On the recordJuly 26, 2023
Thank you very much to Senator Coons for his strong words and for focusing on what matters here, which is the people of our own country, the military and those who support them, who believe that this situation is simply untenable, that these Afghans who have stood with us risk, at any moment, being deported--not right now because of an order that President Biden has in place. But that is not the only problem about uncertainty. The problem is they can't go on with their lives as has happened with past evacuees-- after Cuba, I noted; after Vietnam. They are part of the fabric of life in the United States of America now. So let's hear what some of these security experts have to say. I am going to read a portion of a letter that a group of them sent to congressional leadership. They said this. These aren't my words. This is theirs: The bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act honors our nation's commitment to its wartime allies by providing a path to permanent status for Afghan evacuees. It also ensures that these evacuees are properly and scrupulously vetted prior to considering them for such status. The status quo leaves tens of thousands of evacuees in legal limbo while failing to put to rest security concerns raised in the Office of Inspector General reports. So we can just pretend that report doesn't exist. We can just do nothing. How can that be the answer? (Mr.…





