Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman from Georgia.

I came here in 1995 with Newt Gingrich--at that time, the largest class, until this last one. I had served in the North Carolina House of Representatives for 10 years. I thought I knew a

little something about Congress, but those first few months that we were here we had the Contract with America and we were changing the way we did things in Washington and the things we did in this country. I got to meet Jay Pierson. Because, quite frankly, I couldn't figure out what I was doing up here.

We would come in and work until 10, 11, 12:00 at night and I would see this gentleman with a mustache that seemed to know the leadership, whether it was Newt Gingrich or another Speaker, and always seemed to have the ear of that Speaker. I couldn't quite figure out who this person was.

So over a period of time, I reached out and we started chatting and talked about the different things of what was happening on the floor and what Members were doing, especially we freshmen. But what really seemed to tie us together was we both played basketball. I didn't go as far as Jay did. I think Jay played varsity basketball at his college in California. I played a little freshman basketball at NC State. But the ACC got us together talking about basketball. You can't always talk about policy here on the floor of the House. If you did, you'd go crazy. So Jay and I had that little time together to talk about ACC basketball. He was always pulling for UCLA, and I was pulling for Duke or one of the other colleges.

Well, one thing that Jay did a few months ago, before I found out he was retiring, he actually showed me a photograph of him taking a jump shot. And it's pretty good form, I must say. And I was about the same age, a little bit older. In college, he wore the knee socks. It was a pretty fancy uniform at those times.

But, Jay, I appreciate the friendship that I think you've extended not only to me but to so many Members on the Democratic side as well as the Republican side. As Louie said just a moment ago, it's going to be a sad day when we come back in January and there's no Jay Pierson. I know that for you and your wife, JoAnne, it's time that you all decided that you wanted to do some other things than to be stuck here late at night so many times during a session. But I can say that you will sorely be missed. I don't think you can really be replaced. I say that from the bottom of my heart. Oh, yes, we can all be replaced. There's no question about it. But when it comes down to it, you are a man that has patience and that shows the ability to listen and to try to guide Members of Congress, whether they be freshman or senior Members.

We will miss you sorely, as I just stated, but you will never be forgotten by those of us who have had the privilege to serve with you.

I hope and I pray that God will give you and your wife many, many more years of life and enjoyment because you have certainly earned it, because you have served not only the United States House of Representatives, but you have served us, you have served the people of our district, as well as helping us be better Members of Congress.

So with that, I will close by asking God to please bless you and your family, and may God continue to bless the House of Representatives. Jay Pierson, you will be in our hearts until the day we die. God bless you.

Mr. Speaker, in this very chaotic time for the House of Representatives and for the American people, we need to remain focused on the fact that our young men and women are still dying in Afghanistan. Our involvement in Afghanistan has become a confused strategy at best.

Mr. Speaker, I will submit a news article for the Record. The title of this article is: Afghan peace plan gives U.S. smaller role. With it, Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit 12 names of American servicepeople killed recently.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to listen to the American people and start acting on their wishes. Poll after poll shows that they want to get out of Afghanistan now, they want our troops home, they want to stop seeing our young men and women dying, and the American people want the $10 billion a month being spent in Afghanistan to be spent here in America to help all our economic problems. I do not understand why we in Congress seem to be without debate about this problem in Afghanistan.

We are currently in the process of a bilateral security agreement that will keep our troops in Afghanistan for 10 years after 2014. Where is the outrage by Congress? We are financially broke. We complain all the time about we can't reach this deal or that deal, we're going over the cliff, and yet our troops are dying in Afghanistan and we're spending money we don't have.

Mr. Speaker, the article states:

The Afghan Government is pursuing a peace initiative in

which Pakistan would replace the United States in arranging

talks between the warring sides and the Taliban would be

granted government posts that effectively could cede to them

political control of the southern and the eastern

strongholds.

Mr. Speaker, those areas are where we've lost most of our young men and women fighting the war in Afghanistan, and yet we are going to give those areas where our young men and women died to the Taliban so they can control it? Where is the outrage here in Congress? I do not know.

Mr. Speaker, in plain English, Afghanistan is allowing Pakistan and the Taliban to control half the country. And while the Taliban takes back Afghanistan, how does this make any sense? Where is the outrage? The American people are outraged, Mr. Speaker, but not Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I have beside me a poster that tells pain. There is this little girl sitting in her mother's arms. The mother is crying. The little girl is so young, she doesn't know why this Army officer is presenting her mother a flag. She doesn't know that her daddy has been killed. She will one day, and she'll ask her mom, What was my daddy like? And the mom will say, He was a great man. He would love to see you now as you've grown older, but he died in a country known as Afghanistan, a country that will never change, no matter how much blood or how much money is spent in Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, before closing, I have a Web site that if people would join and sign, and the Web site is www.bringthemhome2013.com. It is time for this administration and Congress to say enough has been done. It is time to bring our young men and women home. If Pakistan is going to have more influence in Afghanistan than America, then let Pakistan send their soldiers to die in Afghanistan. Let Pakistan pay the $10 billion a month that America is paying right now-- and it is borrowed money from the Chinese.

Mr. Speaker, with that, I will close by asking God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq, God to please bless the House and Senate that we will do what's right for the American people in the House and the Senate. I ask God to give strength, wisdom, and courage to President Obama that he would do what is right in the eyes of God, and I'll close by asking three times, God please, God please, God please continue to bless America.

[From the McClatchy Washington Bureau, Dec. 8, 2012]

Afghanistan Peace Plan Would Increase Pakistan's Role

(By Jonathan S. Landay)

The Afghan government is pursuing an ambitious new peace

initiative in which Pakistan would replace the United States

in arranging direct talks between the warring sides and the

Taliban would be granted government posts that effectively

could cede to them political control of their southern and

eastern strongholds.

If implemented, the plan would diminish the role of the

United States in the peace process, but would still leave

Washington with input on a number of critical issues,

including the terms for initiating negotiations. Saudi

Arabia, Turkey and Great Britain also would be involved.

The plan envisions ending the war by 2015 through a

ceasefire and negotiations in the second half of next year,

most likely in Saudi Arabia. Pakistan would help select the

leaders of the Taliban and other rebel groups who would take

part in the negotiations with the Afghan government. The

effort, the plan says, should be conducted ``through one

consistent and coherent channel,'' a measure that would

secure a role for Afghan President Hamid Karzai after the end

of his term following April 2014 elections.

Another provision would give the insurgents a voice on

``issues related . . . to the withdrawal'' of the U.S.-led

NATO force by the end of 2014.

The plan foresees the United States working with Kabul and

Islamabad in determining which insurgent leaders would

participate. The United States also would be critical to

approving the removal of the insurgent negotiators from the

U.N.'s list of terrorists.

Entitled ``Peace Process Roadmap to 2015,'' the blueprint

represents a decision by Karzai--in close coordination with

Pakistan--to assume the lead in peace-making efforts

following the collapse earlier this year of an Obama

administration bid to persuade the Taliban to participate in

direct talks with Kabul.

The new initiative comes amid persistent distrust between

Karzai and the Obama administration and deep insecurity in

Kabul over future U.S. support. Those concerns and the U.S.

failure to arrange peace talks appear to have pushed Karzai

closer to Pakistan, whose army and main intelligence service

are widely believed to exercise significant influence over

Taliban and other militant leaders based in Pakistan's border

areas with Afghanistan.

The plan also comes as the ongoing U.S. combat troop

pullout and cuts in U.S. financial aid to Afghanistan are

fueling fears in both countries that violence and instability

could worsen, spurring them to take matters into their own

hands.

The blueprint, a copy of which was obtained by McClatchy,

officially is the work of Afghanistan's High Peace Council,

which is charged with overseeing government peace efforts.

But it was drafted by Karzai and his inner circle over the

past six months in coordination with Pakistan, according to a

person familiar with the document who requested anonymity

because of the matter's sensitivity.

The plan was presented to Pakistan and the United States

during visits last month by High Peace Council Chairman

Salauddin Rabbani, who Karzai named to the post after

Rabbani's father, former Afghan President Burhanuddin

Rabbani, was assassinated in September 2011.

The State Department declined to comment on the plan,

refusing even to confirm its existence. However, a State

Department official, who requested anonymity because of the

issue's sensitivity, was authorized to say that, ``The United

States continues to support an Afghan-led peace process and

welcomes initiatives through which Afghans sit down with

other Afghans in pursuit of that goal.''

The Afghan embassy did not respond to a request to discuss

the plan.

``By 2015, Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami and other armed groups

will have given up armed opposition, transformed from

military entities into political parties, and are actively

participating in the country's political and constitutional

processes, including national elections,'' says the plan's

preamble. ``NATO/ISAF forces will have departed from

Afghanistan, leaving the ANSF (Afghan National Security

Forces) as the only legitimate armed forces delivering

security and protection to the Afghan population.''

Despite that optimistic forecast, however, the plan may

rest on shaky legs. Its far-reaching assumptions not only

could doom it to failure, but risk an all-out civil war

before the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force,

or ISAF, completes its pullout.

``This is living in a dream world of wishful thinking,''

said Marvin Weinbaum, a Middle East Institute scholar who

served as a State Department intelligence analyst on

Afghanistan. ``It is not based on anything that the Taliban

has given us reason to expect.''

A major assumption is that all insurgent leaders and their

fighters will participate even though the Taliban have

consistently rejected negotiations with Karzai, who they

denounce as an American puppet. Moreover, the insurgency is

far from being monolithic and many leaders are known to

distrust each other and Pakistan.

Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar and other leaders based

in Pakistan could come under pressure from the Pakistani

military to take part if they balk. But such pressure could

backfire, risking Afghan militants joining Pakistani

Islamists fighting to topple their government.

In an incident underscoring the hurdles, two Taliban

factions claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on

Thursday that wounded Asadullah Khalid, the chief of

Afghanistan's intelligence service. Karzai on Saturday

alleged that the attack was planned in Pakistan, but he

denied that the Taliban were responsible.

The new plan would preserve Afghanistan as a parliamentary

democracy, denying the militants the Islamic rule for which

they've spent years fighting.

It also appears to ignore warnings from politicians of the

former Northern Alliance against giving the Taliban and their

allies power that they hadn't won in elections. The Northern

Alliance, dominated by ethnic minorities, battled the

Taliban, which is made up primarily of the dominant Pashtun

ethnic group, until the 2001 U.S. invasion. Many former

alliance members now head Karzai's political opposition and

hold key army, police and intelligence posts.

``Any Afghanistan reconciliation effort will have to

address varied and complex ethnic concerns,'' acknowledged a

U.S. official, who requested anonymity in order to discuss

the issue.

Finally, the key role that the plan confers on Pakistan

could inflame suspicion among many Afghans that Islamabad

plans to exert influence in a post-war Afghanistan--

especially to block a pro-India tilt--by placing former

insurgents in cabinet posts, ministries, provincial

governorships and positions like police chiefs and district

administrators.

``The northerners won't buy this,'' said Weinbaum,

referring to former Northern Alliance leaders. ``So what you

get then is the beginning of a civil war.''

Pakistan is widely despised in Afghanistan, particularly by

minorities who dominate the country's north, because of its

sponsorship of the Taliban's bloody nationwide takeover in

the mid-1990s and the support and sanctuary that they and

other insurgents allegedly still receive from the Pakistani

army and the army-run Inter-Services Intelligence

Directorate, or ISI.

In principles governing the new peace process, the plan

reiterates Afghan and U.S. demands that the Taliban and other

insurgents cut ties with al Qaida and renounce violence.

But in a shift that could raise concerns among human rights

and women's groups, the plan changes what had been a demand

for

the insurgents to ``accept'' the Afghan Constitution to one

that they ``respect'' it.

``Any outcome of the peace process must respect the Afghan

Constitution and must not jeopardize the rights and freedoms

that the citizens of Afghanistan, both men and women, enjoy

under the Constitution,'' the plan says.

The plan comprises five steps. The first step, which now

appears underway, calls for Pakistan to end cross-border

shelling of Afghan villages and to free Taliban detainees.

Nine were released last month after Rabbani's visit, and

Pakistan has agreed to free more.

In the first half of 2013, Afghan, U.S. and Pakistani

officials are to agree on terms for removing Taliban leaders

``willing to engage in peace talks'' from a U.N. terrorism

list and giving them safe passage. Pakistan would

``facilitate direct contact'' between Afghan officials ``and

identified leaders of the Taliban and other armed opposition

groups.''

Afghan, Pakistani and U.S. officials would ``explore and

agree to terms for initiating direct peace talks'' between

the sides ``with a focus on Saudi Arabia as the venue.''

The negotiations would begin in the second half of 2013

``preferably through one consistent and coherent channel,

with the aim of securing agreements on priority issues, such

as ending violence, allowing space for the provision of basic

public services, e.g. education, humanitarian aid, and

security in the conduct of the upcoming elections,'' the plan

says.

The sides would agree to a ceasefire and terms for the

release of Taliban prisoners by the government ``in return

for their agreement to disengage and renounce violence.''

The sides also would ``reach an understanding on issues

related to security and the withdrawal of international

forces.'' and agree on rules for the insurgents'

participation in 2014 provincial council and 2015

parliamentary elections.

Another provision would confer considerable political power

on the insurgents by allowing them to become cabinet members,

provincial governors, district administrators, police chiefs

and other key officials.

``The negotiating parties to agree on modalities for the

inclusion of Taliban and other armed opposition leaders in

the power structure of the state, to include non-elected

positions at different levels with due consideration of legal

and governance principles,'' the plan says.

That provision, combined with one for an agreement

``creating immediate space for education and humanitarian and

development aid and public services,'' could effectively cede

political control of the Taliban's southern and eastern

heartland to the insurgents.

The agreements would be implemented in the first half of

2014, and the final phase, set for the second half of 2014,

would be used to build international cooperation on

preserving the long-term stability of Afghanistan and the

region, the plan says.

Correction: Paragraph 10 of this version has been revised

to provide the correct date for the assassination of former

Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Mr. Speaker, I find it so ironic that our Nation is on the cliff of collapse and yet we continue to borrow money from China to prop up a corrupt leader in Afghanistan. Our country is in the most dire of fiscal straits, and we continue to send money to Afghanistan. The worst part is, the money we are sending, we cannot audit, and many times the taxpayers' money ends up in the hands of the Taliban to buy weapons to kill Americans.

Mr. Speaker, this poster beside me is a book that I read. The title is, ``Funding the Enemy.'' The subtitle is, ``How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.''

I would like to quote Lisa Freeman, who recently acknowledged that we have lost 2,000 young Americans in Afghanistan. She lost her son, Captain Matthew Freeman, in 2007, in Afghanistan. Ms. Freeman said:

Where is America's outrage? Where is America's concern that

we're still at war?

I agree with Ms. Freeman. Where is the outrage here in Congress? Does it make any sense that we continue to borrow money from foreign governments to prop up a corrupt leader and half the money going to the leader of Afghanistan ends up in the hands of the Taliban to buy weapons to kill Americans? Our Nation is broke--China owns us--and we're sending our young men and our money to Afghanistan, yet we're going to cut programs right here in America for the American people.

The American people need to put the pressure on Congress to bring our troops home now and not wait until December of 2014. Mr. Speaker, I assure you, if we start bringing them home in December of 2014, it will become 2015 and it will become 2016, and how many more families have to cry about their loved ones being killed in a war that has no end to it?

Mr. Speaker, again, I ask the people to look at this poster and realize that this war is costing us in so many, many ways--the most important, our young men and women who are dying. If you agree with me that we need to bring our troops home before the current December 2014 deadline, please go to www.bringthemhome2013.com and sign the petition.

Mr. Speaker, I have been to Walter Reed and Bethesda now so many times to see the broken bodies, to see the faces of the moms and dads with pain in their face, to see the young men or women's faces that know that they will never be physically able to do what they had done before going to Afghanistan.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I make one last reference. I would hope that colleagues of mine in both parties would read this book, ``Funding the Enemy,'' by Douglas Wissing, ``How the U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.''

This is a sin, and it must stop.

Mr. Speaker, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform, to bless the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I ask God to help this Congress come together with the Senate and come forward with a plan that we, the American people, can be proud of. I ask three times, God please, God please, God please continue to bless America.

Names of Recently Deceased in Afghanistan

Spc. Daniel L. Carlson

Pfc. Brandon L. Buttry

Staff Sgt. Dain T. Venne

Spc. Ryan P. Jayne

Spc. Brett E. Gornewicz

Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Kantor

Cpl. Alex F. Domion

Staff Sgt. Kashif M. Memon

Sgt. Clinton K. Ruiz

Chief Warrant Officer Michael S. Duskin

Pfc. Shane G. Wilson

Sgt. Robert J. Billings

Spc. Brittany B. Gordon

Cmdr. Joel Del Mundo Tiu

Sgt. First Class Ryan J. Savard

Sgt. Thomas R. Macpherson

Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Milton W. Brown

Warrant Officer Joseph L. Schiro

Staff Sgt. Justin C. Marquez

Sgt. Camella M. Steedley

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel T. Metcalfe

Sgt. Thomas J. Butler IV

Sgt. Jeremy F. Hardison

Sgt. Donna R. Johnson

Sgt. 1st Class Aaron A. Henderson

Sgt. 1st Class Riley G. Stephens

Staff Sgt. Orion N. Sparks

Sgt. Jonathan A. Gollnitz

Mr. Speaker, today, the House of Representatives will be voting on H.R. 6429, the STEM Jobs Act. This bill would terminate the visa lottery program (diversity immigrant program) and allocate those visas to foreign graduates in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) degrees. I am highly supportive of ending the visa lottery program. However, at a time when so many Americans are unemployed in my district and all over the country and when American college graduates cannot find jobs, I cannot, in good conscience, vote to give American jobs to foreigners. That is why I plan to vote against the STEM Jobs Act. As always, I will continue to support legislation that enforces our laws and secures our borders.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Republican Conference, I acknowledged that five marines and one soldier from my district, the Third District of North Carolina, had been killed in Afghanistan by the Afghans they were training. This, to me, just does not make any sense at all as to why we stay in Afghanistan.

I also shared with the Conference an email I got from the former Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, who has actually been my adviser on Afghanistan for 3 years. I said, Mr. Commandant, why do we stand by and see our American soldiers, Marines, killed by those people we're training? I said, Mr. Commandant, how many more have to die, killed at the hands of the people they're trying to help?

And I read this from the Commandant:

At the end of the day, I am more convinced than ever that

we need to get out of Afghanistan. When our friends turn out

to be our enemy, it is time to pull the plug. The idea that

troops we have trained and equipped now turn that training

and equipment on us is simply unconscionable. Whether we

leave tomorrow or 1,000 tomorrows from now, nothing will

really change. We are now nothing more than a recruiting

poster for every malcontent in the Middle East. We need to

wake up.

I read that yesterday in the Conference, Mr. Speaker. I want my party and the Democratic party to wake up and get our troops home.

Mr. Speaker, recently on CNN's Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz, a well-known journalist, Tom Ricks, made the following statement:

We, as a Nation, seem to care more about the sex lives of

our generals than the real lives of our soldiers.

Mr. Ricks went on to say that probably no one knew who Sergeant Channing Hicks and Specialist Joseph Richardson were. They were two Americans killed in Afghanistan the Friday before Ricks was interviewed. The media will not print those names, but almost everyone in the country knows Paula Broadwell. That's such a tragedy, Mr. Speaker, that our troops are dying in Afghanistan, and we're writing about generals having relationships outside of a marriage. It makes no sense.

We lost 32 Americans in October and November. I want to know, where is the outrage here in Congress? Why are we spending money we don't have? Why are our troops dying, and yet we just seem to go on and on talking about the fiscal cliff? Well, I know that's important.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to realize that we are having young men and women die in Afghanistan for a failed policy that will not change one thing.

Mr. Speaker, before closing, I make reference to this poster of a young American in a casket being carried by his colleagues to be buried. Please, American people, put pressure on Congress to bring our troops home now and not wait until December 2014.

I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of those who've lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq. I ask God to please bless the United States of America. And please, God, help us get our troops home now and not later.

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, a group of Members from both parties are going to meet together to discuss the possible legislative options to start a process of bringing our troops home from Afghanistan in 2013.

Yesterday I was on the floor speaking about Army Specialist Joshua Nelson, from my home county, who was killed by the very Afghans he was sent to train. Specialist Nelson is just one of 60 U.S. servicemembers who have been killed this year by the Afghans that they were sent to train.

I don't know where the outrage is by the United States Congress. I am very disappointed in both parties and their leadership to allow our young men and women to stay in a war that has no end to it. This makes no sense to the American people. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the American people have said time after time, in poll after poll, that they want to bring our troops home now--not in 2014, but now.

On October 7, there was a national article written, and the title was, ``A Mother Mourns a Grim Milestone,'' referring to the 2,000th American casualty from the Afghan war. Lisa Freeman, who was interviewed in the article, lost her son Captain Matthew Freeman in 2009. He was shot by a sniper in Afghanistan. Ms. Freeman said:

I just sat here, reliving the pain and wondering: Where is

America's outrage? Where is America's concern that we're

still at war.

And, Mr. Speaker, I made reference to this yesterday. The October 14 New York Times editorial, ``Time to Pack Up,'' with the subtitle, ``It should not take 2 more years for the United States to leave Afghanistan.''

``It should not take 2 more years for the United States to leave Afghanistan.'' Since I strongly agree with that statement, I have started an online petition to start bringing our troops home in the summer or fall of 2013. The petition can be signed through my Web site at jones.house.gov. And, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell you that in just 3 weeks, we have over 2,000 Americans that have signed this petition. Our goal is to reach as many people as possible to put the pressure on our leadership to stop the loss of life and treasure in Afghanistan.

Congress, let's get together and work on legislation to bring our troops home before the current timeline of December 2014.

Mr. Speaker, before I close, this is one of the many posters that I have that I bring to the floor. There's a flag-draped coffin. There's a group of Army officers. There's a woman holding the hand of a child. And you can see in the face of the child, Why is my daddy in that flag- draped coffin?

Congress, let's wake up. Let's come together. Let's start the process of bringing our troops home in 2013. Please, God, continue to bless our men and women in uniform. Please, God, continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, while we were home for the district work period in October, 18 American troops died in Afghanistan. In my home county of Pitt in North Carolina, Army Specialist Joshua Nelson was killed by the very Afghans he was sent to train. He is just one of the 60 killed by these insider attacks.

My adviser, a former United States Marine Corps commandant, recently said to me, I am more convinced than ever that we need to get out of Afghanistan. When our friends turn out to be our enemy, it is time to pull the plug.

It is such a tragedy when American servicemembers are sent to Afghanistan to train police and military and end up being killed by their own trainees.

Mr. Speaker, the whole war in Afghanistan is a tragedy. On October 7, there was a national article titled, ``A Mother Mourns a Grim Milestone,'' referring to the 2,000 American casualties from the war in Afghanistan.

Lisa Freeman, who was interviewed in the article, lost her son, Captain Mathew Freeman, in 2009 in Afghanistan. Ms. Freeman said:

I just sat here, reliving the pain and wondering: Where is

America's outrage? Where is America's concern that we're

still at war?

My question is, Mr. Speaker, why is the House of Representatives still supporting a war that costs $10 billion a month? This money is borrowed primarily from the Chinese. All we hear about is the financial cliff, this crisis that is facing America. My question is, after 11 years, where is the outrage from Congress for our men and women in uniform dying in Afghanistan?

2014 is the date that the President has said that we will start bringing the troops out. That is 25 more months. Why do we have to wait until the end of 2014 to start bringing our troops home? How many more have to die at the hands of the very Afghans they are training?

An October 14 New York City Times editorial title ``Time to Pack Up'' has a subtitle that says it best: ``It should not take 2 more years for the United States to leave Afghanistan.''

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition on my Web site, Jones.House.gov. I'm asking

people around this country to please sign this petition with their name and State, nothing else, who agree with us. We have people from both sides, but we need more Members, that 2013 is the time to start bringing our troops home, not waiting until 2014.

Mr. Speaker, beside me, again, I bring posters to the floor to show the Members of the House that we are still at war. The poster beside me, Mr. Speaker, is an Honor Guard bringing a flagged-draped transfer case off a plane.

Again, I join my friends and ask the Members of Congress to start debating the policy, and let's start bringing our troops home in 2013 and not wait until December of 2014. As a former commandant said, when our friends start killing us, then it's time to pull the plug.

I close by asking God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I ask God in His loving arms to hold the families who've given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq.

God, please bless the House and Senate, that we will do what is right in Your eyes for Your people here in the United States of America.

God, please give strength, wisdom, and courage to President Obama, that he will do what is right in Your eyes for his people.

And I close by saying three times: God, please, God, please, God, please continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, in small towns across America, many special events are happening all the time, including high school football. On August 25, 2012, a special event happened in my small town of Farmville, North Carolina. The ``R. Dixon Sauls Athletic Field'' at Farmville Central High School was dedicated to Coach Dixon Sauls. Coach Sauls, a Farmville native, coached football at the school from 1984 to 2007. Honor, integrity and class are the three words Athletic Director Larry Williford used to describe Coach Sauls, and in his usual humble way he accepted the honor and then began talking about everyone else who meant something to the Jaguar program.

I have known Dixon Sauls since his youth. I have followed his journey of life and sports. He graduated Valedictorian from Farmville High School in 1966 where he was an outstanding Red Devil football player who played quarterback and safety under Coach Elbert Moye. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970. He was the first of two sons, born in 1948 to Meta King Moore Sauls of Farmville, and Roland Dixon Sauls, a World War II veteran from Wayne County. His father died suddenly in 1956 when Dixon was just 8 years old and his brother, Fred, was just 5 years old. Dixon and Fred have been my close friends for many years, and I am grateful for their friendship. Today Coach Sauls is the devoted husband to Kathryn Finklea Sauls and father to beautiful daughters, Lindsay and Robyn.

In 1984, Coach Sauls came back home to coach. The Jaguars won 11 football conference championships during his tenure, and the 2003 squad was a state runner-up. He was the track coach for 19 years and the athletic director for eight years. He touched many lives during that time with his strong Christian faith, his stellar character and his faithfulness to his team and school. He instilled courage, compassion, respect and a hard work ethic in the young men he coached. Coach Sauls was a major father figure for many of the players. There is no question he left his mark on his players and his hometown for a lifetime.

It is teachers and coaches across our Nation like Dixon Sauls who are helping to build a better America because of their hard work and dedication. I remember one statement I read many years ago--``If you want to touch the past, touch a rock; if you want to touch the present, touch a flower; if you want to touch the future, touch a child.'' Dixon Sauls, because of your commitment to young people, you have earned this recognition. Your community, your family and friends join in celebration of a job well done. Congratulations.

Mr. Speaker, today I had the privilege and honor to visit Walter Reed Hospital to say thank you to our wounded from Afghanistan and Iraq, and I saw those who have lost both arms and legs. It's just so sad to go there.

That brings me today to the floor to thank the chairman of the Armed Services Appropriations Committee, C.W. ``Bill'' Young, who has come out and said it's time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan, and I quote:

I think we should remove ourselves from Afghanistan as

quickly as we can.

Mr. Speaker, that brings me to a couple of comments. I called a former commandant of the Marine Corps 3 years ago and asked him to advise me on Afghanistan, and he has, and he has been very loyal. I want to read his comments:

I am more convinced than ever that we need to get out of

Afghanistan. When our ``friends'' turn out to be our

``enemy,'' it is time to pull the plug. We are now nothing

more than a recruiting poster for every malcontent in the

Middle East. We need to wake up.

I would say to the Speaker, I would say to the leadership of the Republican Party, join us in bringing our troops home in the year 2013. No more should die for a lost cause like Afghanistan.

First, I join the American people and the Members of Congress in extending my deepest sympathy to the families of the four Americans killed yesterday in Libya. It was such a tragedy.

Mr. Speaker, there's another tragedy. It's called Afghanistan. Like most of my colleagues, last month, I was home. I've been here in Washington 3 days. Back home, as well as the last 3 days here, more and more people are coming in concerned about budget cuts, worried about sequestration. We all are hearing it. Yet there's no debate about Afghanistan. It just keeps going on and on and on.

I'm pleased to say that next Thursday, a group of Democrats and Republicans have joined me for a press conference. The author of this book, called ``Funding the Enemy,'' subtitled, ``How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban,'' Douglas Wissing, is coming to Washington next Thursday, and we will hold a news conference at 10 o'clock. The reason for this is to continue to remind Congress the American people have been speaking out about pulling our troops out of Afghanistan sooner rather than later. I hope that this news conference with Mr. Wissing will continue to beat the drum of bringing our troops home in 2013, not 2014. That's the President's plan. That's the plan that most Republicans in leadership have agreed to. But that's the end of 2014. How many more young men and women have to give their life, their legs, their arms for a failed policy?

In this book, ``Funding the Enemy,'' and also at the news conference, we will have the former Inspector General of Afghanistan, who is a marine general. General Fields will join Douglas Wissing and a group of Republicans and Democrats to talk about the failed policy and how many times we send millions and millions and millions of dollars to Afghanistan and it never gets to the villages it's supposed to help; how many times we send millions and millions of dollars to Afghanistan and it's not accounted for. Somebody has taken the money. It's America's money. It's the money that we could be using here to save programs and to save jobs. But, again, Congress is not talking about Afghanistan.

I will continue to come to the floor, Mr. Speaker, and talk about the waste of life, the waste of money, and how it's unfair to the American taxpayer. And more importantly, it's unfair to the military families. Many of the marines in my district--and I'm sure in the United States Army--have been to Afghanistan three and four times. Truthfully, nothing has changed. If I could have been an adviser to the President, I would have said: Mr. Obama, you got bin Laden. You have dispersed al Qaeda. Let's bring our troops home. That has not happened--and it will not happen until 2014. I think 2014 will slip into 2015.

So it's my hope that after this election that those of us who I hope win come back here and let's take a new approach and look at Afghanistan. Whether it's Mr. Obama or Mr. Romney, let's try to prevail upon them as a Congress to start bringing the troops out in the spring of 2014. It's not fair to the families. It's not fair to broken bodies of those who return with lost legs.

Mr. Speaker, before I close, as I do many, many times, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform, to please hold in His arms the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. I ask God to bless my colleagues in the House and the Senate. And I will ask God three times, Mr. Speaker, please God, please God, please God, continue to bless America.

Yesterday was a remembrance of a tragedy beyond belief that happened to America on 9/11. There's another tragedy taking place, but it happens to be in Afghanistan. The tragedy is our young men and women are going there to give their life for a corrupt leader and a policy that will never change Afghanistan.

During the August break I had the privilege, like most Members of Congress, to be in my district to speak to numerous civic clubs. Two of the clubs I spoke to were retired military groups, one being the American Legion. Every time I talked about the failed policy in Afghanistan and the need to bring our troops home, I got applause. And I'm not a great speaker. But our military has done everything that it can do.

Three marines from my district at Camp Lejeune were in Afghanistan training Afghans to be policemen, and one of the trainees turned around and shot and killed three marines. This isn't the first time it's happened, and it's not the first time that I've lost marines from the Third District of North Carolina. But the person they were training was an Afghan officer in the police force. It is an absolutely unwinnable situation. The purpose that the former President, Mr. Bush, said we're going to Afghanistan for is to get bin Laden. Well, he's dead. To disperse al Qaeda. It is dispersed.

On the 20th, which is next Thursday, we're going to hold a bipartisan news conference with the author of a book called ``Funding the Enemy,'' by Douglas Wissing, who spent a number of years embedded with our military in Afghanistan. He has seen the tragedy of the money going to Afghanistan ending up in the coffers of the Taliban to

buy weapons to kill our young men and women.

If I could advise Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama, I would say: Listen to the American people on our policy in Afghanistan, because the American people want our troops home. I hear both sides complaining about the debt, the cliffs, sequestration, and all these things. And yet we're spending $10 billion a month in Afghanistan. And, as ``Funding the Enemy'' says, we can't even account for most of it. Yet we're going to cut programs here for children and senior citizens. But no, we don't even debate Afghanistan on the floor of the House. That is the tragedy.

Just a few of us on both sides have been speaking out constantly on the failed policy in Afghanistan. The former commandant who has been my adviser for 3 years--I'm not at liberty to say his name for the Record--he has said to me:

What do we say to the mother, the father, the wife of the

last marine or soldier killed to support a corrupt government

and a corrupt leader in a war that cannot be won?

Congress needs to awaken to the fact that we need to bring our troops home in 2013--the spring of 2013 and not the end of 2014.

Madam Speaker, next week I will go to Walter Reed. I will visit the wounded from Afghanistan, some from Iraq. And I will leave with a heavy heart because I will see the broken bodies. I will see the young men and some women that have lost legs, other parts of their bodies, some paralyzed from the waist down, some with burned faces. And yet the Congress sleeps through this war. I ask my friend on both sides, when we get back in November, let's pass a resolution saying that we need to bring our troops home in 2013.

Madam Speaker, before closing, I've signed over 10,855 letters to families and extended families in America because of my weakness and my mistake on Iraq, a war that never had to be fought. Look at Iraq today. It's falling apart. It's time for us to stop trying to build empires and to rebuild America.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Brady. I want to thank you all for bringing this bill back to the floor of the House.

This came to my attention--I would not have had any idea that if a candidate or an incumbent running as a candidate would die in office that their family would not decide how to disburse the money. It would go back to the treasurer of the campaign. And in cases, many times, that is probably what the family would want anyway.

But what I found out with my own father who served here 26 years, and he died in office, was that it does create a problem. If the family has the authority to make the recommendation as to how to disburse the proceeds, it just makes for a very satisfactory time in a very difficult time when a family member dies.

So to Mr. Lungren and Mr. Brady, thank you very much for bringing this bill to the floor of the House again. All this is is a simple change so that the candidate for Federal office can determine that he would like to have or she would like to have a person other than the treasurer to disburse the funds.

If we pass this bill today, I want to ask my friend, Mr. Brady, to help me

with the Senate, and I'll reach out to the Republicans and maybe he can reach out to the Democrats and get this bill through because it is the right thing to do for the family in that tragic situation that can happen to any of us.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to honor Chief Petty Officer Charles Clinton Runion, U.S. Navy Retired, who resides in Washington, NC.

Mr. Runion was born in Irwin, TN, on August 7, 1923, and over his lifetime he has served his country and distinguished himself as a role model in patriotism.

In October of 1940, Mr. Runion enlisted in the United States Navy and served his country for 24 years before retiring. As a successful Navy pilot during WWII and the Korean War, he has flown over 80 different aviation vessels throughout his military and civilian life.

Mr. Runion has had the honor and privilege to fly many important people of the time. He has flown President Gerald Ford and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. He flew First Lady Jackie Kennedy from Washington, DC, to Growton, Connecticut, to launch the USS Lafayette nuclear submarine. Mr. Runion continued his streak of flying the country's most important into the 1960's with Hubert Humphrey, Lady Bird Johnson and Tennessee Congressman Jimmy Quillen.

Throughout his career, Chuck Runion has been honored with many accolades. He has been awarded an air medal with gold star, Navy unit commendation, an American defense letter ``A,'' an American/European Pacific theater medal, a WWII victory medal, a Korean unit commendation and a good conduct medal with four stars. He also earned a humanitarian ribbon and a Berlin airlift ribbon. Mr. Runion's last flight was on Aug. 7, 2011--his 88th birthday.

Mr. Speaker, Chuck Runion is part of the Greatest Generation. Like most members of this generation, when the war was over they came home and became an important part of the community. Mr. Runion not only became an important part of his community, but he was able to continue his love of flying.

I have been fortunate enough to visit Mr. and Mrs. Runion at their home. I was pleased to look through the scrapbooks from Mr. Runion's years of service to this country. That is why today I want to recognize him on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Mr. Runion remains active in his community and remains involved in current political issues. He is a member of Wanoca Presbyterian Church in Washington, NC, and has a good friend in Pastor Travis Boyd. I am honored to represent such a fine man who has been such an asset to our country and pleased to have him recognized by the United States Congress.

Mr. Speaker, again, I try to get to the floor once a week to talk about our failed policy in Afghanistan.

Last Thursday, an article in Politico reminded us of the difficulty of trying to change a culture like Afghanistan. It is nearly impossible. For centuries, outside influences have been trying, but we are never going to be able to change the belief systems and culture of the Middle East.

The Politico article stated that parts of Afghanistan were stuck in the 14th century. We are supporting a corrupt country and a culture where it is commonplace for grown men to have sexual relations with young boys. The American taxpayer should be outraged to know that their tax dollars are going to support this kind of practice.

Yesterday, The Washington Post published an article, titled, ``U.S. Construction Projects in Afghanistan Challenged by Inspector General's Report.'' While discussing the fact that projects implemented in Afghanistan by Americans will not be possible for the Afghans to sustain once the United States leaves, the question for policymakers in Washington is whether the massive influx of American spending in Afghanistan is actually making the problem worse.

One such project to provide electricity requires purchasing diesel fuel to run the generators enough to power about 2,500 Afghan homes or small businesses and is projected to cost the United States' taxpayers about $220 million through 2013.

Mr. Speaker, it is just billions and billions and billions going to Afghanistan and very little accountability, and yet we are cutting programs for the American people. To me, it makes no sense at all.

Mr. Speaker, again I brought a poster down. This is a new one that I purchased myself. There is a little girl holding her mother's arm. The mother is being escorted by an Army officer, and the little girl is looking at the caisson that is carrying her father. Her father is under an American flag. The father was killed in Afghanistan for America.

I would say to this family: You should be very proud of your father.

I would say to Congress: Why can't you understand that you've got a failed policy in Afghanistan, and these young men and women are dying?

These young men and women are losing their legs and arms, and yet we keep sending $10 billion a month to a corrupt leader where they have the practice of adult men making love with boys over there in Afghanistan. I just don't understand the Congress, to be honest with you.

Mr. Speaker, as you and many know, I have Camp Lejeune Marine Base in my district. In the last 10 days, three marines have been killed in Afghanistan. I salute their families and thank them for the gift of that loved one.

How many more young men and women have to die in Afghanistan? How many more taxpayer dollars have to go to prop up a corrupt leader? Afghanistan will not survive under Karzai. The Taliban will eventually take over.

Mr. Speaker, before closing, as I always do, first I would like to ask the American people to contact their Member of Congress and say bring our troops home now, at least no later than 2014, and stop spending our taxpayers' money when you can't even account for what it is being spent for in Afghanistan, and start spending it right here in America to rebuild our roads, schools, and infrastructure.

So on behalf of this little girl and her mom, and all of the families who've given loved ones dying for freedom in Afghanistan, I will close this way:

God, please bless our men and women in uniform. God, please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. God, in your loving arms, hold the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. God, please bless the House and Senate that we will do what is right in God's eyes for the people of today and the people of tomorrow. And I ask God to please bless the President of the United States, to give him wisdom, courage, and strength to do what's right for God's people here. And three times I will say, God, please, God, please, God, please continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, I had the privilege to speak to well over 200 retirees. Many of the retirees are veterans of our previous wars for this country. They wanted me to be there with them to discuss sequestration, their benefits, and what do I think is going to happen, which I could not honestly tell them. And none of us really seem to know until we get back after the election in November.

But, Mr. Speaker, when I spoke to this group of retirees, I took this poster down, and I had it on a stand like this one. It says: ``Funding the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.'' And I told these veterans that it was time to get our troops out of Afghanistan. It was time to stop sending money to a corrupt leader named Karzai and time to bring the troops home and spend the money here in America on our own people and guarantee the benefits for our veterans, which they have earned.

Mr. Speaker, I got a strong applause from those people, who have served this Nation, and their spouses. This took place in Jacksonville, North Carolina, which is in my district. The Camp LeJeune Marine base is in my district. And many of these in attendance served in the Marine Corps, the Navy, a few in the Air Force. And they agree with me, it is time to stop spending money, digging a hole that has no end to it, known as Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, in a critique on this book, ``Funding the Enemy,'' I read one of the most candid behind-the-scenes examples of war reportage. This book contains a host of voices that spell out the chaos and mayhem of America's longest war.

Mr. Speaker, it is a no-win situation. I'm a history major from college, but I'm not an expert on history. But in everything I have ever read about Afghanistan, the end is always the same. No nation has ever gone to Afghanistan and changed anything, nothing at all.

And, Mr. Speaker, speaking of mayhem, yesterday in The New York Times--and I will quote the article--the title of the article is ``Top Afghans Tied to Nineties Carnage, Researchers Say: Activists Say Powerful Figures Are Blocking 800-Page Report'' of carnage in the nineties by many of those that are leading Afghanistan today.

I don't know why there is not more outrage from Congress. Anytime we have a debate about Afghanistan, it's a few Republicans and a few Democrats who stand up. And we might get 10 minutes, but that's about all. Ten minutes? We are spending $10 billion a month; young men and women are losing their legs and arms. And 10 minutes is all we're going to debate the policy in Afghanistan? That, in itself, is crazy.

In this article, it further states:

The American Embassy here has been another source of

objection to the mass-graves report. American officials say

releasing the report would be a bad idea, at least until

after Afghanistan's 2014 Presidential election is complete.

This has been a failed policy. It should have stopped after Mr. Obama got bin Laden. The reason we went into Afghanistan was to get bin Laden and al Qaeda which was responsible for 9/11. Well, he is dead now; al Qaeda has been disbursed all around the world. It is time to stop this failed policy in Afghanistan.

And I will say to the embassy that does not want this report out, Why? Why do you continue to play this game with the American young men and women who give their lives and limbs in Afghanistan? Why won't you be honest with the American people and Congress and say, Bring the troops home; stop spending money we don't have.

The money is actually borrowed from China, Mr. Speaker. We owe China $1.3 trillion. We can't pay our own bills. Yet we're going to borrow the money from China to send to a corrupt leader named Karzai in Afghanistan. And, Mr. Speaker, the subtitle of this book, ``How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban''--it's the Taliban that are killing Americans.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform.