have their legs and arms blown off.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask God to continue to bless America and bless our men and women in uniform.

Mr. Speaker, I am on the floor today to express my disappointment that my colleagues and I were prevented from offering an amendment to the NDAA dealing with the constitutional responsibility of Congress to declare war.

Like many Members of Congress, I had the opportunity to speak at events on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday on Memorial Day weekend. Every time I spoke, I mentioned my frustration that the McGovern-Jones amendment was not able to be brought to the floor for debate and a vote. However, I was pleased that Adam Schiff's amendment to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which was passed by Congress in 2001, was at least brought up for a debate. However, I was disappointed that the Schiff amendment was defeated, because no President should have the authority to send men and women to war without action from Congress.

According to CRS, the AUMF has been invoked in 30 known instances by Presidents Bush and Obama for the purpose of deploying troops. This represents an abdication of our constitutional responsibility.

Yesterday I had the honor of visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Mr. Speaker, I have beside me a poster of a triple amputee. This gentleman gave his arm and both legs for our country. Yesterday at Walter Reed, during my visit, I had the privilege of talking with several of our Nation's heroes who have lost limbs, double amputees and triple amputees.

Mr. Speaker, those lost limbs as well as other injuries, both physical and mental, are why I had veterans approach me at Memorial Day events to say that they agree that Afghanistan is not worth the blood that has been shed there. Furthermore, they agreed with me that Afghanistan is not worth America continuing to borrow money from foreign nations, driving up further the debt of our Nation to fund President Karzai's corrupt government when we have a multitude of problems and needs right here in America.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to close my comments by quoting Pat Buchanan, and I believe this describes our situation in Afghanistan: ``Is it not a symptom of senility to be borrowing from the world so that we can defend the world?'' I am going to repeat that one more time. ``Is it not a symptom of senility to be borrowing from the world so that we can defend the world?''

Mr. Speaker, we are a debtor nation. We can't even pay our bills without going into the international markets and borrowing money to pay last year's bills. It is time that this Congress understands that we need to come back to America and rebuild America. We need to be smart with our foreign policy. We need to be smart with our men and women in uniform.

And as I look at this poster one more time, Mr. Speaker, when I saw that 23-year-old young man from Camp Lejeune, which is in my district, yesterday and his father, who is probably about 50 or 51, and the young man has both legs gone and an arm, I looked in the eyes of the father, and what I saw was pain; what I saw was worry; what I saw was sorrow.

We in this Congress need to follow our constitutional responsibility and never send our young men and women to war unless we debate it and we declare war on the floor of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts.

I could not agree more. How in the world can the Congress of the United States, which has an obligation to declare war, continue to abdicate its right to debate our young men and women going to Afghanistan to die?

We have already spent over $1.5 trillion in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq was an unnecessary war.

The previous administration intentionally manufactured the justification. It was absolutely unnecessary. And all we are asking-- and that is why I will vote against the rule. There is much in this bill that I will vote for.

But as the gentleman from Massachusetts says, this is a bipartisan amendment.

I have signed over 11,000 letters to families and extended families who lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. This past weekend I signed four letters. I am not trying to single myself out, but I feel the pain of my mistake of giving the authority to the previous President to bypass Congress to send our young men and women to die in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. McGovern is right. If President Obama believes it is necessary in the next couple of years to increase the numbers, then let him come to Congress so that we can meet our constitutional responsibility and vote either ``yes'' or ``no,'' and then, with pride, know that we did what the Constitution required.

Next Wednesday, I will go to Walter Reed at Bethesda to see three marines who were severely injured in Afghanistan in the last month. I don't know how severely they are. It might be legs are gone. It might be brain injuries.

Yet, we, in Congress, continue to abdicate our constitutional responsibility to these young men and young women. I will tell you that the marines down at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point, which is in my district, are sick and tired of this involvement in Afghanistan.

One last point. The former Commandant of the Marine Corps has been my adviser for the last 5 years on Afghanistan, and he has said: Why doesn't Congress understand history? You will never change Afghanistan. No matter how much blood or money you send to Afghanistan, you will never change it.

I am disappointed in the Rules Committee. So many, and every one of them, Republican and Democrat, I have the greatest respect for. But not to allow us to debate whether a young man or young woman from America should die or lose their legs, their arms, or their mind is a disappointment and a failure of this House of Representatives not to follow the Constitution.

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for the time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding.

You know, it is kind of amazing that many of us on my side are considered conservatives. I hope that I am considered a conservative.

Pat Buchanan has written so many articles about the new war party. The new war party is the Republican Party. It is the Republican Party because of the reason that Mr. McGovern is talking about today.

We sit here and we allow all these other spending issues involving our military, and much of it they deserve: pay increases, taking care of their families, doing the good things for our military.

But when it comes to sending our young men and women to give their life and limbs, we don't debate it. We just don't debate it.

I don't know if the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned the Congress about--do they control Congress? I don't know. I haven't checked the campaign finance donations from the military industrial complexes.

But something has changed my party from understanding our constitutional responsibilities. Nothing is more important--nothing in the House of Representatives is more important than sending a young man or woman to die for this country. If this amendment allows us to have a debate on whether

that young man or young woman should give their life, then we owe it to the families of America.

This amendment that Mr. McGovern and myself and Ms. Lee and Mr. Smith and Mr. Garamendi offered is very simple. It just says that after 2014, if the President decides that he needs to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, then we will vote on it.

Do you know how pathetic this is that we are asking for this?

A few years ago, President Obama proposed to the Afghan Government-- President Karzai, who is a crook--that we will have an agreement, that we will stay there 10 more years, and that we will send them $2 billion or $3 billion a month just to take care of their needs in Afghanistan. This, when we are cutting food programs for children, senior citizens, and we can't even fix the potholes and can't fix the bridges in America.

And then you will not allow us to have a debate on our responsibility, based on the Constitution, that a young man or a young woman who would die for this country or lose a leg, an arm, or their mind, that we can't have a debate? What a pathetic time for the House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, last week in a hearing of the Armed Services Committee, we listened to the concerns of Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff of the Army, General Ray Odierno.

They appeared before the committee to tell us about the serious problems facing the United States Army, specifically, the difficult budget situation the Army is currently facing.

It was my intention to ask the following question regarding the funding that is being cut from the Army: Why are we continuing to spend billions of dollars in Afghanistan when the money could be going to support our servicemembers?

As I did last week, I would like to read a short paragraph from the World Affairs Journal entitled, ``Money Pit: The Monstrous Failure of U.S. Aid to Afghanistan.'' The article states that, in 2012, the United States budgeted $11.2 billion for Afghan military training, with another $5.8 billion for 2013.

The article goes on to say:

In Afghanistan, a big problem is illiteracy. Almost 3 years

ago, when Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell IV, took

command of the NATO training mission, he noted that ``overall

literacy'' among Afghan military and police stood ``at about

14 percent.'' How can an illiterate policeman read a license

plate, the General asked, how can a soldier fill out a form,

read an equipment manual?

Now, even though these concerns have been on the table for

years, the special inspector general for Afghan

reconstruction said in last summer's report: The literacy

rate of Afghan security forces as a whole is 11 percent.

Again, I want to repeat that, in 2012, the United States budgeted $11.2 billion for Afghan military training, with another $5.8 billion for 2013.

Madam Speaker, for the United States to continue funding these Afghan security forces would be a mistake. It would put our servicemembers' lives in danger, and it would waste the American people's hard-earned tax dollars.

Why are we, in Congress, not putting a stop to this abuse, especially considering this money flows freely overseas with little to no accountability?

Last Friday, I had the privilege of speaking to around 100 people at an event in my district, and truly, almost everyone agreed with me that spending money we do not have in Afghanistan is a waste.

Every nation that has tried to govern Afghanistan has failed, and this is no exception. It is my hope, along with my colleague, Jim McGovern, who has continuously worked with me on this issue, that the House leadership will allow debate on this failed policy in Afghanistan this spring or summer.

We need to take the money that we are spending overseas, and we need it to benefit our own security forces and the problems facing the American people here at home.

When I look at the bridges and the potholes and education and other needs in America and we are cutting those programs, why do we continue to borrow billions of dollars from foreign governments to prop up the Afghan leadership? It is nothing but a failed policy.

In closing, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform, and I continue to ask God to continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, I am on the House floor today to bring attention to an article from the World Affairs Journal, titled, ``Money Pit: The Monstrous Failure of U.S. Aid to Afghanistan.'' This is an eight-page article documenting case after case of American tax dollars being wasted in Afghanistan.

I would like to bring one specific example to your attention, keeping in mind that many more months have now passed since this article was published and these figures are now even larger.

In a recent quarterly report, the U.S. Inspector General

for Afghan Reconstruction said that when security for aid

workers is figured, the total amount of nonmilitary funds

Washington has appropriated since 2002 is ``approximately

$100 billion''--more than the United States has ever spent to

rebuild a country.

Since then, Congress has appropriated another $16.5 billion

for ``reconstruction.'' And all that has not brought the

United States or the Afghans a single sustainable institution

or program.

As I traveled through the Third District of North Carolina last week, I spoke on this subject many times and was met with frustration from the audience at the waste of taxpayer money in Afghanistan.

When I went on to explain that the Afghan Parliament was able to vote on the bilateral strategic agreement that we are in the process of finalizing with Afghanistan, but we have not even debated the issue in the House, the individuals with whom I spoke were incredibly disappointed in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot blame the American people for wanting a vote on this agreement, which will spend billions of American dollars in Afghanistan with little to no accountability over at least the next 10 years.

This is not a partisan issue. Congressman Jim McGovern and I have signed a letter asking the leadership of both parties for a debate on the expenditure of tax dollars to prop up the corrupt nation of Afghanistan.

To further explain why this debate is necessary, I will briefly read two more examples from the ``Money Pit'' article.

The Special Inspector General's office, widely known as

SIGAR, noted that for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years the

United States has been providing Afghanistan, practically the

most corrupt nation on Earth, with $1.1 billion in fuel for

the Afghan military--even though the United States has made

no effort to determine how much fuel the military actually

requires.

The article goes on to cite a GAO report, stating that for $130,000, Afghan contractors built a large shower/bathroom facility, ``without holes in the walls or floors for plumbing and drains.'' What's more, the walls were constructed of ``crumbling cinder blocks.'' The report named insufficient oversight.

Mr. Speaker, it is time that we bring to a close the era of waste, fraud, and abuse of the United States' resources overseas and in Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, I hope the leadership of both parties will allow this Congress to debate whether we should stay in Afghanistan for 10 more years. If the Parliament in Afghanistan can have that debate, why can't the United States House of Representatives?

In closing, I would like to ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform and their families.

I will close by saying we have spent enough blood and treasure on this failed policy in Afghanistan. Let's debate the issue and stop spending the taxpayers' money in Afghanistan.

Madam Speaker, I am on the floor again today to talk about Afghanistan--the absolute waste of life and money.

A lot of people don't realize this, but if you go back to 2001, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have spent over $1.5 trillion, which averages out to about 11.2 million tax dollars paid every hour by the American people.

In today's national paper, the USA Today--and other headlines--the headline is this: ``Obama to Karzai: Time running out for security deal.''

Madam Speaker, based on recent polls, this would be good news for the American people if we would not continue this relationship with Afghanistan. It is nothing but an absolute waste of the taxpayers' money, and the American people are sick and tired of it. A recent poll last week by Gallup showed that almost 50 percent of the American people believe that the war in Afghanistan was a mistake to start with.

I can honestly say this: If it was not a mistake to start with, it is a mistake now that we continue to support and spend money on a corrupt leader named Karzai.

Madam Speaker, as I listened to the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel yesterday talk about financial pressure on our military and the budget that he will be supporting that Mr. Obama has proposed, I wonder why we in Congress are not allowed to debate on the floor of this House--and I am not talking about the Senate now--whether we believe that we should have a 10-year agreement with Afghanistan.

Again, we are talking about spending anywhere from $3 billion to $4 billion a month. It is borrowed money from the Chinese and Japanese, and we continue to raise the debt ceiling because we cannot pay our own bills. It is time for the Congress to speak out on behalf of the American people and say enough is enough.

To be clear, this agreement that President Karzai has adamantly refused to sign, as The Washington Post reported earlier this week, during a December visit to Kabul, Hagel suggested that the late- February NATO meeting--meaning this week--was a cutoff point for Afghan President Karzai to sign the bilateral strategic agreement that sets the terms for a post-2014 U.S. presence.

Madam Speaker, we cannot any longer police the world. We can hardly afford to pay our own bills without going to foreign governments to borrow money.

Madam Speaker, it is time for Congress to reach out and to say that we listen to the American people. When we are talking about not even being able to take care of our veterans, and we are going to cut programs for children and senior citizens, and even our veterans are in jeopardy of getting the benefits that they have earned, it is time for the American people to put pressure on Congress to have this debate that many of us in both parties would like to have, quite frankly.

Madam Speaker, I have beside me a photograph of a young man named Eric Edmundson. Eric, in 2005, was in a Humvee that was hit by an IED that exploded. Eric has been in the national Wounded Warrior Project ads across this Nation.

Eric is like so many of the wounded. We just don't really think about them every day, but we should. Eric has a wonderful wife. His mom and dad were able to retire to New Bern, North Carolina, which is in my district, and help Eric have a quality of life.

Madam Speaker, I can honestly tell you that we have got so many veterans that we are going to need to take care of who earned the right for this government to take care of them that we are going to have a tsunami that is going to hit this Congress in a few years, and we are going to wonder how in the world can we give these wounded and their families what they have earned and deserve.

Madam Speaker, it is time for this Congress to put pressure on the leadership of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party to force a discussion and a debate on the future of our financial involvement in Afghanistan.

With that, Madam Speaker, I am going to ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform. I ask God to please bless the wounded, to bless

the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I ask God to please bless the House and the Senate, that we will do what is right in the eyes of God for God's people, and to please bless the President of the United States, that he also would do what is right in the eyes of God for America.

Mr. Speaker, I am on the House floor today to share with my colleagues several recent headlines from our national papers.

From The Washington Post on January 30:

After billions in U.S. investment, Afghanistan roads are

falling apart.

This article goes on to describe the Afghan road network, built with U.S. tax dollars, as a ``$4 billion project that was once a symbol of promise in post-Taliban Afghanistan but is now falling apart.''

Another headline from January 30 from The New York Times:

U.S. aid to Afghanistan flows on despite warnings of

misuse.

This report informs us that two global firms hired by the United States 3 years ago have found that none of the 16 Afghan ministries can be counted on to keep American aid from being stolen or wasted.

Most recently, this week Reuters published an article titled, ``U.S. aid plan seeks to shield Afghanistan from end to war economy,'' which details a new initiative from the U.S. Agency for International Development that would spend almost $300 million to prop up the Afghan economy.

Mr. Speaker, the common factor in these articles is that each describes in alarming detail the absolute waste of American tax dollars overseas. How can we in good conscience tell the American people we are going to continue to send their money to Afghanistan for 10 more years under the Bilateral Strategic Agreement that the United States is currently negotiating with President Karzai?

I hope President Karzai will not sign the agreement. It would be the best thing to happen to the American taxpayer.

Ironically, today or tomorrow we are going to raise the debt ceiling. This is after already raising it by $230 billion in October of 2013, with $30 billion reserved for Afghanistan. This is not right or fair to the American people.

We need to stop the insanity in Afghanistan, which could be done if the leaders of the House and Senate would allow Members of both parties to bring bills related to this issue to the floor for a vote.

In addition to the money we are spending, how many more American lives must be lost overseas before Congress decides to act? We cannot continue to waste American money and precious lives in this manner. It is time to end the abuse of the American resources in Afghanistan.

With that, I will ask God to continue to bless our men and women in uniform and their families, and ask God to please continue to bless America.

Mr. Chairman, the bill we are considering this morning includes a provision that would repeal excessive restrictions on public access to Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Even though the seashore is paid for by tax dollars, current regulations have restricted access to the recreational area that is owned by the taxpayer. The elected officials of Dare County have verified that the regulations have damaged the economy in the area, which relies heavily on tourism. The last thing that we need in eastern North Carolina--and across the country--is governmental regulations stifling job creation and economic growth.

This bill would overturn the current rule, while restricting access to the seashore, and reinstitute the National Park Service's 2007 Interim Management Strategy to govern visitor access and species protection at Cape Hatteras. The Interim Management Strategy was backed by a 113-page Biological Opinion issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which found that it would not jeopardize piping plover, sea turtles, or other species of concerns.

Please support this legislation. Let's protect the species that need to be protected, but let's also protect the rights of the taxpayer. This bill finds the balance between the two.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I came to the floor to speak about the bilateral strategic agreement and the fact that President Karzai has refused to sign the proposal offered by the administration.

Since we have been in Afghanistan, 2,285 Americans have given their lives for our country, and 19,514 have been wounded. The time has come for Congress to understand history. From the days of Alexander the Great, to the British, to the Russians, no one has ever changed Afghanistan.

The American people are tired of the cost of war, both life and money. As I said yesterday, it is my hope that, in early 2014, the leadership of the House will permit a debate and a vote on the agreement that will obligate our country to Afghanistan for at least 10 more years. I realize that the vote will not change the agreement, because the President does have the authority, but this will give us a chance to represent the people of America who, the majority, are opposed to this agreement.

It is unacceptable that we will continue to spend billions of dollars at a time when, according to Special Inspector General John Sopko, the waste, fraud, and abuse is worse in Afghanistan today than it was 11 years ago.

We in Congress continue to cut funding for programs for the American people, but we refuse to withhold one single dollar from Karzai in Afghanistan. No wonder the American people have given Congress an approval rating of 9 percent.

It is time to end the senseless waste of American lives and American money in Afghanistan.

I want to thank Roger Simon for his editorial in today's Politico, and I would like to read the last paragraph of his editorial. He writes:

Is this the neighborhood we want to stay in? And fight for?

And throw more money at? We have achieved our goals in

Afghanistan. We have won. It is time for our troops to come

home. If we stay for another decade, our good war could come

to a very bad end.

So, again, Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that when we get into 2014, that both parties will come together and say that we need to debate on whether this agreement for 10 years is worth one life or one dollar. And I believe it will be a vigorous debate. I think it will be good that the American people can see that we hear them as it relates to this war in Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, before I close, I have got a poster from the Greensboro News & Record dated February 27, 2011. It is the military carrying a flag-draped coffin off the back of a plane. How many more young Americans will have to go and walk the roads of Afghanistan and be killed and lose their limbs?

I hope that my colleagues in both parties will join those of us in both parties who want to have this debate on Afghanistan in 2014.

Mr. Speaker, I will close now by asking God to please bless our men in uniform, to bless the families of our men and women in uniform, and God to hold in His arms the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, during the Thanksgiving break, I wrote a letter to President Obama, which I would like to submit for the record.

The letter respectfully reminded the President that President Karzai continues to thumb his nose in the eyes of the American taxpayer. We have seen many news articles reporting Karzai's refusal to sign the bilateral security agreement that this administration has proposed, an agreement that would obligate United States money and United States troops for at least 10 more years in Afghanistan.

In an Associated Press article printed in my State paper, titled, ``Afghanistan President Delays Deal,'' the subtitle goes on to read, ``U.S. says it will pull out troops if security agreement isn't signed.''

Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that the House will encourage the President to pull our troops out and stop spending money that we do not have in a country that does not even want our help. Furthermore, it is my hope that the House and Senate leadership will, in 2014, allow Congress to vote on this issue of the bilateral strategic agreement.

Mr. Speaker, it is wrong that the Afghan Parliament may vote on whether they want this agreement with the United States, but the House and the Senate that represent the American people can't even have a debate and vote on the will of the American people. I know that the American people want this debate to take place. Hopefully, in 2014, the leadership of the House will at least let us have this debate on the floor of the House.

Mr. Speaker, if you could have traveled with me during the break last week, you would have heard many people in the Third District of North Carolina who said to me that they are outraged that we will continue spending money in Afghanistan at a time when we have so many financial needs at home. It is absolutely unacceptable that a single American would give his life or limb overseas without the approval of Congress. It is absolutely unacceptable that the American taxpayer would give money to a corrupt regime while young and old alike go hungry here in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to the President: Pull the troops out and bring them home now. There is not one thing history says we will ever change in Afghanistan, and nothing, history says, will change in Afghanistan. It is time to end this senseless waste of American lives and American money in Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, this poster beside me was in the Greensboro newspaper where Mr. McGovern and I had written a letter saying it was time for us to pull our troops out. Mr. Speaker, this poster says ``News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, February 2011.'' That's 3 years ago. We are still there, and we are talking about 10 more years. Let Congress debate. Let Congress speak. Let Congress vote the will of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform and to bless their families, and please, God, continue to bless America.

November 26, 2013.

President Barack Obama,

The White House, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. President: I write today due to the ongoing

discussion between the United States and Afghanistan

regarding a 10-year Bilateral Security Agreement to allow our

troops to remain overseas beyond 2014. After reading today's

Washington Post article titled ``Karzai tells Susan Rice of

more demands for accord extending U.S. troop presence,'' I

once again urge you to reconsider your stance on U.S.

relations with Afghanistan.

This agreement will obligate billions of American tax

dollars and expose American troops to further danger

overseas--all while meeting President Karzai's ever-growing

list of demands. After 12 years, billions of dollars, and

President Karzai's continued disrespect for the United

States, many in the House and Senate believe it is time to

end our commitment to Afghanistan. However, despite the risks

involved, the agreement will not be brought before Congress

for a vote. It is a sad day when the Afghan government has

voted on the agreement, but that opportunity has been denied

to the United States Congress.

Mr. President, I have seen many people and spoken at many

events while at home in Eastern North Carolina, and I have

received nothing but support for my position that this

agreement is entirely unacceptable. I respectfully ask you to

take the wishes of the American public into consideration and

oppose the Bilateral Security Agreement with Afghanistan.

Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones,

Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I am again on the floor today because our Nation has failed to heed the warning of George Washington, who told us to beware of foreign entanglements.

We have lost over 4,474 Americans in Iraq and 2,276 Americans in Afghanistan. In both of these wars combined, 46,720 of our servicemembers have been wounded. Furthermore, the American taxpayer is spending $10.45 million every hour to pay for the cost of the war in Afghanistan since 2001. Mr. Speaker, let me repeat that. We are spending $10.45 million an hour just to pay for the money spent in Afghanistan since 2001. Despite these facts, we are now entering into a long-term agreement that, at best, is a failure--at best is a failure.

It is with great disappointment that I share an NBC article, entitled, ``Endless Afghanistan? United States-Afghanistan Agreement Would Keep Troops in Place and Funds Flowing Perhaps Indefinitely''-- perhaps until 2024. I would like to read a short paragraph and submit for the record a few additional excerpts.

While many Americans have been led to believe the war in

Afghanistan will soon be over, a draft of a key United

States-Afghan security deal obtained by NBC News shows the

United States is prepared to maintain military outposts in

Afghanistan for many years to come, and pay to support

hundreds of thousands of Afghan security forces.

Mr. Speaker, George Washington was right. Afghanistan is an impossible situation. History has proven that it is impossible. The Bilateral Security Agreement will only serve to endanger American lives and squander taxpayers' money. I implore my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in standing up for the American people in opposition to the signing of this agreement.

Mr. Speaker, the President has the constitutional right to enter into the agreement. We have no oversight on the agreement itself, but we can put a resolution on the floor and let the Congress debate and let the American people know that we realize what we are doing in Afghanistan, instead of continuing to pass budget bills to fund Karzai.

Mr. Speaker, I have got a little poster here of Karzai. The man is a corrupt leader. All he is doing is taking the taxpayers' money and becoming richer and richer. Mr. Speaker, the funny and sad thing about this in the poster--it is a cartoon--there is a poor American soldier standing behind Karzai, who is at a money machine, and it says the thoughts of the soldier:

I would like to make a quick withdrawal from here.

To the American soldier, I am sorry to say, if we don't do our job in Congress, you will be there until 2024.

The American people need to call their Members of Congress and say that we do not accept this agreement to keep our troops there until 2024. If you can't stop it, at least have a debate on the floor of the House and pass a resolution to say this is what the American people want to see: no long-term agreement with Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank God for blessing our troops and blessing America.

Excerpts for the Record from NBC News Article ``Endless Afghanistan?

US-Afghan Agreement Would Keep Troops in Place and Funds Flowing,

Perhaps Indefinitely''

While many Americans have been led to believe the war in

Afghanistan will soon be over, a draft of a key U.S.-Afghan

security deal obtained by NBC News shows the United States is

prepared to maintain military outposts in Afghanistan for

many years to come, and pay to support hundreds of thousands

of Afghan security forces.

The wide-ranging document, still unsigned by the United

States and Afghanistan, has the potential to commit thousands

of American troops to Afghanistan and spend billions of U.S.

taxpayer dollars.

The document outlines what appears to be the start of a

new, open-ended military commitment in Afghanistan in the

name of training and continuing to fight al-Qaeda. The war in

Afghanistan doesn't seem to be ending, but renewed under new,

scaled-down U.S.-Afghan terms.

The deal, according to the text, would take effect on Jan.

1, 2015 and ``shall remain in force until the end of 2024 and

beyond.''

The document doesn't specifically say how many U.S. and

NATO troops would remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014. Afghan

officials tell NBC News they hope it will be 10 to 15

thousand. U.S. officials tell NBC News the number is closer

to seven to eight thousand, with an additional contribution

from NATO.

Factoring in troop rotations, home leave, and breaks

between deployments, the service of tens of thousands of

American troops would be required to maintain a force of

seven to eight thousand for a decade or longer. The

anticipated costs would likely run into the billions quickly.

[T]he United States shall have an obligation to seek funds

on a yearly basis to support the training, equipping,

advising and sustaining of the Afghan National Security

Forces (ANSF).

Mr. Speaker, again I am on the floor today to talk about the ongoing discussion between the United States and Afghanistan regarding a 10-year bilateral strategic agreement to allow troops to remain overseas beyond the year 2014.

Multiple news organizations have reported that talks on the agreement have stalled because of the unwillingness of the Afghan Government to let the American military search Afghan homes. Two senior Afghan officials went so far as to tell The New York Times that the negotiations had reached a profound impasse.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit for the Record a letter that I have written to the President of the United States regarding this issue.

This agreement will force the United States to continue paying trillions of tax dollars to support the Afghans' President Karzai, a corrupt government which we cannot afford any longer. As it is, taxpayers in the United States have been paying $10.45 million every hour for the cost of the war in Afghanistan since 2001. Let me repeat that. Taxpayers in the United States have been paying $10.45 million every hour for the cost of the war in Afghanistan since 2001. This is unacceptable, especially at a time when this national debt is at an astounding $17 trillion and when we have been forced to make deep budget cuts in the United States.

Just this past weekend, tornadoes in Illinois killed six people. Last year, we watched the devastation on the east coast that resulted from Hurricane Sandy. These national disasters represent only one area in which we could use the money that we are sending to Afghanistan to help the American people right here. In addition, the bilateral strategic agreement will expose our troops to considerable dangers and will risk the loss of additional American lives, all without the approval of Congress.

At the very least, we in Congress should vote as to whether we agree with this agreement or not. It is not required by the Constitution, but we who oversee the spending of the taxpayers' money should demand that the leadership of the House in both parties have a vote, if nothing more than a resolution, that we do support this bilateral strategic agreement or we do not support it.

Mr. Speaker, I am here again today with my poster that is just such a sad commentary on Afghanistan. It is the cartoon of a little Mr. Karzai drawing money out of a money machine--which is being paid for by the taxpayers, by the way--and his comment is, ``I am just making a quick withdrawal.''

Sadly, too, behind him is an American soldier whose thoughts are this: ``I would like to make a quick withdrawal from here.''

Mr. Speaker, it is time for this Congress to wake up and take care of America's problems and not Afghanistan's problems. A 10-year agreement is unacceptable and we need to come together in a bipartisan way to send a message to the administration that we do not support this agreement, and we come together, Republicans and Democrats.

I would close by asking God to please continue to bless our men and women in uniform and ask God to please continue to bless America.

November 18, 2013.

President Barack Obama,

The White House,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. President: I write today due to the ongoing

discussion between the United States and Afghanistan

regarding a 10-year Bilateral Security Agreement to allow our

troops to remain overseas beyond 2014. Multiple news

organizations have reported that talks on the agreement have

stalled because of the unwillingness of the Afghan government

to allow the American military to search Afghan homes.

Mr. President, this agreement will force the United States

to continue paying trillions of tax dollars to support Afghan

President Hamid Karzai's corrupt government. This is

unacceptable, particularly at a time when the national debt

is an astonishing 17 trillion dollars and we have been forced

to make deep budget cuts at home. More importantly, allowing

our troops to remain in Afghanistan exposes them to

considerable danger and risks the loss of additional American

lives--all without the approval of Congress. At the very

least, a vote should be allowed to ensure that Congress

exercises its constitutional responsibility of oversight of

the expenditure of taxpayer money.

Considering these points, I implore you to reconsider the

Bilateral Security Agreement and prevent both the loss of

precious American lives and the waste, fraud, and abuse of

American money overseas.

Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones,

Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, at this point in our Nation's history, I believe both parties will acknowledge that we have major economic issues facing our country. As Congress just recently came to a temporary resolution which raised the debt ceiling by $230 billion, it is incredible to me that we still found $30 billion in aid to send to Afghanistan and $1.6 billion in aid to send to Pakistan.

Mr. Speaker, at a time when America is drowning in debt, this is completely unacceptable. And even more important than the money are the American lives that have been lost--six in the time the government was shut down and one the weekend after.

As we work to fix our national problems, we should be wise enough to follow the lead of the nations who have interfered in Afghanistan before us--England and Russia are only two examples--and stop wasting lives and money on a country that will never change. History tells us that it is time to bring our troops home.

I want to thank ABC News for their effort each Sunday morning during ``This Week with George Stephanopoulos'' to faithfully list the names of the Americans who have been killed in Afghanistan, just as they did during the Iraq war. It is with sadness that I report that they have added seven names to this list over the last 3 weeks.

Mr. Speaker, on the poster beside me are the faces of two little girls, Stephanie and Eden, whose father, Sergeant Kevin Balduf, from Camp Lejeune Marine Base, which is in my district, was killed in Afghanistan. He and Colonel Palmer, from Cherry Point Marine Air Station, also in my district, were trying to train the Afghans to be policemen. One of the trainees turned their pistol on Palmer and Balduf and killed both of them. So these little girls are standing at Arlington Cemetery with their mom holding their hands.

Perhaps more disheartening is the fact that two of the most recent deaths in Afghanistan also were an example of Afghans that we were trying to train killing Americans. We were just trying to help them.

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I spoke on the floor about an article I read, entitled, ``The Forgotten War'' by Ann Jones. I also will submit an article written by an Iraq war veteran named Jayel Aheram, who now attends the University of Southern California, which is entitled, ``Afghanistan War Must End Immediately.'' Both of these articles hold the same conclusion: the war in Afghanistan is a misuse of American youth, American money, and American military power.

It is time for the Congress of the United States to face the fact that we have our own problems here in America. To send over $600 billion to Afghanistan to build roads, schools, and utility plants so the Taliban can blow them up makes no sense.

It is time for little girls like these two to have their daddies at home and not in a coffin.

[From the Daily Trojan, Oct. 7, 2013]

Afghanistan War Must End Immediately

(By Jayel Aheram)

Yesterday marked the 12 year anniversary of the war in

Afghanistan. Americans have grown weary of the drawn-out

conflict's undefined goals and increasingly unsustainable

financial costs. According to a CBS News poll, support for

the war in Afghanistan plummeted last year to its lowest with

only 1 in 4 Americans agreeing that the United States is

doing the right thing. President Barack Obama responded to

this political reality when he announced last February that

``by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be

over.'' But will there really be an end to the Afghanistan

war?

There were three ends to the war in Iraq: The first was in

May 2003, when President George W. Bush announced, ``Mission

accomplished,'' in an infamous speech aboard the USS Abraham

Lincoln just two months after the invasion of Iraq. The

second was in September 2010, when ``combat troops'' silently

crossed the Iraqi border into Kuwait, an event Obama's MSNBC

boosters were breathlessly proclaimed as the triumphant ``End

of the Iraq War.'' The third was in December 2011, when the

Iraqi parliament refused to grant further immunity to U.S.

troops beyond 2011, finally forcing to U.S. troops'

withdrawal from Iraq. If Iraq had three ``end of wars,'' how

many will there be in Afghanistan? According to the

Washington Post, a few thousand U.S. combat troops will

likely remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014 to train and advise

security forces. Despite this promise by Obama of the war's

end, American presence in Afghanistan will merely add to the

grim death toll after 2014.

According to Los Angeles Times, an American service member

was killed last week in an ``insider attack''--incidents

where Afghan allies attack the U.S. troops who train them.

This recent event follows another from the weekend before in

which three U.S. troops were killed. According to NATO, in

2011 and 2012, 97 coalition members were killed by their

Afghan counterparts in these insider attacks. Even as the

United States shifts its role from combat to advisory and

training, deaths from insider attacks will most likely

continue. Taliban leaders, including Mullah Muhammad Omar,

have urged their sympathizers and members to continue to

infiltrate the security forces and kill American trainers and

Afghan trainees.

Bob Dreyfuss wrote in The Nation that military commanders

believe in an ``insurgent math''--that is, for every civilian

the U.S. military kills, 20 insurgents take their place.

Approximately 6,841 civilians have been killed since the

beginning of the Afghanistan war. Using this ``insurgent

math,'' that would mean the U.S. military has created more

than 120,000 insurgents who continue to threaten the lives of

U.S. troops and Afghans loyal to the Karzai regime. These

newly created insurgents have empowered the Taliban as

evidenced by a recent article by the Associated Press, which

reported that Taliban fighters have started an insurgent

campaign of regaining lost territories as foreign troops

depart. After 12 long years, $600 billion spent, more than

2,000 military deaths, 6,000 civilian deaths and tens of

thousands of lives irrevocably altered, when will Americans

muster the political will and courage to end America's

longest war? Renaming the war is not progress, it is not

peace and it will certainly not stop American deaths.

Mr. Speaker, I am on the floor today in remembrance of the bombing of the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 years ago.

On October 23, 1983, at approximately 6:20 in the morning, a truck packed with explosives broke security and detonated outside of the barracks, killing 241 Americans and wounding 128 more.

Mr. Speaker, I believe it is appropriate that, on the 30th anniversary of this act of terrorism, we recognize the sacrifice of the individuals who lost life and limb, and join with the families and friends of the victims in mourning their loss.

Furthermore, I believe that we should learn from the example of America's leader at the time of the bombing, President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan appreciated the sacrifice made by our servicemembers and was deeply pained by the loss of life.

While many other Presidents would have continued sacrificing young men and women for the sake of the mission in Lebanon, President Reagan acknowledged his mistake. I would like to take a moment to read a statement he made regarding the bombing:

Perhaps we didn't appreciate fully enough the depth of the

hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the

Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car

bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to

Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness

that it did not create in us the concern for the marines'

safety that it should have.

In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believed the

last thing we should do was to turn tail and leave. Yet the

irrationality of Middle East politics forced us to rethink

our policy. If there would be some rethinking of policy

before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that

policy had changed toward more of a neutral position and

neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today.

I have read these quotes from President Reagan to honor the sacrifice of the 241 marines and their families. They did not die in vain, but gave their lives to bring peace to a troubled area.

The leaders of our country must learn from tragedies like Beirut that our men and women in uniform are very precious. Our foreign policy must be formed with a better understanding of the commitment and purpose in a mission before we risk the life of one single American.

I believe sincerely that this was the point President Reagan was making as he remarked with remorse on the bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23 of 1983.

Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege to represent Camp Lejeune Marine Base and other bases in eastern North Carolina, and I have visited the Beirut memorial many times to look at the names, certainly people I never knew and probably would not have known.

But the point is that our foreign policy continues today in Afghanistan. We have had six Americans killed in the last week. In the bill that passed recently to raise the debt ceiling, there was $30 billion for Karzai, who is a crook.

I do not understand this Congress, why we continue to sacrifice our young men and women, and why we continue to send money that we do not have to a foreign dictator and we cut programs

for children and seniors who want to have a meal.

With that, Mr. Speaker, in closing, I honor the 241 who died by saying I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. And Dear God, I ask You to continue to bless America.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, Uncle Sam has largely stopped funding maintenance of federally authorized shallow

draft inlet projects. There are over a dozen of these projects in the district that I represent in North Carolina. These are critical to the local economy. To fill the gap, the State of North Carolina is stepping up to pay for dredging these waterways. My concern is that section 108 of the bill may be interpreted to allow States to only pay for maintenance of projects damaged by disasters.

Does the chairman share my belief that States should be allowed to contribute funds to any of the Federal projects, not just those damaged by disasters? And will he agree to work in conference to perfect the bill's language to meet our shared intent?

I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for that. I want to thank you and the ranking member for the outstanding job you and your staffs have done on this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my amendment.