Brian Jones

In recent days, the waste of billions of dollars in Afghanistan has been dominating the headlines: March 20 of this year, ``Afghanistan Can't Manage Billions in Aid, U.S. Inspector Finds''; March 14, 2015, ``C.I.A. Cash Ended Up in Coffers…

Today the House Budget Committee will reveal the budget for fiscal year 2016. That budget will contain more money for Afghanistan, which is why I am speaking on the floor today. Afghanistan is an absolute waste of taxpayer money. It is a…

In the last couple of weeks, the effort to declassify the 28 pages of the Joint Inquiry Report into the 9/11 attacks has received a lot of media attention, mainly because of Zacarias Moussaoui's recent comments exposing the financial link…

I am sure that my colleagues would agree that we have many needs in our districts. For example, my district has an inlet that cannot be dredged, which causes an economic problem. And the reason it cannot be dredged is because of lack of…

Let me quote from Roger Simon in a recent article, titled, ``Down the Opium Rathole.'' Mr. Simon writes about Afghanistan: If you spent 13 years pounding money down a rathole with little to show for it, you might wake up one morning and…

I thank Ms. Foxx for putting this together. Tonight is a sad night, but a very special night, I think, for those of us who have had the privilege to know Howard Coble as long as I have. We go back to 1983, when I was a freshman Democrat in…

I want to thank the chairman for his leadership on this amendment even though I cannot support it. All I can say is, here we go again, committing our resources--both troops and money--to a conflict that can easily become a war without end…

To begin my short statement today, I would like to read you a recent headline from The Washington Times: ``Golden Hammer: U.S. squandered $34 million on failed Afghan soybean project.'' The first few sentences of this report read: ``Call…

This past Friday was a monumental day in the House of Representatives as we finally had a debate on the merits of sending U.S. troops back into the conflict in Iraq. Again, I thank the House leadership and the Foreign Affairs Committee…

The legislature is us, the Congress. This is a monumental step toward reclaiming our constitutional authority. In closing, I want to thank Representatives McGovern and Lee and all my friends in both parties who have fought with me for the…

I am pleased that the House is debating H. Con. Res. 105. I want to thank the Republican leadership for working with Mr. Jim McGovern, Barbara Lee, and myself and our staffs to get this language so that we could debate it today. As James…

I am on the floor again to talk about the waste of American taxpayers' money in Afghanistan. Just last week, we in the House Armed Services Committee heard testimony from Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, along with other DOD…

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts, and I want to thank him for being a leader on bringing to the floor of the House not only this resolution asking for a vote about bringing our troops home from Iraq, but also the way that he speaks…

Mr. McGovern, thank you very much. I want to pick up on a few things you said just a few minutes ago. Iraq is in total chaos. It is kind of ironic. In 1983--I found a photograph of Donald Rumsfeld who was a special envoy sent by President…

I am on the floor today because I believe that Congress must put an end to the waste of American lives and taxpayer dollars overseas. Recently, President Obama requested $500 million to train and arm Syrian rebels. In his editorial…

Shortly before the July Fourth break, we had three marines from Camp Lejeune, which is in my district, who were killed during combat operations in Afghanistan: Staff Sergeant David H. Stewart, Lance Corporal Brandon J. Garabrant, and Lance…

Last week, I voted against the Defense Appropriations bill because of $79.4 billion included it included in OCO funding. During the amendment process, I joined many of my colleagues in both parties in voting to stop funding the war in…

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts. Two weeks ago, I went to Walter Reed Hospital. I was told that two of my marines from Camp Lejeune had been severely wounded in Afghanistan. The first marine I saw was 23 years of age. He had lost…

Yesterday, along with other Members of Congress, I attended a classified briefing on the swap of our soldier for the five Taliban leaders. I won't go into that, but I did have an opportunity to make a comment to the presenters. I made a…

I am on the floor today to express my disappointment that my colleagues and I were prevented from offering an amendment to the NDAA dealing with the constitutional responsibility of Congress to declare war. Like many Members of Congress, I…

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding. You know, it is kind of amazing that many of us on my side are considered conservatives. I hope that I am considered a conservative. Pat Buchanan has written so many articles about the…

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts. I could not agree more. How in the world can the Congress of the United States, which has an obligation to declare war, continue to abdicate its right to debate our young men and women going to…

Last week in a hearing of the Armed Services Committee, we listened to the concerns of Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff of the Army, General Ray Odierno. They appeared before the committee to tell us about the serious problems…

I am on the House floor today to bring attention to an article from the World Affairs Journal, titled, ``Money Pit: The Monstrous Failure of U.S. Aid to Afghanistan.'' This is an eight-page article documenting case after case of American…

I am on the floor again today to talk about Afghanistan--the absolute waste of life and money. A lot of people don't realize this, but if you go back to 2001, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have spent over $1.5 trillion, which…