On the recordJuly 6, 2011
On March 16, 2011, I joined my cochairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Task Force on Peace and Security and 76 other Members of Congress in sending a letter to the President asking him to move swiftly to end America's longest war, the war in Afghanistan. Since then, the cochairs have continued to call on the administration to move towards a significant, swift and sizeable reduction in our troops in Afghanistan, meeting or exceeding the number of troops on the ground before the escalation. Similarly, the Democratic National Committee, of which I am vice chair, called for a ``sizeable and significant'' drawdown beginning in July. Even the U.S. Conference of Mayors called for an end to the Afghanistan war. In poll after poll, the majority of Americans are consistently calling for an end to this war. A significant redeployment of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, beginning of this month, would have sent a clear message that the United States does not seek a permanent presence in Afghanistan. This move would recognize that we cannot afford the war in Afghanistan, costing nearly $10 billion per month, while American families struggle to stay afloat amid the slow recovery of our Nation's economy.…
