Steve Pearce: “I would like to visit today with Members of the body to discuss just one of the aspects of the changes that we have seen…”

“I would like to visit today with Members of the body to discuss just one of the aspects of the changes that we have seen in the world. We hear a lot from our friends that the war on terror is not progressing, that there is no significant advancement. Mr. Speaker, two days ago we were joined by His Excellency Hamid Karzai, President of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan, to talk about the changes in his country. He reports that Afghanistan was one of the poorest countries. They had, of course, the Taliban and al Qaeda working there. They have an economy that is controlled by the drug lords. Private militias have been ever present in their countries. Yet, today he reports that under their new transitional government that they are rebuilding the schools and starting the children back to school. Boy and girls, 5 million of them, are back in schools today in Afghanistan. They are also developing health clinics to provide basic health services for the inhabitants and the citizens of Afghanistan. One of the most important things he said is they are beginning to rebuild their economy, beginning by rebuilding highways and roads so that commerce can be conducted throughout the nation. As they conduct commerce, they are also beginning to rebuild the military, the militias, their national guard, and reestablish police forces in order to guarantee security for the people of Afghanistan and to defend the country's sovereignty.”