On the recordMarch 10, 2010
There are few issues of state as weighty as those we discuss today. The decision to engage in military conflict affects us all in innumerable ways. There are the obvious effects on our military men and women who risk their lives abroad, while also giving up many of the small joys associated with sharing life's meaningful moments with family and friends. Similarly, each of us bears the costs associated with domestic investments sacrificed at home when we decide to instead spend vast sums of money abroad. Each dollar spent in Afghanistan on a Blackwater mercenary is a dollar that could be spent keeping a teacher in the classroom, putting a cop on the beat, or retraining a Detroit steelworker so he or she can compete in the emerging industries that will underpin the global economy. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, waging war tests our values as a nation. During these periods of conflict, the eyes of the world, rightly, are trained on our actions abroad. The ability to inflict violence upon large numbers of our fellow human beings demands that the American people be allowed to sit in judgment about what is being done in their name--to determine if the potent weapons at our disposal are wielded in a just manner. The question of whether or not we are living up to this highest of burdens could not be more important and that is why we must debate the War in Afghanistan here on the House Floor today.
