On the recordJune 15, 2016
Let me just note I respect the chairman's leadership and the hard work he is putting in on this as well as the ranking member. This is a needed piece of legislation, and I respect that. Our primary job is to watch out for the security of our country, and this bill is supposed to address that. That is one reason why I have decided that unless the Pakistanis prove to us that I am wrong by simply releasing Dr. Afridi, basically they are insulting us, they are insulting the victims and the families of 9/11, and the fact is they can't even do this. If they can't even do this, how do we expect them not to be supporting terrorism behind the scenes, which many of us believe the Pakistanis are guilty of? I suggest that what more can they do--who will trust us around the world if we let our friends like Dr. Afridi linger and let them sit there in a dungeon? Here is the man who helped us get Osama bin Laden, and the Pakistanis won't even let him out of jail. He is an American hero, for God's sake. What more can they do to us before we cut them off from all the billions of dollars of aid we have given them? I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution, this moral resolution. I yield back the balance of my time.
