Afghanistan Freedom and Security Support Act of 2007

Floor Speech

AFGHANISTAN FREEDOM AND SECURITY SUPPORT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - June 06, 2007)

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I think from many of the comments that have been made here this afternoon regarding the concerns that we have as it relates to the situation in Afghanistan, we come with the best of intentions to support H.R. 2446, which is the underlying bill, a strong bill; and I am, of course, among those who support this measure.

It affirms the United States' long-term commitment to support Afghanistan in the transition that has seen 30 years of civil war, violence and occupation by a brutal regime to a stable and prosperous democratic state at peace with its neighbors.

Having said that, though, it is easier said than done, as we all know, for Afghanistan faces many challenges. With the amount of funding that we have provided to the Afghani people for economic and security reasons, I believe that there is increased need to have the sort of oversight mechanisms in place to protect this investment, to ensure its success and, of course, to always make sure that American taxpayers' dollars are well spent.

My amendment provides this opportunity in two ways: It provides oversight that includes the Office of Inspector General at the State Department as well as the United States Agency for International Development to provide the necessary oversight within this bill that many of us believe is necessary.

The amendment to H.R. 2446 provides such support in two ways: in-country presence and funding. Without in-country presence and without the necessary funding, it won't happen.

Currently, the staff of the Office of Inspector General of the United States AID are performing their duties in Manila. Now, you take out a map and Manila is a long ways from Kabul in Afghanistan, which is the capital. We need to have on-the-ground knowledge in Afghanistan and programs that they are implementing, and they cannot perform those duties from Manila, which is thousands of and thousands of miles away.

Many of us have visited Afghanistan, and we have on-the-ground knowledge of what is critical to this war on terrorism. We must remember this is where the war on terrorism began, which premeditated the attacks on 9/11.

The amendment mandates that at least two staff members will be permanently deployed in Afghanistan in the country. The amendment also increases the funding for both the Offices of Inspector General in accordance with their own plans to increase staffing over the coming years. The Offices of the Inspector General are our watchdog, and they provide vital efforts to ensure that money is well spent in Afghanistan. We need to ensure that these American taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and that waste and corruption, which was mentioned by the previous speaker, is kept at bay, to the degree that it is possible.

In conclusion, let me say, Mr. Chairman, that we had tremendous success in South Korea, but we have been there over 50 years and we still have 30,000 troops there. The initial two decades in South Korea will be, in my opinion, as difficult as it is today in Afghanistan. Therefore, we must be prepared to put the proper resources there and to stay the course. I strongly support this bill.

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentlewoman, the ranking member, and the chairman of the Committee on International Relations for their good work on this legislation and for their bipartisan effort to provide leadership in our committee and in all the hearings that we are holding and in the legislation that we are participating in.

The bipartisan spirit which I think surrounds the committee these days is welcomed and is truly a tribute to the chairman and the ranking member.

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