After many years of war, it's crystal clear that there is no military solution to end the fighting in Afghanistan.

The Trump administration announced its approach to deal with the stalemate nearly a year ago in what it termed a new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia.

Fifteen thousand American troops remain on the ground there fighting America's longest war and we provide billions in assistance every year.

We owe this to the women and men who serve our country in uniform, to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice fighting this war, and to those who perished on September 11, 2001, in my home city of New York.

Now is the time to make peace and security our number-one goal and to implement a strategy in Afghanistan that will help us achieve it.

we have a conditions-based strategy in South Asia. But those conditions, however, have never been spelled out.

Our policy, obviously, toward Afghanistan is critical.

if we can talk to Kim Jong-un, certainly, we can talk to the Taliban.

you need not make peace with your friends

I am glad that you support negotiations with the Taliban.

In sum, the administration seems to be planning to escalate the war in order to break the stalemate, forcing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

the very nature of a peace settlement... has to be negotiated with Afghans and not over the heads of Afghans.

So we need to be honest.

Democracy is hard work, especially in countries that are poor and that have experienced violent conflict, and it takes time and a great deal of effort.

it's based upon, in my view, just a failure to understand what we do and the value of what we do.

It's just really disgraceful what's going on in Turkey.

the budget that's, woefully, inadequate.

the amount and separating us from the four institutes. And both of these are devastating.

So the world looks to us to set an example, to show leadership, to advance our interests in a way that respects the dignity and rights of all people, and right now, I don't believe we are sending the right message.

Our job is to empower such brave people and to let them know that they are not alone because they have the support of the American people and the American Congress, of course.

democracy and global freedom has declined around the world for 12 straight years.

the recent elections in Iraq are overshadowed by reports of fraud, which should be cleared up by full recounts.

Several formerly democratic countries... have moved in a decisively autocratic direction over the last several years.

I thank the gentleman, my friend from New Jersey, for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5272, the RESULTS Act, and I urge my colleagues to support it. This bill that I have coauthored with Congressman Steve…

I thank my friend from New Jersey for yielding, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 5329, the Poison Center Network Enhancement Act. I remember when I was a little boy, my mother used to have a poison control number that she taped to the…