Issue Position: Afghanistan

Issue Position

The Afghanistan war is now the longest running war in United States history. In the wake of the September 11th attacks, the United States went into Afghanistan to eliminate a glaring threat to our national security: the safe haven and protection provided for Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda by the ruling Taliban. In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq rather than finishing the job in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, al Qaeda is no longer the only threat in the region. The Taliban has refortified in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and al Qaeda is in the border region of Pakistan. Meanwhile, the United States has not only continued its military operations in Afghanistan, in recent months our country has dramatically increased the number of military personal in this war to over 100,000 brave men and women.

I support bringing our troops home from Afghanistan as quickly and safely as possible and changing our policy to a counterterrorism strategy that focuses on al Qaeda around the world. To that end, I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 5015. This bill would require the President to submit a plan to Congress for the safe, orderly, and expeditious redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan.

I have also voted in favor of amendments on the House floor that would require President Obama to submit a plan to Congress by April, 2011 outlining the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. These amendments would have also required the President to begin the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by July, 2011, as the President originally proposed.

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