Issue Position: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Issue Position

One of my top duties in Congress and as a member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is to keep our country safe. This means strengthening our national security, supporting our troops at home and abroad, and completing our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

National Security:

To increase our national security, I have supported legislation to make our counterterrorism efforts smarter and stronger. For instance, this year's National Defense Authorization provides our military with the additional tools they need to disrupt, dismantle, and eventually defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies. This includes increased funding for overseas contingency operations, counter proliferation programs to keep weapons out of the hands of our enemies, and our intelligence and cyber security efforts to deter threats as soon as we learn about them. Al Qaeda and our enemies are constantly adapting, and I am committed to supporting our military and defense community in evolving to meet new threats.

Supporting our Troops:

Over two million American service members have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. These brave men and women put their lives on the line to keep us safe and it is critical to our national honor and security to support members of our military when they are in the field and when they return home.

My efforts to strengthen support for service members include:

* Passing legislation that provides housing assistance to service members at NAS Lemoore and around the country

* Authorizing $3.4 billion to fully fund Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles in combat zones

* Authorizing $3.5 billion to develop better technologies for defeating Improvised Explosive Devises (one of the leading causes of casualties and deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan)

* Providing a pay raise to our service members and extending education opportunities

Iraq and Afghanistan:

As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have led bipartisan delegations on fact-finding trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. There we met with American troops and military commanders, local leaders, and civilians to assess first-hand the current situation and challenges we face.

Moving forward, it is critical that we provide our forces the tools they need to extend security and stability to Iraq as we bring the war to a responsible close. Doing so will allow us to withdraw our troops and leave the nation to its people. In Afghanistan, we must focus on defeating al Qaeda and its allies, along with advancing opportunities that will enhance the future security of the region. Examples of this include supporting the development of Afghanistan's infrastructure. Our Valley has played a critical role in this aspect of the war, with local leaders constructing a children's hospital in Afshar.

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