Benjamin Gilman: “I want to commend Committee Chairman Hyde for bringing this bill before the House and I commend Subcommittee Chairman…”

“I want to commend Committee Chairman Hyde for bringing this bill before the House and I commend Subcommittee Chairman Royce for crafting this important initiative. For the past several years, the people of Afghanistan have been manipulated by foreign forces who are motivated by selfish evil intentions. Saudi Arabia, along with Pakistan, have created a radical Islamic fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan which threatens international stability. While we work to ensure that the governments of those two countries permanently change their policy, the only way that the world will be safe from the disaster that they have created is by helping the Afghan people to liberate themselves from the Taliban and bin Laden, and to give them the tools to put together a broad based representative form of government. For the past several years, members of our Committee have been working with the former King and the Northern Alliance to ensure that our government support the Afghan people's desire for a free and democratic Afghanistan. A Radio Free Afghanistan can play a significant role in this endeavor. Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this measure.”