Political Quotes

“I deeply appreciate the difficult job that Chairman Young and Ranking Member Dicks have. This is important legislation, difficult balancing. It is a time of strain in terms of the budget, and it is a time of strain for the military. But I do think that my colleagues who come to the floor and who are questioning whether we need to continue the same policy, the same funding, the same direction with Afghanistan are right on point. This Congress should be spending more time actually engaging in a debate on our policy, our practices, our future in Afghanistan. We initially went to war to deal with the protection of the United States. It was in Afghanistan that Osama bin Laden hatched the plot that led to the 9/11 attacks. He was protected by his Taliban enablers, and it was entirely appropriate for the Bush administration and this Congress to go after him to end that threat and obtain justice. Sadly, before the job was done in Afghanistan, before Osama bin Laden was actually captured, we veered into a tragically misguided, flawed, and expensive mission in Iraq. As were many of the colleagues who are joining us today on the floor, I was strongly against it. It was a mistake in terms of strategy; it was a horrible price paid by our troops; and it was dramatically unsettling. It has limped along to an unsatisfactory resolution, but it wasn't until 9 years later that we finally finished the job with the death of Osama bin Laden.…”