Brian Jones: “I am again on the floor--I don't know how many times I have been on the floor--to talk about the waste, fraud, and abuse…”

“I am again on the floor--I don't know how many times I have been on the floor--to talk about the waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan. It just keeps going on and on. Last week there was a great article--I don't think it was really great, but a very disturbing article--in The Washington Post, and the title was ``Afghanistan Paid 11,000 Militants to Lay Down Their Arms. Now the Money Has Run Out.'' It was the American taxpayer who paid the militants to stop fighting and killing Americans. Somewhere along the way this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. We, the American taxpayers, have been paying fringe Taliban fighters not to fight for years. The article explained that there is little accountability of how that money is spent and where. We do not even know if paying fringe Taliban fighters not to fight is working. Further, committed Taliban fighters get money from other sources and still get money from the American taxpayer, and they are there to kill Americans. Somewhere along the way this just makes no sense at all. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record my letter to Speaker Ryan about the great work of John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, April 14, 2016. Hon. Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Mr.…”