Political Quotes

“The ALLIES Act is a chance for Congress to ensure that America honors its promise to our Afghan partners and friends. The phrase ``life and death'' gets tossed around in this Chamber, but this bill is truly that for thousands of our Afghan friends. The Taliban is intent on hunting down and killing Afghans that served alongside Americans for the past 20 years. Some Members of this body, including me, may not be here today without the service and sacrifice of Afghans who answered the call to serve shoulder to shoulder with us. Those Afghans knew the risk that their service posed to them and their families, yet they signed up to help because they believed we would have their back. They have already demonstrated unwavering courage and loyalty by working alongside us. They have demonstrated their commitment to America, and they have earned a path to safety. The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan will come to an end in a matter of weeks. At the same time, the threat to our Afghan partners who served alongside men and women is increasing drastically every single day. Simply put, we are running out of time. They are running out of time. We must streamline the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa process and increase the number of visas to match the pipeline of applicants. The ALLIES Act does just that. The ALLIES Act removes several administrative barriers to expedite visa processing, and it makes these changes without weakening the important security vetting of applicants.…”