Walter B. Jones

What would be wrong with putting the responsibility in the Office of the Secretary of Defense... and saying to the Secretary of Defense: You have the responsibility for accountability.

Why do we in Congress keep increasing the budget? I am all for the warfighter. He or she deserves whatever we can give them.

No President's, Democratic or Republican, should have the authority to bypass the Constitution or the will of the American people.

This bill will reduce the administrative burdens on grieving family members, and ensure that they receive the benefits that they are entitled to as quickly and expeditiously as possible.

How can we build the trust of the American people after 16 years, over 2,300 Americans killed, over 20,000 wounded, and we spent $1 trillion?

I want to talk about the graveyard of empires. I think that is what they say about Afghanistan and the history of Afghanistan.

I never will forget Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense, sitting where you are telling this committee that he will account for every dollar of the taxpayer.

Mr. President, I agree with those remarks and so does the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, my friend and unofficial adviser, General Chuck Krulak. As he said in a recent email to me, no one has ever conquered Afghanistan, and many have…

In 2013, you tweeted, 'Let's get out of Afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the Afghanis we train, and we waste billions there. Nonsense. Rebuild the United States of America.'

If this could be on national TV, you would probably be having rallies out there right now protesting, because there is no one held responsible.

I wrote to President Trump, had it delivered on July the 18th. I wanted him, if he was going raise the troop levels in Afghanistan, to please come to Congress, ask Congress to meet its constitutional responsibility and have a debate.

I think we owe them, based on our constitutional responsibility, after 16 years, to review where we are in Afghanistan.

What has disappointed me as a Member of Congress for 22 years... we in Congress never seem to be willing to debate and review a policy.

I am not an isolationist, but I am a realist. We are $19.4 trillion in debt.

Bush taking out Saddam Hussein was a horrible mistake. Then Obama going and taking out Gaddafi was another horrible mistake.

America is not ready to defend this country if we keep going down this path.

I just get incensed by the waste of money in Afghanistan.

The American people are just--they are not upset with the Afghans, they are upset with Congress.

And this is what is frustrating to the American people. And, quite frankly, that is why Donald Trump is getting these big crowds.

Many of us in the Congress are very concerned about the continued spending of billions and billions and billions of dollars and not being able to show the taxpayer--how they are benefiting.

What is the Department of Defense and the services doing to determine what information sharing would be most helpful to help prevent suicides?

I believe we have been very clear, sir, that the President's request, the PB16 [President's budget 2016] request, we believe, is the absolute minimum needed to provide the national security necessary for the United States.

The biggest threat to our military is the debt of our Nation.

How in the world can we continue to play this game of spending, spending, spending, and borrow, borrow, borrow?