Congress is increasingly vocal on Afghanistan
May 1, 2012
See what your members of Congress have done to help end the war in Afghanistan.
Rep. Keith Ellison (MN)
Chairman, Congressional Progressive Caucus
"Instead of spending billions on a war that is not making us safer, we could better advance U.S. national security by providing greater support to people in Middle Eastern countries fighting for freedom and democracy."
CNN, May 1, 2012
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA)
Armed Services Committee
"...I reiterate my call for an accelerated drawdown in Afghanistan. Our military efforts have largely driven al-Qaeda from that country. It is time for our troops to come home and our focus to turn to training Afghan troops and government to take over operations."
Statement on Incident in Afghanistan, March 11, 2012
Senator Max Baucus (MT)
Chair of Finance Committee
"We simply cannot afford more years of elevated troop levels in Afghanistan…a majority of Americans worry that the costs of the war in Afghanistan will make it more difficult for the government to address the problems facing the United States at home."
Letter to President Obama, March 8, 2012
Sen. Jeff Merkley
Budget Committee
"…there is no evidence that extending the U.S. combat role through 2014 is likely to materially impact the stated goals of leaving an Afghan military capable of securing the country and of developing a central government capable of delivering services and commanding the respect and loyalty of the Afghan people."
Letter to President Obama, February 6th, 2012
Sen. Bob Casey (PA)
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern, South and Central Asian Affairs
"Significant challenges do indeed remain, but based on... the significant cost of our current policy, it is time, after ten long years, to begin the drawdown process."
Senate Floor, June 21, 2011
Sen. Joe Manchin (WV)
Committee on Armed Services
“I, for one, will not look West Virginians in the eye and tell them that in order to raise the debt ceiling, vital programs and funding for Social Security, Medicare, our schools, roads, healthcare, veterans, seniors, infrastructure – will be slashed – but we will continue to spend billions building schools, roads, infrastructure in Afghanistan.”
Senate Floor, June 21, 2011
Sen. Harry Reid (NV)
Majority Leader
“The American people have war fatigue. It's been going on for a long, long time. I think the president was right when he said July 1 there's going to be a drawdown. He said that a long time ago. And there's going to be a drawdown. I am confident that it will be one that's substantial. I certainly hope so . . . The president knows how I feel. I have told him that I hope that there's a troop withdrawal, one of significance.”
Lehrer News Hour, June 17, 2011
Senator Herb Kohl (WI)
Judiciary Committee
"In light of this progress, many Americans are hoping that our forces can soon come home from Afghanistan after a decade of war. I share this desire to begin withdrawing our forces from Afghanistan, beginning with a sizable and sustained reduction in forces this summer."
Senate Appropriations Committee hearing with Secretary of Defense Gates, June 15, 2011
Sen. Chris Coons (DE)
Committee on Foreign Relations
"A substantial drawdown of forces -- which I support -- should not be the first step on a course of total disengagement from Afghanistan. Rather, it should mark the beginning of a new, more targeted counter-terrorism strategy that more wisely focuses our military and diplomatic resources on defending America's security interests."
Coons OpEd, Delaware New Journal, June 14, 2011
Sen. Dick Durbin (IL)
Assistant Majority Leader
“It’s time to bring the troops home. The president said we would start in the middle of this year and we should, in a dramatic fashion. Bring the troops home. We cannot afford, [and] it is unsustainable, to continue to lose these lives in Afghanistan…”
MSNBC, June 8, 2011
Sen. Rand Paul (KY)
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
It is the soldier's job to do his duty-but it is the citizen's job to question their government-particularly when it comes to putting our soldiers in harm's way. Does our national security still require troops in Afghanistan? After a decade in Afghanistan, do we need to reassess whether being there is in our national security interest?"
Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy speech, June 8, 2011
Sen. Bob Corker (TN)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
“All of us know the model we have in Afghanistan is not sustainable.”
C-SPAN, June 8, 2011
Sen. Carl Levin (MI)
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
"I think [President Obama] should stick to the commitment he made that there would be a significant reduction of U.S. forces in July. I think that's going to be the key issue. It's a critically important issue. There are billions of dollars involved in this decision."
MSNBC, June 07, 2011
Rep. Walter Jones (NC)
House Armed Service Committee
“If we’re going to cut programs for children who need milk in the morning, if we’re going to cut programs for seniors who need a sandwich at lunch, if we’re going to cut veterans benefits, then, for God’s sake, let’s bring back our troops from Afghanistan.”
New York Times, June 07, 2011
Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD)
House Minority Leadership
"I think … the American people want to see is a shift from the U.S. playing the dominating role in Afghanistan to a significant and early transfer of responsibility to the Afghan people and certainly I think the end of the year, a significant, substantial draw down would accommodate that objective."
ABC News, June 6, 2011
Rep. Barbara Lee (CA)
House Appropriations Committee
“We need to begin to end this war Afghanistan. This is costing 100 Billion-plus a year. Our young men and woman have done a phenomenal job and it is time to bring them home.”
C-SPAN, June 2, 2011
Rep. Norm Dicks (WA).
Ranking Member, House Appropriations Committee
“We need to start seeing if we can do this a little faster, I think the American people would overwhelmingly like to see this brought to a conclusion sooner than 2014.”
Politico, June 02, 2011
Rep. Jim McGovern (MA)
House Committee on Rules
“I told [President Obama] that if it’s just a token drawdown [this July], I think people will be pretty outraged by that. The American people want an end to this war.”
Washington Post, June 02, 2011
Sen. Max Baucus (MT)
Chairman, Senate Finance Committee
"To meet the growing challenges around the world, we need to start bringing our troops home from Afghanistan this July and complete the withdrawal by the end of next year.”
Senate Floor via YouTube, June 1, 2011
Rep. Harold Rogers (KY)
Chairman, House Appropriations Committee
"We're spending a lot of money in Afghanistan. I sometimes wonder what the real mission there is and the likelihood of a successful outcome. Like most Americans who have watched this war all these years, I find it is very difficult to measure with any degree of certainty the progress or lack of progress."
CQ, Politics, June 01, 2011
Sen. Jim Webb (VA)
Senate Armed Service Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee
"It doesn’t make a lot of sense to occupy territory … and become defensive, static targets, instead of finding smart ways to fight international terrorism, … we were going to be sort of ineluctably drawn into this short war and very long occupation of Iraq. And that model, in some form, also has been used in Afghanistan. It’s a model that probably heartens a lot of the people who wish us ill.”
Politico, May 24, 2011
Rep. John Garamendi (CA)
House Armed Service Committee
"I wholeheartedly support our soldiers and their families, [but] I cannot in good conscience vote to extend a war without an endgame… [fighting] Afghanistan’s internal civil war is not in the long-term national interest of the United States."
Press Release, May 12, 2011
Sen. Richard Lugar (IL)
Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
“It is exceedingly difficult to conclude that our vast expenditures in Afghanistan represent a rational allocation of our military and financial assets.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, May 03, 2011
Sen. John Kerry (MA)
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
“What we need is a discussion with our partners about how this war ends, what an acceptable end-state looks like, and what steps we need to take to get there.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, May 03, 2011
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (WV)
Select Committee on Intelligence
“We should get out of Afghanistan. We can't win there. We can't change the country...”
Charleston Gazette, April 19, 2011
Rep. Justin Amash (MI)
House Budget Committee
“I believe we accomplished our primary goals — to disrupt al-Qaeda and those who are harboring them. But we’ve been there 10 years, and no one is telling me what the objectives are now. There needs to be an end game.”
Grand Rapids News, March 22, 2011
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA)
House Armed Service Committee
“The time is long overdue for the U.S. to depart [Afghanistan].”
The Seattle Times, March 16, 2011
Sen. Jon Tester (MT)
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
“I cannot emphasize enough the power the president had when he said we’re going to start removing troops in July, it really put pressure on the Afghans to say, ‘All right, these guys aren’t going to be here forever, we need to step up and take control of our future.’ And I think we need to continue that pressure, and when we have the possibility of removing troops, we ought to be doing it.”
Independent Record, February 6, 2011
Henry A. Kissinger
Former Secretary of State
"To encourage [the multilateral diplomacy] process [in Afghanistan], a deadline should be established for reaching a residual force — say, in 18 months to two years, with the major reductions coming at the end of the process."
Washington Post, June 08, 2011
Joe Scarborough
Political Commentator, Former Member of Congress
“We need to bring the troops home. We have been there too long. We have been spending two billion dollars a week rebuilding Afghanistan instead of spending 2 billion dollars per week rebuilding our infrastructure, rebuilding our schools, rebuilding America.”
MSNBC, June 10, 2011
Fareed Zakaria
Journalist, author, and Editor-at-Large for TIME Magazine
“When the deadline to begin drawing down troops in Afghanistan arrives in July, I hope there will be substantial troop withdrawals.”
CNN, May 10, 2011
Richard N. Haass
President, Council on Foreign Relations
“Afghanistan is simply absorbing more economic, military, human, diplomatic, and political resources of every sort than it warrants. The $110-$120 billion annual price tag…is unjustifiable given the budget crisis we face."
Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, May 3, 2011
Mitt Romney
Republican presidential candidate
"It's time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can, only the Afghanis (sic) can win Afghanistan's independence from the Taliban."
Republican presidential debate, June 13, 2011
Newt Gingrich
Republican presidential candidate
"I think that we’re risking the lives of young men and women in a mission that may frankly not be doable...I think it's very likely that we have lost, tragically lost, the lives and suffered injuries to a considerable number of young Americans on a mission that we’re going to discover is not doable."
Politico, March 11, 2012
