William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. CROW. Mr. Speaker, after almost 20 years and thousands of lives, the war in Afghanistan must come to an end. I know, because I served two combat tours there and saw the horrors of that war. That is why, since coming to Congress, I have been at the forefront of efforts to end the war and reassert Congress' war powers and end some of the Authorizations for Use of Military Force.

But in doing so, we must not be driven by artificial deadlines dictated by election-year politics. We must coordinate with our allies who still serve shoulder to shoulder with us. We must protect our troops during very high-risk withdrawal operations. We must prevent a resurgence of ISIS like we saw in Iraq. And, importantly, we must establish some safeguards for the women and children of Afghanistan.

Let's do this. Let's bring our troops home and dedicate our resources here. But let's do it the right way, not rushed by the coming election day.

Many of my colleagues and I share the same goals, but there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. That is why I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

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