Walter Jones

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I continue to be amazed and disappointed that the Republican Party wants to keep putting money in a black hole. The black hole is known as Afghanistan. The story broke yesterday that the Pentagon spent $43 million on a single natural gas station in Afghanistan when it should have cost no more than $300,000. The Pentagon spent over $30 million in overhead costs to build this one gas station, and the gas station was set up to service a kind of car that a huge majority of Afghans cannot afford. The Pentagon also will not answer any questions about this ridiculous waste of money. The $43 million gas station is one of the hundreds of examples of the waste of the taxpayers' money in Afghanistan. John Sopko has repeatedly written about the waste in Afghanistan. I don't know why Congress has continued to fund the waste and fraud in Afghanistan. Instead, last week, Congress passed a budget deal that increased defense spending over the next 2 years by over $80 billion a year. I did not vote for this bill. We already have a national debt of over $18 trillion, and I cannot, in good conscience, vote to add $1.5 trillion to the debt. The budget deal also puts $59 million into the Overseas Contingency Operation fund, which is a slush fund for spending money in unauthorized wars in the Middle East. I am for rebuilding our military, but I am not in favor of the waste in Afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. President Obama signed us up for 9 more years in Afghanistan when he signed the bilateral security agreement last year. On Friday, he announced that he is putting American troops on the ground in Syria in an open-ended mission. This is a waste of money and a waste of lives. It needs to stop, and Congress has the power to stop it; but we will not use our constitutional authority to even debate what he is doing in the Middle East. Mr. Speaker, I bring with me posters from time to time. I look at the deaths of so many men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan who serve our Nation, and it breaks my heart. So to make my point before I close, Mr. Speaker, we still have Americans dying in Afghanistan, but it doesn't make the papers anymore. We had a soldier from Fort Bragg--which is not in my district, but it is in North Carolina--who was killed in Iraq last week. Mr. Speaker, I bring this poster today because it tells the story much better than my words could ever tell the story about war. It is a lady holding her little girl's hand. The little girl has her finger in her mouth, and she is wondering why her daddy is in a flag-draped coffin. I don't know what to tell that little girl. All I can tell that little girl is that Congress is indifferent to sending our young men and women to die in the Middle East. It is time for Congress to meet its constitutional responsibility and have a debate and a vote on the floor of the House.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, this weekend, I learned that there would be no cost-of-living adjustment this year for those living on Social Security. Not only will Social Security recipients not see a cost-of- living increase this year but, also, disabled veterans. There are over 131,000 veterans on disability in North Carolina who will be suffering this year. Our senior citizens and disabled veterans are having a difficult time making ends meet, and it is not fair that the Federal Government continues to waste money with failed policies like Afghanistan. It is disgraceful. Mr. Speaker, we will be raising the debt ceiling of this Nation for years to come because of wasteful spending. This means we will be borrowing more money to continue spending more than we take in. Our annual Federal deficit is still over $400 billion a year. The American people are sick and tired of our wasteful spending, and I know they are frustrated. Once again, our failed policy in Afghanistan is a prime example of the waste, fraud, and abuse of the American taxpayer dollar, but it continues on and on for years to come. In the recent House-Senate conference bill, Congress included $38 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operation, which is a slush fund used to get around sequestration spending caps for the Department of Defense. We have already spent over $685 billion in Afghanistan since 2001, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, we will be spending at least $30 billion a year in Afghanistan for the next 8 years, and Congress has never debated the policy of Afghanistan. This slush fund goes to fund our never-ending wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. We continue to spend money on a fool's errand in the Middle East. Meanwhile, our disabled veterans at home cannot keep up with the rising costs of daily living. President Obama will be keeping 10,000 troops in Afghanistan through all of next year and at least 5,000 there after 2016. Mr. Speaker, years ago, I reached out to a former commandant of the Marine Corps whom I knew, and I asked him to give me his advice on Afghanistan. Many times he has given me his best advice, but one that has stuck with me for years is this--and I quote the commandant: ``What do we say to the mother and father . . . the wife . . . of the last marine or soldier killed to support a corrupt government and corrupt leader in a war that cannot be won?'' Mr. Speaker, that is Afghanistan. It is a waste. How ridiculous it is that Congress and the administration think we can change history. The history of Afghanistan has shown that no outside military force has ever changed it, from Alexander the Great, to the British, to the Russians. It is truly the graveyard of empires, and I hope we won't have a headstone there, waiting, that will read, ``Welcome, America, to the graveyard of empires.'' Mr. Speaker, this poster beside me is a reminder of the cost of war in Afghanistan. There is a little girl holding her mother's hand as they are waiting to follow a caisson down to bury the little girl's father and the wife's husband. Congress, wake up. We are heading for collapse in this country. Let's not continue to spend and waste money, blood, and limbs in Afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform, and, God, please bless America and please wake up the Congress before it is too late.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, the recent news about Afghanistan is, at best, distressing. Soon Congress will be debating an increase in the debt ceiling so we can borrow more money to pay our bills. The sad part is that some of that money will go to Afghanistan. Three recent headlines are most discouraging: One from the Fiscal Times, September 23, ``U.S. Wasted Billions of Dollars Rebuilding Afghanistan.'' The second headline from the New York Times, October 1, ``Afghan Forces on the Run.'' The third headline, ``U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Military Leaders.'' I am so outraged about the third headline story that I am demanding answers on the Pentagon's policy of permitting Afghan men to rape young boys on U.S. military bases. I have written a letter to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and asked him to hold hearings on this issue. We need to get to the bottom of this. Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires. We are headed to the graveyard. We need to borrow money just to carry on the needless war. We need to borrow money just to pay our bills. We are over $18 trillion in debt, and President Obama signed us up for 8 more years in Afghanistan, 8 more years of wasted money. No one even listens to John Sopko, the Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, who has testified before Congress many times. He releases report after report detailing the waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan, and no one in Congress seems to care. According to Sopko, we have spent more in 14 years trying to shape Afghanistan into a functional country, which is a fool's errand, at best, than we did on the entire Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. In the next fiscal year, we will spend $42.5 billion in Afghanistan, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that we will spend $30 billion a year for the next 8 years. We are committed to staying in Afghanistan. This is the longest war in the history of America. History has proven that we will never change this tribal nation and we should stop trying. Instead, let's focus on fixing our problems here in America. The little girls beside me, Mr. Speaker, Eden and Stephanie Balduf, their daddy was training Afghanistan citizens to be policemen, and they were shot and killed by the man they were training. Poor little girls represent so many families whose loved ones have died in Afghanistan for nothing but a waste. With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform, please bless America, and, God, please wake up the Congress before it is too late on Afghanistan.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, one of my dearest friends, and a man nationally known for his knowledge and wisdom on so many subjects, recently celebrated his 80th birthday on August 20. That special friend is Ron Paul. Those who had the pleasure to serve with Ron know how he served with unwavering principles. Whether he was fighting the Federal Reserve, speaking out against unnecessary war, or defending life, Ron Paul lived out the principles he holds dear and upheld the Constitution. That is why I supported him when he ran for the President of the United States of America. Mr. Speaker, it was Ron Paul who started the Liberty Caucus, of which I am still a member. I will always remember very fondly when we met in his office in the Cannon Building for lunch meetings. He would invite speakers who were expert in everything from monetary policy to foreign policy. We all got so much out of those Liberty Caucus meetings. He helped me and many of my colleagues have a better understanding of monetary policy, what are good policies and what are bad policies. Too many times our leaders don't understand the impact and complexities of monetary policy. Mr. Speaker, it is obvious, with our growing debt of $18.3 trillion, that our leadership in both parties should call on Ron Paul and ask his advice. In my 20 years in Congress, I have not had a better friend than Ron Paul. I have always been able to count on Ron as both a personal and professional confidant. In his many years as a ``citizen patriot,'' as his son United States Senator Rand Paul calls him, the cause of liberty has never had a better friend than Ron Paul. Ron is a great fighter for the Constitution; and even though he is out of public office, his fight is just as strong today as ever. I'm sure many of my colleagues in the House would join me in wishing a belated happy birthday to Ron Paul, my dear friend, and a friend of the Constitution.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Marine Colonel James Loftus Fowler, known as father of the Marine Corps Marathon who died on January 20, 2015, at the age of 84. On September 14, 2015, the Marine Corps Marathon building, located on Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA will be named Fowler Hall in recognition of the Marine whose ``one big idea'' helped make ``The People's Marathon'' an enduring event hosted annually in our nation's capital. It was in October of 1975 that Colonel Fowler and his superior, Marine General James Ryan, received approval to establish the Marine Corps Reserve Marathon to promote physical fitness and showcase the organizational skills of the U.S. Marine Corps while generating community goodwill. They intended the Marine Corps Marathon would not only provide an opportunity for runners to qualify for the time-honored event in Boston, but that the Marine Corps Marathon could, over time, improve on the public's perception of military members following the Vietnam War. While initially under command of the Marine Corps Reserve, the Marathon was reauthorized under the Active Duty Marine Corps in 1978, as it officially became the Marine Corps Marathon. With just under 2,000 runners completing the Marathon during the first two years, the Marine Corps Marathon grew to encompass thousands more runners from across the globe. Each October, Marines and Sailors do us proud by joining together to coordinate the MCM, which has expanded to include a full weekend of events. Today, the Marine Corps Marathon registers 30,000 participants and is recognized as one of the largest and most-organized marathons in the world. ``I could not have predicted that 30,000 would be running the race,'' Colonel Fowler said as he saw the event grow. ``I wanted a safe race and one where no one would get lost. There were enough problems to handle. You don't foresee all of the problems but you deal with them the best you can. I think it's been good for the Marine Corps and the participants.'' Fowler also believed the Marine Corps should not present prize money ``because that changes the nature of the race.'' ``As Marine Corps Marathon founder, Colonel Fowler will be remembered for his powerful impact and for initiating the unique partnership between the U.S. Marine Corps, the running community and the public at large,'' said MCM Director Rick Nealis. On Sunday, October 25, the Marine Corps Marathon will celebrate its 40th anniversary in Arlington, VA and our nation's capital with thousands lining the streets to cheer the participants. Runners and spectators alike will attend the event to also honor our men and women in uniform both past and present who defend our nation's freedoms. While ``The People's Marathon'' will continue to spark personal dedication, patriotism and enthusiasm of its participants for many years to come, the Marine Corps Marathon will continue to echo Colonel Fowler's intent to encourage physical fitness, showcase the United States Marine Corps and generate community spirit throughout this great nation.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, on July 22, The New York Times published an article titled ``Afghan Security Forces Struggle Just to Maintain Stalemate,'' by Joseph Goldstein. Mr. Goldstein writes that, because of extremely high casualty rates in the Afghan security forces, there is also a high desertion rate. As a result, the Afghans are struggling to maintain adequate numbers in their security forces, meaning, it is becoming extremely difficult for them to keep the Taliban at bay. The article is of great concern for those of us who have watched the fight against the Taliban since 2001. We have lost over 2,355 men and women in Afghanistan, with 20,000 wounded, and spent over $685 billion. The history of Afghanistan has shown that no outside military force has ever changed it, from Alexander the Great, to the British, to the Russians. Yet, last year the Obama administration signed a 9-year agreement, committing American money and manpower in Afghanistan that was not voted on by the Congress. That is so ironic. We are talking about voting on this agreement with Iran, but we did not vote to commit our troops and our money to Afghanistan for 9 more years. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I am concerned by Mr. Goldstein's report. Let me give two quotes from his article about the ability of the Afghan security forces to keep the Taliban at bay that I found very, very concerning. First: ``A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry . . . insisted that desertions remained rare and that there had been no effort to ban leaves or to stop rotations away from the front to cut down on the number of people going absent without leave.'' The second quote: ``But interviews with soldiers and police officers repeatedly countered the government's claims. One Army major said . . . `Once the soldiers are taken for their breaks, they are unwilling to come back and join their duty.' '' Once again, Mr. Speaker, the Afghan Government is untruthful and corrupt. Yet, we continue to spend billions of dollars at this losing cause. It is not fair to the taxpayers of eastern North Carolina, the taxpayers of America, or anybody in this country that pays taxes that we will continue to send money there to build their infrastructure and rebuild their roads and then to have the Taliban blow them up. It makes no sense. I can assure President Ghani, the President of Afghanistan, that the United States House continues to spend billions of dollars on Afghan reconstruction so the Taliban can continue to destroy what we send over there with the taxpayers' money to be built. We in Congress should stop funding this rathole of a policy in Afghanistan, which has basically given the Afghan Government a blank check every year and will for the next 9 years. History has proven that we will never change this tribal nation, and we should stop trying. Instead, let's focus on fixing our economy here in America. God bless our troops, and God bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to honor Major General Michael R. Regner, for his thirty-nine years of service to our nation in the United States Marine Corps. Major General Regner's extensive career started in 1976, when he received his commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps after graduating from The Citadel. Major General Regner's storied career is distinguished by his willingness and desire to serve the Marine Corps each and every day. He is a man who has served faithfully and to the best of his abilities in all positions in which he has been assigned, which has made him invaluable to the Marine Corps and to our nation. He has successfully used his skills as Commanding General, both in the field and in garrison. It is likely that most of Major General Regner's service will never fully be recognized, but his leadership will truly be felt for years to come. During his decades of service, Major General Regner has served with distinction in support of anti-terrorism operations, including Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his time as a field grade officer, he commanded at the battalion and Marine Expeditionary Unit level and also deployed to Somalia, Bosnia and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia. Mike Regner continued to serve tirelessly after successful command tours and was selected as the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Operations Officer where he helped plan the liberation of Fallujah as well as overseeing the first free elections in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. In 2005, Mike Regner was promoted to Brigadier General and served as the Legislative Assistant to Commandant. During this time he was successful in instituting multiple programs and ideas, including publishing the U.S. Marine Corps' Legislative Strategy. This ultimately increased congressional awareness and funding of over $1.2 billion for fundamental Marine programs. In 2009, Mike Regner deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, to serve as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Joint Operations at the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command. Major General Regner retires from his post as Staff Director at Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington D.C. Major General Regner's achievements go far beyond his impressive resume and hand in relentlessly protecting and serving the American people. Mike Regner established the Department of Defense Enlisted Defense Fellowship Program. This program, created originally for the Marine Corps, has become the model for the entire Department of Defense as all the services now have enlisted members serving in this program. The program has enabled Congressional members and staff to obtain invaluable insight into the workings of all military services, allowing them to make appropriate decisions that affect the military. Mike Regner was recognized in the U.S. House of Representatives for his work as a Marine Corps' Liaison Officer from 1999-2002, before being assigned as the Commanding Officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). Major General Regner closely assisted in the establishment of the Wounded Warrior Employment Program, acting as a spokesman on behalf of all those service members who were wounded in combat and their families to the United States Congress and worked with then Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the implementation of this program. This program has specifically helped over 130 military service members obtain employment to date. Mike Regner is a passionate advocate for those that are wounded, ill, or injured, and continually uses his voice to speak on behalf of those who have served our country relentlessly. Of the many words used to describe Major General Regner, strategic planner and coalition builder would be two that best characterize him. Mike Regner has worked with the U.S. Congress to testify on multiple issues that relate to military personnel. He has worked with Former Senator James Webb on instituting the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, which was signed into law in 2008 and has benefited thousands of service members and their families. Mike Regner has acted as a lead facilitator when providing security during Afghanistan's presidential elections, and further displayed his ability to form alliances with co-authoring The Republic of Korea Counter Provocation Peace Plan. Mike Regner's ability to plan strategically has led to the creation of the NATO International Joint Command, which produced increased security and operational effectiveness within Afghanistan. Over the three decades that Major General Regner has served our nation, Mrs. Mary S. Regner, Major General Regner's wife, has equally served the people of the United States. Noted as an educator and leader, Mrs. Regner serves as a member of the Board of Governors for the National Military Family Association. Mrs. Regner is also a Spouse Ambassador for The White House Joining Forces Initiative, Military Spouse Employment Partnership. Her greatest professional accomplishments stem from her time working as a Department of Labor contractor for the Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program, where she was able to further support military spouses in careers as trainers and managers. Mrs. Regner is a woman that continually educates those around her, and has presented on various topics at the Marine Corps' Cornerstone Spouses' Courses and at Department of Defense conferences. Mrs. Regner is involved in and serves a multitude of other organizations in the Washington, D.C. area while being a wife and a mother to three adult children who also strive to make a difference in their daily lives. Their family includes their oldest son, Michael, who is serving in the Marine Corps as an Infantry Officer, and he is married to Erin, who is busy raising three small children, Michael, Caroline and Charlie. Their daughter, Julia Linton, is working for the South Carolina Research Authority, in Charleston, S.C., as a Project Administrator for SC Launch. Julia and John, an attorney, are expecting their first child. Finally, John Regner, their youngest child, is a high school teacher in Lynchburg, VA, and his wife, Katie, is a social worker. I have personally known the Regner family since 1998, and I am extraordinarily proud of the work they have done for our nation and will do in the future. I have many fond memories of both Mike and Mary from my early days in Congress, but my favorite memory is the story of USMC K-9, Lex. When Lex's handler, Corporal Dustin Lee, was killed in action in 2007, the Lee family wanted to have the injured Lex retired and adopt him. I turned to my good friend Mike Regner to help make this happen. On December 21, 2007, Lex was officially retired with a Purple Heart and turned over to the Lee family. Without Mike Regner, this would have never happened. It is something for which the Lee family and I will be forever grateful. On behalf of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I would like to recognize Major General Regner's outstanding accomplishments, courageous attitude, and past and present devotion to our nation. I wish to congratulate him, his wife Mary, and children, Michael, Julia, and John on the completion of a long and highly distinguished career. In closing, may God continue to bless the Regners and may they have ``fair winds and following seas'' as they embark on a new journey of service to our beloved nation. Semper Fidelis.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, July 9, I saw a report on ABC News that former President George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for military veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was disappointed to learn that a President who sent thousands of Americans to die in an unnecessary war justified by manipulated intelligence would charge a fee to speak at a fundraiser for wounded veterans. ABC also reported that, in addition to charging $100,000 to speak at the charity: ``The former President was also provided with a private jet to travel to Houston at a cost of $20,000.'' Further, ABC News reported: ``One of the wounded vets who served on the charity board told ABC News he was outraged that his former commander in chief would charge any fee to speak on behalf of men and women he ordered into harm's way. `` `For him to be paid to raise money for veterans that were wounded in combat under his orders, I don't think that's right,' said former Marine Eddie Wright.'' Eddie Wright, Mr. Speaker, lost both hands in a rocket attack in Fallujah in Iraq in the year 2004. This is so disappointing and outrageous. These veterans have been severely wounded, and the President that led us into an unjustified war charges $100,000 to be in their presence. That is wrong, Mr. Speaker. That is really, really wrong. Many of these wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan live in the Third District in North Carolina, which I have the privilege to represent. For years, I have felt deep regret over my vote to go into Iraq; and to atone for that, I have publicly and privately apologized and signed over 11,000 letters to families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq because of my mistake. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have never publicly apologized to the families for the unnecessary war they began. Mr. Speaker, I think my friend Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, was right about the Iraq war. On MSNBC a couple of months ago, Colonel Wilkerson stated: ``The intelligence was fixed, and everyone should know that by now. It was a failure of the intelligence agencies, but it was also a failure of the political people who manipulated the intelligence failure to their own benefit.'' He further stated: ``It destroyed the balance of power in the Gulf and produced what we have today, the chaos we have today: al Qaeda in Iraq--never there until we invaded; ISIS--never there until we invaded; the mess we have in Yemen. Everything that's happening in the Middle East today can be attributed to our having destroyed the balance of power that we had carefully maintained for a half a century with the invasion in 2003. It was a disaster.'' I have a lot of respect for Colonel Wilkerson because he is telling the truth when he made this statement to MSNBC. Let me repeat the words of Marine Eddie Wright, who lost both hands in Iraq: ``For him,'' President Bush, ``to be paid to raise money for veterans that were wounded . . . under his orders, I don't think that's right.'' Mr. Speaker, it is not right; and I will add my own thoughts and use the word ``shameful,'' that the former President and his administration, who created an unnecessary war and sent our troops over there to die and also to be wounded, should not charge one dime to go help them out now. So with that, Mr. Speaker, I will ask God to bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. I thank Mr. McGovern for the time. Mr. Speaker, as many people have said today, even those who are for the resolution and against the resolution, we have a constitutional duty. That duty is to debate. I want to quote James Madison, to put the context on what we are trying to say today: ``The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature.'' Not the executive branch, but the legislature. The frustration that we have felt goes back to August of 2014, when Jim McGovern and Barbara Lee and Walter Jones wrote asking the Speaker of the House to allow us to have a debate. That is why Mr. McGovern, Barbara Lee, and I have put this resolution in today, to force a debate. We wouldn't be talking about the Middle East if it weren't for this resolution. In September, I sent my own letter to Speaker Boehner and asked for a full debate on an Authorization for Use of Military Force in the region. None of these letters have been answered. None of them. Last September, Speaker Boehner told The New York Times that he wanted to wait until 2015 to bring an AUMF to the floor of the House for a debate and a vote to avoid bringing it up during a lame duck session. Okay, I can accept that, that makes good sense. It does. In December, Speaker Boehner said the House Republicans would work with the President to get an AUMF request approved if the President sent one to Congress. As Mr. McGovern just said, he did send us one in February. Most people--Democrat and Republican--didn't particularly like what was in the AUMF, but at least it was the vehicle for the debate. But then in February when the Speaker of the House received it, he didn't do anything with it. Nothing has happened. As has been said by speakers before me, last month Jim McGovern, Barbara Lee, and I sent another letter to the Speaker of the House asking for a debate. Nothing happened. That is the reason this resolution is on the floor. It is because, as Madison said: House, do your job. He didn't say: Executive branch, do your job. He said the legislative branch. That is us. We need to do this on behalf of the Constitution and on behalf of our young men and women in uniform who will give their life for this country. As has been said before me, it has been 314 days since President Obama started launching airstrikes and putting troops in Iraq and Syria without receiving the authorization by Congress. According to the Pentagon, we have spent over $9 million a day fighting ISIS, for a total of $2.7 billion. Isn't this another reason that we should be debating the Middle East and our role in the Middle East? I think so. Let me repeat James Madison: ``The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature.''

Mr. JONES. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that I bring these pictures to the floor of those who give their life for this country. This is a flag-draped coffin being pulled off a transport plane in Dover, Delaware, and it is time that we meet our obligation and debate this issue of war because we are not doing our job. We owe it to the American people, to the Constitution, and to those who wear the uniform. I thank Mr. McGovern for the time. The Constitution Project, Washington, DC, June 17, 2015. Hon. Jim McGovern, House of Representatives, Hon. Walter Jones, House of Representatives, Hon. Barbara Lee, House of Representatives, Dear Representatives McGovern, Jones and Lee: We write to applaud you for your efforts to compel Congress to exercise its constitutional responsibility to decide on war. For ten months President Obama has prosecuted the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) under a specious legal claim that Congress authorized it fourteen years ago. Congress has done no such thing. It is high time that Members weighed in. We take no position on grave policy choices about whether to continue to use military force against ISIL, and if so how. But Congress must. The Framers vested the war power in the legislative branch precisely because they believed that young Americans should only be put in harm's way when the people, through their representatives' collective judgment, approved it. We know this is the most difficult issue that Members face. It is also your most important responsibility. If Congress agrees that U.S. service men and women should be engaged in battle, it is Members' constitutional duty to say so. If Congress disagrees, those men and women should come home. What Congress cannot do is continue to avoid the question. We support H. Con. Res. 55 because it would force this long- overdue debate and vote. Please do not hesitate to contact us, via Scott Roehm at The Constitution Project, with any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Mickey Edwards, Vice President, Aspen Institute; former Member of Congress (R-OK) and Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee; co-chair The Constitution Project War Powers Committee Louis Fisher, Specialist in Constitutional Law, Law Library of Congress (ret.); Scholar in Residence, The Constitution Project Virginia Sloan, President, The Constitution Project.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I am on the House floor today to express my thanks to Senator Rand Paul for his 11-hour filibuster of the PATRIOT Act reauthorization on May 31. I voted against the USA FREEDOM Act, which would have reauthorized the PATRIOT Act, because the NSA spying program allows for the Federal Government to gather bulk private data on law-abiding American citizens, a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. I also commend Senator Paul for his courageous statement a couple of weeks ago. He said: ``ISIS exists and grew stronger because the hawks in our party gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched by ISIS. They''--the hawks in our party--``created these people.'' Unfortunately, Louisiana's Governor, Bobby Jindal, criticized my friend Senator Paul by saying he is ``unsuited to be Commander in Chief.'' It is obvious Governor Jindal does not know about the manipulation of intelligence that led us into the Iraq war. In a 2006 article for Time magazine, Lieutenant General Greg Newbold, whom I met with shortly after he wrote the article, stated: ``From 2000 until 2002, I was a Marine Corps Lieutenant General and Director of Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After 9/11, I was a witness and, therefore, a party to the actions that led us to the invasion of Iraq, an unnecessary war. Inside the military family, I made no secret of my view that the zealots' rationale for war made no sense.'' Later in the article, Lieutenant General Newbold states: ``The distortion of intelligence in the buildup to the war led us to the unnecessary war in Iraq.'' The distortion of intelligence, Mr. Speaker, is what led us to that war in Iraq. Last month, when Governor Jeb Bush justified his brother's war in Iraq, my friend Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, appeared on MSNBC's ``The Ed Show,'' where Wilkerson said: ``The intelligence was fixed, and everyone should know that by now. It was a failure of the intelligence agencies, but it was also a failure of the political people who manipulated the intelligence failure to their own benefit. It destroyed the balance of power in the Gulf and produced what we have today: the chaos we have today; al Qaeda in Iraq--never there until we invaded; ISIS--never there until we invaded; the mess we have in Yemen. Everything that's happening in the Middle East today can be attributed to our having destroyed the balance of power that we had carefully maintained for half a century with the invasion in 2003. It was a disaster.'' Thank you, Lawrence Wilkerson, for telling the truth. Like Colonel Wilkerson said, everyone knows the intelligence was manipulated to trick the American people and the Congress into thinking the Iraq war was necessary. In fact, it was not, and it created the vacuum of power that exists today and that ISIS takes advantage of. Also, I would like to say, Mr. Speaker, as I have a poster here of the Air Force removing an American hero from the plane in a flag-draped coffin: because of that unnecessary war in Iraq, we lost over 4,000 Americans; because of that unnecessary war in Iraq, we had over 30,000 wounded. So in closing, Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank our men and women in uniform, their families, and the families who gave a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. I also would like to say: Thank you, Senator Paul, for standing up for the truth. The truth is what can save America. Thank you, Senator Paul.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, Mr. McGovern, for always being out front on this issue, and I am delighted to join him. As he said in many of his comments, the House has a responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American people. I have the privilege to represent Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station. I have over 70,000 retired veterans in the Third District of North Carolina. They are frustrated too. They believe sincerely that we must meet our constitutional responsibility and have this debate. And as you have said, Mr. McGovern, be for it or be against it, but have the debate. That is what is absolutely frustrating. I joined you and Barbara Lee in a letter to Mr. Boehner in September. On August 27 we wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House asking him to please allow a debate on reauthorization of our involvement in the Middle East. Then on September 25 I wrote by myself to the Speaker of the House and asked again for the debate. As you have stated, he did say publicly that because of the forthcoming election in 2014, that he thought it would be proper to have the debate in 2015, which you have already stated. In 2015, the Speaker of the House said he was waiting for the President to submit the AUMF. As you have stated, the President did submit an AUMF, which many of us in both parties for different reasons were dissatisfied with, but it was the vehicle with which to go to the committee, to have the debate, and then to bring to the floor for a debate of the full House. I quote frequently down in my district what James Madison said: ``The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature.'' He didn't say the executive branch. He said the legislature, we in the House and we in the Senate. He didn't say the President. He said the legislature. If we don't bring it forward ourselves and if the Speaker wants the President to submit the AUMF--which he has already done, but now, as you stated, he is asking for another AUMF. I do not understand. Our Nation has spent $1.7 trillion or $1.8 trillion in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. This is the first war in Iraq, not the continuation that we are into now. We are spending billions and billions of dollars every day. As you say, we have cut programs left and right. Even our veterans are concerned about their benefits being cut, and many of them did serve in Afghanistan and Iraq. I take it upon myself to go to Walter Reed. I will go to my grave regretting that I voted to send our kids to Iraq, which was an unnecessary war initially, very unnecessary, but we went; 4,000 of our kids died, and 30,000 were wounded, and 100,000 Iraqis were killed. Anyway, that is history now. I know we can't change history, but, hopefully, we can learn from history. The people are frustrated. I talk about this down in my district, Mr. McGovern. That is why I support this H. Con. Res. 55. I don't know how many billions of dollars we are expending in Afghanistan. I know that that is a different subject, but I want to make my point. The billions of dollars that we are expending in Afghanistan is just so ironic that John Sopko, who is the Special Inspector General of Afghan Reconstruction, talks about how the waste, fraud, and abuse is ongoing. We have had marines from my district who were sent to Afghanistan to train the Afghans to be policemen and soldiers, and the people they were training turned the guns on them and killed them. We are sending our young men and women into these Middle East countries and other countries, and we don't have an end to the plan. I am not a military person, but I have heard from military leaders. If you have a strategy, that means you have an end point to your strategy, but we don't have an end point to our strategy. That is why it is so important that we bring it up. What you are trying to do is to force a debate on an AUMF to get this Congress to reengage itself. I am like you, sir. I get tired of funding all of these programs. In fact, on FOX today, they were talking about the weapons that we have given to the Iraqis, and their army is disbanding half the time. The weapons that we have given them--from machine guns to Humvees--are now in the hands of ISIS, and we are now bombing the equipment that we sent to the Iraqi Army. It does not make any sense. Just a couple more points, and then I am going to yield back to you your time. I want to thank you and Barbara Lee--and that is why I joined you-- because I see the frustration of the marines down in Camp Lejeune. They have been deployed three, four, five, six, seven times, and they know that they might be called upon again, and they will go. Just like all of those who serve in our services, they will go back and go back and go back; but, as you have said many times and as James Madison said, it is our responsibility, not the President's responsibility, to initiate these AUMFs. I hope that the President will follow with what the Speaker has asked him for, which is for a second AUMF. If he sends a second AUMF, then there is no excuse that our leadership of the Republican Party has--and I am a Republican--to not bring it to the floor. Mr. McGovern, I thank you again. I am pleased to have thought to join you in this effort. We need to meet our constitutional responsibility. I go to Walter Reed. I see the broken bodies, and I see the amputated legs. I have signed over 11,000 letters to families in this country who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq. I want to fulfill my duty as a Member of Congress and follow the Constitution and have the debates on spending blood and money in these foreign countries. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of this.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, last week, The Washington Post ran a story titled, ``Defense Firm that Employed Drunk, High Contractors in Afghanistan May Have Wasted $135 Million in Taxpayer Dollars,'' by Colby Itkowitz. Colby writes: ``The defense contractor investigated in 2012 after cellphone videos surfaced of its employees drunk and high on drugs in Afghanistan may have misused almost $135 million of U.S. taxpayer money, an audit finds.'' The Hill further reported that: ``The company also did not comply with Federal procurement law, the audit found.'' Mr. Speaker, I have been coming down to this floor for weeks to highlight the waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan, which John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, has reported is worse now than ever. The National Defense Authorization Act, which the House passed last week, authorized $42 billion for Afghanistan, which is one of the reasons I did not vote for the bill. Why do we continue to spend billions of American taxpayer dollars in Afghanistan when infrastructure all over the United States is rapidly deteriorating? This past weekend, CBS' ``60 Minutes'' ran a segment on America's failing infrastructure and reported that 70,000 bridges in the United States have been deemed structurally deficient, according to the Federal Government. That is one bridge out of every nine. My constituents in eastern North Carolina continually experience frustration and concern over the Bonner Bridge, which is falling apart. This further highlights the waste and the failed policy in Afghanistan. I know some Members of Congress will be upset that I am calling attention to the reckless spending in Afghanistan the NDAA authorized, but then why doesn't Congress stop sending billions of dollars to a failed state where young American men and women are being wounded and killed? Mr. Speaker, this includes the father of these two little girls who are on a poster beside me. Their names are Eden and Stephanie Balduf. Their daddy, Sergeant Kevin Balduf, was shot and killed in Afghanistan 2 years ago by the Afghan he was training. Mr. Speaker, it just gets worse and worse. Those wasted billions of dollars should be allocated to fix American bridges and roads from falling apart and endangering American citizens. It is the right thing to do. Mr. Speaker, let me remind the American people that, last year, the Obama administration signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement with Afghanistan strapping us with 10 more years of waste, fraud, and abuse; 10 more years of billions of dollars being wasted; 10 more years of young Americans being killed and wounded while the infrastructure in America is collapsing; 10 more years of veterans worrying about their benefits. There are so many needs here in America, so many needs that are not being met because we are wasting money overseas in Afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, Congress should debate and vote to stop the madness in Afghanistan on behalf of our soldiers and our men and women in uniform, their families, and the taxpayers of America. Mr. Speaker, it has been said many times that Afghanistan is a graveyard of empires. I hope there is a headstone for America because that is where we are heading, to the graveyard in Afghanistan.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. I thank the gentleman. I appreciate listening to you, and it reminds me of a conversation I had on the floor of the House last week. As you know, I have been here 20 years. I came with Newt Gingrich, and Bill Clinton was the President. We did some good things for the American people, so I am kind of an older man, so to speak. I vote my conscience up here, and it gets me in trouble. I voted twice against the Speaker of the House, and it got me in trouble, but I do what I think is right. I was sitting on the floor, and this gentleman--I will not say his name or where he is from because I don't have permission to do that. He came up to me and said, ``Walter, I am probably going to--'' He is 20 years younger than I am. I am 72 now. He said, ``I am probably going to be like you,'' and he is a Republican. He said, ``I will probably be like you and will never be a chairman or a ranking member of anything because I cannot do anything that would dampen or threaten my integrity.'' I said, ``What do you mean?'' He said, ``Well, in January, I was told that I could be a subcommittee chairman, but I would have to raise $300,000.'' The point that you are trying to make tonight--and you are doing a good job--with John Sarbanes' bill, H.R. 20, which I hope people look up, as well as with your resolution, is that too oftentimes--and I will say in both parties--we have people in leadership who say you have to raise X amount of dollars if you want to be a chairman. What happens to that person in eastern North Carolina, where I am from, who makes $35,000 or $40,000 a year who can't buy influence in Washington? That is what you are trying to do tonight, and that is why I wanted to be with you, and I admire you for taking the floor tonight. Where are their spokesmen? We are the people's House, and all of a sudden, everything is about money, winning reelections with money--big money. The average citizens are beginning to be turned off by the fact that they don't have much influence, and that is why what you are doing tonight is very special. I was thinking about the gentleman who said to me, ``I will be like you, Walter Jones. I will probably never be a chairman or a ranking member because you are trying to keep your integrity in place.'' If we had a system that you are proposing and John Sarbanes is proposing that would have a system for those who don't want to be bought and paid for by special interests, they would have an alternative by raising their money in the State and in the district, and they would be rewarded for raising their money in that State. Then their allegiance would be to the State and the district. Again, I am going to stay a few more minutes, but I want to compliment you on what you are doing tonight.

Mr. JONES. Mr. McNerney, thank you very much, and I want to thank you for taking the lead tonight to be on the floor. I know you have other Members of Congress to join you in your hour, but I have been here for 20 years, and I must tell you that, since I have been here, I have never seen as much influence by the special interests as I do now, and that is because of money. Actually, both parties--and that is why you are a Democrat, I am a Republican--but both parties seem to succumb to the influence of money to get bills to the floor. I am a strong supporter of John Sarbanes, who is from Maryland. You have your bill that I have joined today, by the way, to sign my name to your resolution, and I am on John Sarbanes' bill, which is H.R. 20. The title is the Government By the People Act. I will touch on four quick points. One is building a government of, by, and for the people. The second part of the bill says empower the Americans to participate. The third part is amplify the voice of the people and then fight back against Big Money special interests. In my few minutes, Mr. McNerney, what I would like to talk about is the influence of money. I am a Republican and proud to be one; you are a Democrat and proud to be one, but I will tell you that I have seen so many bills this year get to the floor of the House because, in my opinion, it is because of the influence of special interests. You and I recently had a bill on the floor that basically said that we would change the law that would allow the mobile home companies that sell mobile homes--many people in my district, 45,000 people own mobile homes, and there will be others buying mobile homes--but they will change the contract to say that it would go from 8 to 12 percent. Well, who did it benefit? It was Warren Buffett. I don't deny Warren Buffett his success. He is a very successful man, and I am happy for him. What this bill did was to say to the average person that maybe in California or North Carolina that needs to buy a mobile home, because that is the best they can do: we are going to let you pay more in interest. I was the only Republican to vote ``no'' on that bill. I said this back in my district, and quite frankly, I was pleased that the majority of people agree with me that we should be considerate of those people who cannot afford to buy better than a mobile home; but there, again, that special interest influence, that is what you just said a moment ago. I am of the firm belief that if we do not change the system--you have an H.J. Res. that you have introduced. I talk about John Sarbanes' H.R. 20. That will create an alternative to the system that we have. You and I both know that Citizens United that said that a corporation is an individual has created a lot of the problems that we face today. I will say that the American people need to get behind what you are trying to do, what Mr. Sarbanes is trying to do--and I, in a lesser way--to return the power of the people to the people because, too many times, decisions here in Washington are made because special interests, whether it be a Democrat or Republican leadership, puts it on the floor. I believe that the people, as you believe, have a right to let this be the people's House and not the special interests House. I am delighted to be on the floor with you tonight. I will stay just a few minutes, if you want to call back on me in a couple of minutes. I will be here until a little bit after 8, but I wanted to thank you for getting on the floor tonight to speak about this issue because, if we are going to let the people own the government, then we must give the power back to the people.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, last week, while we were in recess, I traveled through my district and had the opportunity to appear on local television and to speak at civic clubs. Every time I mentioned that we have an $18 trillion debt, eastern North Carolinians were astounded and could not believe it. To put the debt into perspective, on January 20, 2009, the total Federal debt stood at $10.6 trillion. As of last Friday, May 8, 2015, it has risen to $18--an increase of $7.5 trillion. Our debt now stands at over $200,000 for every full-time private sector worker. I agree with my constituents that it is time Congress stopped passing legislation that is not paid for. Republicans have control of both Chambers of Congress now because voters want us to cut the debt and deficit and stop passing legislation that is not paid for. In an April article for Forbes Magazine, Stan Collender wrote: If you haven't noticed that Congress is about to increase the Federal deficit substantially, you haven't been watching carefully . . . or at all. Virtually every policy change that has already or soon will be considered seriously in the House and Senate will make the deficit higher rather than lower. He further writes: Based on what Congress is now considering, the deficit could be $100 billion or more next year than it otherwise would be if you just put Washington on autopilot; that is, if you made no changes to existing tax and spending policies. That would be an almost 21 percent increase. It is obvious that our current fiscal policies are unsustainable. Mr. Speaker, I have been speaking for months and even years about the waste of money in Afghanistan. It is sad to me that we have been pouring money down a rat hole known as Afghanistan. We have spent over $685 billion in Afghanistan in the last 14 years, and President Obama just entered into a bilateral security agreement with Afghanistan late last year that ties us--our Nation--to a failed policy for another 9 years. What have we gained there, with over 2,000 American troops killed, over 20,000 wounded, and billions of dollars spent? My answer to my own question is: nothing. Absolutely nothing. A couple of weeks ago, I visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center to meet some of our veterans who had been wounded and are trying to heal. Some have wounds that will never truly heal. Congress owes it to them--and all of our men and women who serve--and the American taxpayer to have a serious debate about our future in Afghanistan. I think it is high time to leave Afghanistan. Nine more years is absolutely fruitless. Mr. Speaker, out of fairness to American taxpayers and future generations, we can no longer delay the need to pay down our debt and work toward sound economic policies. And out of fairness to our veterans and the men and women who serve in the military, we need to have a serious debate about spending more money and time in Afghanistan, when it has been proven and is well known by historians to be the graveyard of empires. Is it worth it, Mr. Speaker? I think not. May God continue to bless our men and women in uniform and may God continue to bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, last week, mailman Doug Hughes flew a gyrocopter onto the Capitol lawn to make a point about the influence of money in politics. While I don't condone violating restricted airspace and putting innocent people at risk by flying a gyrocopter onto the Capitol lawn, Mr. Hughes does have a point about the pervasive influence of money in politics. I have seen it get worse and worse during my 20 years in Congress. The Citizens United decision by the United States Supreme Court in 2010 created super-PACs and multi-millionaires who buy candidates. As of April 8, 2015, there were 1,360 super-PACs in existence that controlled nearly $700 million in the 2014 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org. The American people have lost confidence in the House and in the Senate partially because super-PACs influence candidates and politicians. Too many times I have seen bills come to the floor of the House that seem influenced by money. Just last week, the House voted on H.R. 650, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2015, which does nothing but line the pockets of Warren Buffett by enabling his near- monopoly of the mobile home industry to strap poor people with higher interest rates while his companies are being protected from government regulations against predatory lending. It is my disgust at this influence of money in politics that has led me to be a cosponsor of H.R. 20, the Government by the People Act, introduced by my colleague Congressman John Sarbanes. H.R. 20 would curb the influence of super-PACs so that small donors can have a voice again. We in Congress owe the American people a vote on this bill so we can inspire confidence in our democratic process. House leadership should bring this bill to the floor, but I know it won't happen. There isn't the stomach for reform bills in this Congress, even for bipartisan reform bills. Maybe it does take a statement like Mr. Hughes' to bring this issue into the national debate and to make Congress address our out-of-control fund-raising. I ask my colleagues in both parties in the House of Representatives to look seriously at the John Sarbanes bill, because the Government by the People Act will help to restore the confidence of the American people. We cannot stop what is already public law, and we cannot change Citizens United unless we go back through the legal process, but we can have an alternative. That is what the John Sarbanes bill does, so I hope Republicans and Democrats will look seriously at becoming cosponsors. I ask God to bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I am back on the floor today because, while we were home during the Easter break, there was a tragedy in Afghanistan that largely escaped the national news. On April 8, Army medic John Dawson was shot and killed and eight other Americans were wounded by an Afghan soldier who opened fire on them. This tragedy is yet another example of the American blood spilled in Afghanistan. Sadly, this kind of tragedy, an American soldier being killed by a supposed Afghan ally, is nothing new. The poster I have with me today is a picture of two little girls, Eden and Stephanie, who lived in my district for a time. Their father, Sergeant Kevin Balduf, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune in my district, died in May of 2011 in Afghanistan, along with Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Palmer, who also was stationed in my district at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. They were shot by an Afghan policeman they were training. The night before Sergeant Balduf died, he emailed his wife, Amy, and he said: I don't trust them. I don't trust them. I don't trust any of them. The next day, he was killed. Mr. Speaker, last December, when Congress passed final appropriations for fiscal year 2015, it provided $4.1 billion for the Afghan National Security Forces and additional funding for development assistance. This is more money than the Afghan Government generates in a year. The special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, John Sopko, regularly produces reports of the rampant waste, fraud, and abuse of American taxpayer dollars in Afghanistan; yet we in Congress continue to spend billions in Afghanistan. To what end? Why are we going to spend billions of dollars and have troops in Afghanistan for 9 more years--for 9 more years, Mr. Speaker? As Roger Simon, an editor with Politico, said in October 2014: If you spent 13 years pounding money down a rathole with little to show for it, you might wake up one morning and say: ``Hey, I'm going to stop pounding money down this rathole.'' The United States Government wakes up every morning and says: ``The rathole is looking a little empty today. Let's pound a few more billion dollars down there.'' Mr. Speaker, that is sad for the American taxpayer who, tomorrow, many of the American taxpayers will pay their taxes to the Federal Government; and we, in Congress, will continue to take their tax money and spend billions over in Afghanistan with very little accountability for the American taxpayer. That is unacceptable. When you look at the limbs and the death that is going on in Afghanistan, you wonder why someone, years ago, said that Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires. Yes, Mr. Speaker, America is headed for the graveyard in Afghanistan. I don't understand my colleagues in Congress. Mr. Speaker, it is time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan once and for all. We have wasted billions of dollars and spilled so much American blood in a futile attempt to save a fractured country from itself. Afghanistan is truly the graveyard of empires that I just mentioned. It is time for Congress to lead the way and end our presence in Afghanistan. May God continue to bless our men and women in uniform, and may God continue to bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, last week in the House Armed Services Committee, we had a hearing on the budget for fiscal year 2016. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, both testified before the committee, and I have great respect for both of them. I asked them if, after a decade in Afghanistan, keeping troops in Afghanistan for 9 more years would even make a difference. Last year in his Politico article, ``Down the Opium Rathole,'' Roger Simon argues, ``If you spent 13 years pounding money down a rathole with little to show for it, you might wake up one morning and say: `Hey, I'm going to stop pounding money down this rathole.' . . . Unfortunately, the U.S. Government does not think this way. Even though our combat troops are leaving Afghanistan, our money will continue to flow there, billion after billion.'' Mr. Speaker, I submit this Politico article for the Record. [From Politico, Oct. 29, 2014] Down the Opium Rathole (By Roger Simon) If you spent 13 years pounding money down a rathole with little to show for it, you might wake up one morning and say: ``Hey, I'm going to stop pounding money down this rathole.'' Unfortunately, the U.S. government does not think this way. The U.S. government wakes up every morning and says: ``The rathole is looking a little empty today. Let's pound a few more billion dollars down there.'' And when that rathole is Afghanistan, the billions are essentially without end. Even though our combat troops are leaving Afghanistan, our money will continue to flow there, billion after billion. The National Priorities Project says ``$753.3 billion has been allocated for the war in Afghanistan since 2001, including $89.1 billion in fiscal year 2014.'' President Obama hopes to reduce U.S. forces in Afghanistan to just 9,800 troops next year. But the money spigot will not be turned off. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. In Asia, only Bangladesh is poorer. According to the World Food Programme, half the population lives below the poverty line; Afghanistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world; and more than half the children under 5 years old are chronically malnourished. Yet at one thing Afghanistan succeeds superbly: Afghanistan illegally produces and exports opium, morphine and heroin in such quantities that, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan is ``practically the exclusive supplier of the world's deadliest drug [93% of the global opiates market]. Leaving aside 19th-century China, that had a population at that time 15 times larger than today's Afghanistan, no other country in the world has ever produced narcotics on such a deadly scale.'' The United States has spent billions trying to stop this trade, but it has failed utterly. In fact, under U.S. occupation, drug production has increased. Opiates come from opium poppies, which are planted in profusion in Afghanistan. More than eight years ago, we decided to spray the poppy fields with herbicides, but this was unpopular with the Afghan government, which didn't want its illegal drug profits to stop. And even some counterinsurgency experts feared that killing the opium poppies would drive angry poppy farmers into the arms of the Taliban. Lots of people get confused between counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, by the way. A military expert once explained it to me this way: Counterinsurgency is when you try to win the hearts and minds of the people. Counterterrorism is when you kill the people and then try to win their hearts and minds. The United States has tried both policies in Afghanistan for years. And while the Taliban has become adept at fighting counterterrorism, the Afghan government has become adept at exploiting counterinsurgency. Take narcotics. How does a country that has few and terrible roads, like Afghanistan, get 93 percent of the world's opiates out of its country? One way is by air. And in January 2013, the U.S. government said it would no longer grant contracts to a private Afghanistan airline because the U.S. military's anti- corruption unit said the airline ``was involved in bulk opium smuggling.'' But the Afghan government howled, and the U.S. lifted its ban. There are other examples, but only one conclusion. As Michael Lumpkin, assistant secretary of defense for special operations/low-intensity conflict, said in a letter on Oct. 7: ``In our opinion, the failure to reduce poppy cultivation and increase eradication is due to the lack of Afghan government support for the effort.'' But over 12 years, the U.S. government pounded $7.6 billion down the drug eradication rathole in Afghanistan. In a report last week, John Sopko, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said: ``By every conceivable metric, we've failed. Production and cultivation are up, interdiction and eradication are down, financial support to the insurgency is up, and addiction and abuse are at unprecedented levels in Afghanistan.'' To our government, the solution was clear: Pound more money down the rathole. As The Washington Post recently reported: ``The State Department requested $137.5 million in funding for counter- narcotics efforts in Afghanistan for fiscal year 2014, a $31 million increase over fiscal year 2012.'' Further, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently wrote a report saying we should give Afghanistan ``between $5 billion and $8 billion annually for at least a decade'' even though most U.S. troops will (supposedly) be long gone by then. So we have spent $7.6 billion on a drug eradication program that increased drug production. And now we are planning to pour $50 billion to $80 billion into that same country over the next 10 years. And you know what worries me? Pretty soon we are going to be talking about real money.

Mr. JONES. In recent days, the waste of billions of dollars in Afghanistan has been dominating the headlines: March 20 of this year, ``Afghanistan Can't Manage Billions in Aid, U.S. Inspector Finds''; March 14, 2015, ``C.I.A. Cash Ended Up in Coffers of Al Qaeda''; May 4, 2013, ``Karzai Says He Was Assured C.I.A. Would Continue Delivering Bags of Cash.'' Mr. Speaker, the squandering of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars by the Afghan Government is one small aspect of the rampant waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan. The House is looking to vote on the budget produced by the Republican majority this week which continues billions of dollars the military deserves, but the billions of dollars going to Afghanistan are a waste. The Republican budget also provides billions of dollars for emergency war funding to get around sequestration. Why do we have sequestration in the first place? Because Congress has not passed an honest budget in years. A couple of weeks ago, the House Armed Services Committee had a hearing on U.S. policy in Afghanistan, where I asked General John Campbell, U.S. Army, commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces in Afghanistan, if he will ever have a successor who will be honest with Congress and the American people about the fact that we have done as much as we can do in Afghanistan. He did not give me a direct answer, but his response was this: ``For very little continued investment, we can make this a shining light of central Asia.'' Mr. Speaker, if I had had more time, I would have asked General Campbell what his definition of ``very little continued investment'' is when we have already spent billions and billions of dollars and spilled blood in Afghanistan. There are bridges, roads, educational needs, and veterans benefits to provide here in the United States. Let's focus on their needs rather than on chasing something that will never happen. History has proven Afghanistan will never change. It is a graveyard of empires. Mr. Speaker, without a debate in Congress, President Obama signed a Bilateral Security Agreement with Afghanistan to keep our United States troops there for 9 more years. Let's cut the 9 years to 3 or 4 years and bring our troops home. Finally, with an ever-climbing $18 trillion debt, the American people are frustrated. Congress needs to impose spending controls to save taxpayer money. Mr. Speaker, may God continue to bless our men and women in uniform, and may God continue to bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, today the House Budget Committee will reveal the budget for fiscal year 2016. That budget will contain more money for Afghanistan, which is why I am speaking on the floor today. Afghanistan is an absolute waste of taxpayer money. It is a true graveyard of empires. Mr. Speaker, just 2 years ago, I was speaking on the floor about a New York Times article titled, ``Karzai Says He Was Assured CIA Would Continue Delivering Bags of Cash.'' I will quote from that article again today: ``The CIA money, Mr. Karzai told reporters, was `an easy source of petty cash,' and some of it was used to pay off members of the political elite and a group dominated by warlords.'' This past Sunday, an article was published in a Raleigh, North Carolina, paper titled, ``CIA Cash Helped to Refill Al Qaeda Coffers.'' According to the article: ``The CIA contribution to al Qaeda's bottom line was just another in a long list of examples of how the United States, largely because of poor oversight and loose financial controls, has sometimes inadvertently financed the very militants'' who have been killing American soldiers. Finally, the article stated: ``The cash flow has slowed since a new Afghan president, Mr. Ghani, assumed office in September, Afghan officials said, but they added that cash was still coming in.'' For at least 5 years, it has been reported that cash from the United States has been funneled to the Afghan Government through the CIA as a sort of slush fund, and some of that money has made its way to al Qaeda. This is only one example of the waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan, yet the current administration has obligated the American taxpayer and soldier to 9 more years in Afghanistan, without even a debate on the floor of the House. Let me remind the House: Al Qaeda is our enemy. Congress owes the American people and the soldiers a debate to end this failed policy. Mr. Speaker, after over $685 billion in taxpayer dollars, blood, and limbs lost in Afghanistan, it is time to stop the waste, fraud, and abuse of American taxpayer money there and to start reallocating that money right here in America to help our veterans, to help the infrastructure of America, and to help our children, America's future. Why are we spending this kind of money in Afghanistan that is abused and wasted and used to kill American soldiers? I do not understand it, Mr. Speaker. Our debt is over $18 trillion. When President Clinton left office in the year 2000, our debt was $5.6 trillion. Today, it is over $18 trillion in debt, and we are going to continue with 9 more years of waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan. We, in Congress, owe the American people a debate. With that, Mr. Speaker, before closing, I will ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform. God, please bless the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I will ask God to please bless the President and the House and the Senate, that we will do what is right in the eyes of God for God's people today and God's people tomorrow.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, in the last couple of weeks, the effort to declassify the 28 pages of the Joint Inquiry Report into the 9/11 attacks has received a lot of media attention, mainly because of Zacarias Moussaoui's recent comments exposing the financial link between the Saudi royal family and al Qaeda. In 2002, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, chaired by Senator Bob Graham, and the House Committee on Intelligence, chaired by Congressman Porter Goss, released the Joint Inquiry report into the 9/ 11 attacks. In a political move, the Bush administration then classified 28 pages of the report even though the contents of those 28 pages posed no national security risk to the United States. Rather, the contents of those 28 pages are probably embarrassing for the Bush administration. Senator Graham has repeatedly called for the 28 pages to be declassified as a result. I have read the 28 pages and cannot divulge what is in them, but I can say that the contents deal with relationships. Senator Graham has openly said that the 28 pages deal with the Bush administration's relationships with the Saudis. My colleagues Congressman Stephen Lynch from Massachusetts and Congressman Thomas Massie from Kentucky, who have also read the 28 pages, have joined me in introducing H. Res. 14, to urge the President to keep his word to the 9/11 families and declassify the 28 pages, which he could do with a stroke of a pen. The movement to declassify the 28 pages is picking up momentum. Just last week, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich tweeted his support for declassifying the 28 pages to 1.5 million of his followers. All of the principal players in producing the reports on the 9/11 attacks have called for the declassification of the 28 pages-- Senator Bob Graham, Senator Richard Shelby, Congressman Porter Goss, Congressman Tom Kean, and Congressman Lee Hamilton. I urge my colleagues to submit to the House Intelligence Committee a request to read the 28 pages and to join me, Congressman Lynch, and Congressman Massie in supporting H. Res. 14 as a cosponsor. Mr. Speaker, it is time that the 28 pages are declassified. The 9/11 families have a right to this information in the 28 pages, and the American people deserve to know the truth about what caused the 9/11 attacks. For more information on this effort to declassify the 28 pages, visit 28pages.org. May God continue to bless America, and may God continue to bless our men and women in uniform.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that my colleagues would agree that we have many needs in our districts. For example, my district has an inlet that cannot be dredged, which causes an economic problem. And the reason it cannot be dredged is because of lack of funds. We continue to spend billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there is no money for necessary infrastructure projects back here in North Carolina and across the Nation. Mr. Speaker, as you know, I have been outspoken on the continuation of war in Afghanistan. I would like to recite a segment from Rudyard Kipling's poem, ``Epitaphs of the War,'' as Ron Paul did when we went into Iraq: ``If any question why we died, tell them because our fathers lied.'' Mr. Speaker, a recent letter to the editor of the Marine Corps Times echoed the same sentiment. Bryan Chou wrote: ``Remember the part I said about ending the Marines' presence in Afghanistan? I lied,'' said every politician. I assume Mr. Chou was referring to the President's recent statement that the war in Afghanistan is over. How can the war be over when we just committed to a 10-year bilateral security agreement with Afghanistan to keep thousands of troops there while spending millions of dollars? The Afghan Parliament voted on the bilateral security agreement while we in Congress had no discussion and no debate. According to the Constitution, the President does not need to come to Congress for permission on an agreement, but I think we have a responsibility to the American taxpayer and our men and women in uniform to discuss an agreement that will keep more taxpayer dollars and more troops in Afghanistan in the coming years. Just a couple of weeks ago the Marine Corps announced that the marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina's Third District, which I represent, are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. When does it end, Mr. Speaker? When does it end? I would like to quote Grant Filbeck from Erie, Pennsylvania, who wrote a letter to the Marine Corps Times last week about Afghanistan: I believe in the mission 100 percent, but we have given the Afghans the tools to succeed, and it's up to them to use them. We have been in the country for more than 13 years. That is ridiculous. We have spent so much money funding these guys. If the Afghans want to fight for their country, then they will, or the Taliban will take over without much of a fight. These two men whose letters I referenced are marines who have been to Afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, this is a poster from a book titled, ``How U.S. Taxpayers Bankroll the Taliban.'' It was written several years ago by Douglas Wissing. It is a great expose on how the taxpayers' money ends up in the hands of the Taliban, to kill Americans and to blow up the buildings that we built for them with taxpayer money. Mr. Speaker, in closing, we owe it to the American people, our military, and our Constitution to debate war. As James Madison wrote: ``The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature.'' I agree with James Madison and urge the Congress to meet its constitutional duty to debate war and not let any President have an AUMF to send our young men and women overseas to die and see the taxpayers' money wasted. May God continue to bless our troops, and may God continue to bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, let me quote from Roger Simon in a recent article, titled, ``Down the Opium Rathole.'' Mr. Simon writes about Afghanistan: If you spent 13 years pounding money down a rathole with little to show for it, you might wake up one morning and say, ``Hey, I'm going to stop pounding money down the rathole.'' Unfortunately, the United States Government does not think this way. Mr. Speaker, last week we passed a $585 billion bill known as the defense bill, with a large percentage of that money going into overseas contingencies: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. I question how much damage this bill causes our military Active Duty and our retirees. Let me quote from Lori Falkner Volkman, a former prosecutor and spokesman for the Keep Your Promise Alliance, an online coalition of military families and organizations. She said: ``This is the second Christmas in a row that national leaders have tried to cut military pay benefits. Earned benefits should not even be on the table when entitlement budgets soar and appropriations budgets are billions of dollars over budget.'' I did not vote for the NDAA bill. It was 1,648 pages, and we did not have enough time to read and comprehend the contents of the bill. In a recent article in the Jacksonville Daily News regarding my ``no'' vote on this bill, Mike Hayden, a retired Air Force colonel and present director of governmental relations for the Military Officers Association of America, known as MOAA, said: ``An E-5 servicemember would lose more than $800 in purchasing power annually when the bill takes effect. This is going to cost them a loss of about $600 a month just in pay.'' In the same article, Jim Davis, a retired marine who now lives in Jacksonville and serves as a senior vice commander of the local DAV chapter, said the cuts could adversely affect military families. Charlie Brown, a quartermaster for the VFW post in Jacksonville, agreed with Mr. Davis and said the bill doesn't accurately reflect what servicemembers actually deserve. Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote James Madison. James Madison wrote: ``The power to declare war, including the power to judge the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature.'' Mr. Speaker, for too long, we have not had policy debates on the floor of this House, whether it be Iraq, Syria, or Afghanistan. When I look at the waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan, I want to say to the Active Duty in the military and the retirees, I regret so much that the Congress is not debating the issues that we should be debating based on our constitutional duties. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to quote Pat Buchanan. Pat says: ``Is it not a symptom of senility to be borrowing from the world so we can defend the world?'' I repeat: ``Is it not a symptom of senility to be borrowing from the world so we can defend the world?'' Mr. Speaker, that is so prophetic. And I thank Pat Buchanan for trying to wake up Congress before it is too late. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I have a poster beside me with Uncle Sam. And Uncle Sam says: ``I want you to understand that if you can't afford to take care of your veterans, you can't afford to go to war.'' That, again, is what Pat Buchanan is saying. Mr. Speaker, those of us in Congress in both parties need to understand that we have a constitutional responsibility to not commit our young men and women to fight and die and be wounded unless we debate the policy on the floor of the House. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform and their families, and please, God, continue to bless America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. I thank Ms. Foxx for putting this together. Tonight is a sad night, but a very special night, I think, for those of us who have had the privilege to know Howard Coble as long as I have. We go back to 1983, when I was a freshman Democrat in the North Carolina House of Representatives and he was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives as a Republican. Why we met, I don't know, but eventually we became pretty good friends at that point. He then left the North Carolina House and came to Washington, D.C., and my father, Congressman Walter Jones, Sr., was chairman of the Merchant Marine Committee. Mr. Coble, who came from North Carolina, was on that committee because he is a former member of the Coast Guard. He was a natural because of the work they did on that committee. My father became a friend of Howard Coble's. Then I came to Washington, Mr. Speaker, as a Republican, and we have been friends for many years. This man, to me, is very special as a human being. I heard Mr. Price say the ``dean,'' but I call him the ``leadah'', l-e-a-d-a-h. Mr. Coble likes to tell people that is because those of us from eastern North Carolina don't know the word ``leader'' ends in e-r instead of a-h. I did that because at the time we became the majority in 1995, it was a change in the House, for sure, and there was a Democrat for a number of years, and Mr. Coble, being the kind of man he was, said, ``No, I don't want to be called the dean. As long as he's here in Congress, I want him to remain the dean.'' I think that says a heck of a lot about who this person is. So, Mr. Speaker, I decided that he should be known as the ``leadah,'' and therefore many people in the House of Representatives from both parties call him the ``leadah''--some with a northern accent, some with a west coast accent, but it still sounds the same. For me, personally, this night is sad because I have spent many nights in the last few years where Mr. Coble and I have had dinner together at the Capitol Hill Club reminiscing about yesterday but also thinking about today. For me, this is a personal relationship that is like family, quite frankly. For me to know that I have been reelected for another term and to know that Mr. Coble will go back home and enjoy the love and affection of the people of Greensboro, it still is sad for me personally. I do think that he has given so much not only to the State of North Carolina, but to our Nation. He has been a very effective leader of the House. He has been a great legislator. He has been able to get things done in the Judiciary Committee and other committees. He will always be remembered in my heart as a member of my family. To you, Howard Coble, I love you as a brother in Christ. You are a special man who has given so much to not only North Carolina, but to America. You will always remain a member of my family. God bless you, sir.