'Why don't you Members of Congress vote to bring our troops home?'

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) for 5 minutes.

   Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, like all of my colleagues, I went home to my district as the other Members went to their districts. I live in eastern North Carolina. As do a lot of people, I love my district, and I'm getting the same message: Why are you still in Afghanistan? Why don't you Members of Congress vote to bring our troops home? Why are you spending the money we don't have, and young men and women are getting killed?

   Again, I'm coming to the floor of the House and reporting on a book I'm reading. It's called ``Funding the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.'' That's the whole issue. We have defeated bin Laden. He is dead. Al Qaeda has been dispersed all around the world, but we continue to fund a corrupt leader who will not survive in the long term. We all know that, but yet we're playing this little game of spend the American taxpayers' money to keep him in office, and let's borrow the money from the Chinese that we're spending--because that's the way it's happening--to keep Karzai in office. Seventy-two percent of the American people have agreed with most of us in the House--not all--that it's time to bring our troops home. There is not one thing that we're going to accomplish over there.

   Mr. Speaker, when I saw the national security agreement that the Secretary of State and this administration have signed with Afghanistan, what we're talking about is, after 2014, we will continue to have a military presence of anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000. We are spending approximately $4 billion a month--that's probably a lowball figure, Mr. Speaker--but $4 billion a month for 10 years. That adds up to about $480 billion in addition to what we've already spent, which is over $1 trillion, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. The poor American people are paying the taxes and are getting their programs cut for children, for schools, for senior citizens, for health programs. Yet we in Congress continue to fund the war in Afghanistan.

   Mr. Speaker, this book is an eye-opener to the fact that the Taliban is the biggest recipient of our taxpayers' money, going to pay to kill American kids. I'm going to keep bringing this to the floor until I finish the book, and I'm about halfway through.

   Its summary says:

   This is the first book to detail the toxic embrace of American policymakers and careerists, Afghanistan kleptocrats and the opportunistic Taliban. The result? U.S. taxpayers have been footing the bill for both sides of a disastrous Afghanistan war.

   Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, we had eight Americans killed--eight Americans killed. I write families. I have signed over 10,740-some letters to families across this Nation because I bought the lie by the previous administration that said Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, which he never did have. So I will continue to come to the floor at least once a week, several times a month, and talk about the fact of buying this book for every Member of Congress, which is called, ``Funding the Enemy: How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.''

   When I listen to our debates on the floor--sometimes part of them, sometimes not--talking about cutting Federal programs for those people who need them the most--but yet we will find the $8 billion a month to send to Karzai--and when we keep sending our soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen over there so they can be shot and killed and have their feet blown away, it is time for this Congress to wake up. When we debate the appropriations bill for the Department of Defense, I hope we will be permitted to bring amendments one after another to the floor, asking Members of Congress to bring our troops home.

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

   I will ask God to please, in his loving arms, hold the families who have lost children in Afghanistan and Iraq.

   I will ask God to please bless the House and Senate that we will do what is right in the eyes of God for God's people today and God's people tomorrow.

   I will ask God to please bless President Obama that he will do what is right in the eyes of God for God's people today and God's people tomorrow.

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   I will close by asking three times: God, please, God, please, God, please continue to bless America. 

Source: AFGHANISTAN