Brian Jones: “Last week, as we debated the Defense appropriations bill for the upcoming year, my good friend, Jim McGovern, a Democrat…”

“Last week, as we debated the Defense appropriations bill for the upcoming year, my good friend, Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, joined me in a measure that would guarantee that Congress would vote on funding the Enduring Strategic Partisanship Agreement with Afghanistan. This agreement with Afghanistan is a 10-year agreement that will start after 2014. It has been negotiated and will soon be signed by President Obama and President Karzai. During the debate, I quoted the former Commandant of the Marine Corps with regard to this agreement. I called him and asked him what he thought about the agreement. He sent me a paragraph back. I used one sentence that I will use again today, Mr. Speaker: Simply put, I am not in favor of this agreement signed. It basically keeps the United States in Afghanistan to prop up a corrupt regime. It continues to place our troops at risk. The amendment failed. I want to thank the 76 Republicans who joined me in that vote, along with 100 Democrats, but it failed. The problem is we really have no oversight in Afghanistan. It is a joke at best. The joke is, though, it is not really a joke because of the young men and women who are dying in Afghanistan, even today. The waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan goes unchecked. We sent inspectors general over there. They do their best, but it is a no-win situation in Afghanistan. Mr.…”