Brian Jones: “Again I am on the floor today to talk about the ongoing discussion between the United States and Afghanistan regarding a…”

“Again I am on the floor today to talk about the ongoing discussion between the United States and Afghanistan regarding a 10-year bilateral strategic agreement to allow troops to remain overseas beyond the year 2014. Multiple news organizations have reported that talks on the agreement have stalled because of the unwillingness of the Afghan Government to let the American military search Afghan homes. Two senior Afghan officials went so far as to tell The New York Times that the negotiations had reached a profound impasse. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit for the Record a letter that I have written to the President of the United States regarding this issue. This agreement will force the United States to continue paying trillions of tax dollars to support the Afghans' President Karzai, a corrupt government which we cannot afford any longer. As it is, taxpayers in the United States have been paying $10.45 million every hour for the cost of the war in Afghanistan since 2001. Let me repeat that. Taxpayers in the United States have been paying $10.45 million every hour for the cost of the war in Afghanistan since 2001. This is unacceptable, especially at a time when this national debt is at an astounding $17 trillion and when we have been forced to make deep budget cuts in the United States. Just this past weekend, tornadoes in Illinois killed six people. Last year, we watched the devastation on the east coast that resulted from Hurricane Sandy.…”