Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the Afghan National Security Forces include both the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. It has been one of the United States' top priorities since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001. The purpose of the Afghan National Security Force development program is to grow the capacity and the capability of the Afghan National Security Forces in line with international agreements. This year's request totals $7.7 billion. The request is further delineated into the categories of Defense Forces, Interior Forces, and Detainee Operations. Included within the categories is the base request for operations and sustainment to conduct day-to-day operations, totaling just over $5 billion, and an additional $2.6 billion for the enablers, which my friend refers to in his comments from the well. The gentleman says, if I heard him correctly, that we don't know what these enablers are. We do know what these enablers are, and people who have backgrounds in security or in the military would understand the importance of howitzers or of night vision devices or of regional military hospitals, training, logistics, and maintenance expenses, and a host of other associated items that we refer to in this legislation as ``enablers.'' The Department of Defense has taken steps to right-size the funding needed to support the needs of the Afghan National Security Forces. The core request is, indeed, the right amount. Calendar year 2014, Mr.…”