Lynn C. Woolsey: “Amendment 413 states that none of the funds made available by this act may be used in Department of Defense overseas…”

“Amendment 413 states that none of the funds made available by this act may be used in Department of Defense overseas contingency operations budget for military operations in Afghanistan until the President seeks to negotiate and enter into a bilateral status of forces agreement with Afghanistan. Mr. Chairman, we've had troops deployed in Afghanistan for nearly a decade now, making this the longest war in our Nation's history, costing more than $378 billion, with no real end in sight. Close to 1,500 brave Americans have been killed, and they've been killed in the line of duty there. Roughly 10,000 have been wounded, and yet the United States does not have a status of forces agreement, or SOFA, with Afghanistan. The SOFA is a very basic tool which spells out the terms of U.S. military operations in a given country. The United States is party to more than 100 such agreements, for engagements great and engagements small, including Mali, Montenegro, and Micronesia. We have a SOFA with Iraq, signed in the year 2008, which sets out a deadline for complete withdrawal of troops by the end of the year. SOFA agreements determine how the laws of the foreign jurisdiction should be applied to U.S. personnel while in that country. They lay the foundation in a number of areas, including economic, cultural, and law enforcement matters. So it's beyond irresponsible, Mr.…”