Political Quotes

“Madam President, in recent days, much has been said about Afghanistan. I spoke about it last time on September 15, and most of my colleagues have spoken on the very same subject. I come to speak more about it. Today, I will look at it from a very different angle. I am going to look at it from the angle that you see through the Inspector General lens. The sudden collapse of the Afghan Government and the Afghan Army threw me right back to years of oversight work and audits conducted by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Now, the terminology ``Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction'' goes by the acronym SIGAR. That person goes by the name of his real name, Mr. John Sopko. SIGAR, in its reports, pulled no punches. Report after report over the years exposed and documented grim allegations of weak security, systemic corruption, and waste--waste of taxpayers' dollars. Those core problems were brushed aside and allowed to eat away at the foundation of our commitment. In other words, our leaders were not heeding the warnings from the Inspector General, Mr. John Sopko. An inability to solve these problems prompted SIGAR to send warning signals. Those warning signals said our mission in Afghanistan was failing. And that is not a recent conclusion; that is things he stated over and over, over the years. This was all to the detriment of U.S. foreign policy and our national security--the fact that most of SIGAR's advice fell on deaf ears.…”