The publication is reproduced in full below:
Afghanistan
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, September 11, 2001, is a date that is seared in the memories of those of us who lived through that day and experienced the trauma and the fear of that day.
What has always struck me about that day and the days following, even standing here 20 years later, is how the entire free world stood united against what we saw as a common threat. It came to us as naturally as breathing. We understood that as witnesses to mass murder, we shared a duty to avenge those who had died. It may have been fear that forced us together, but in the days that followed the attacks, we, as Americans, rediscovered the ties that have bound us for centuries and solidified our faith in the common cause of freedom.
But the more time that passes between each September 11 and the September 11 attacks, the more obvious it becomes that history slips away from those who fail to heed its lessons. The defensive action we took as a nation in the wake of the attacks was among the most forceful and effective the world had ever seen, but still, even 20 years later, it is obvious that our work in Afghanistan and the Middle East is far from over.
My colleague from Maine talked about the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I would say, as I talk to Tennesseans, it is not withdrawing from Afghanistan; it was the manner in which the Biden administration chose to end the military mission in Afghanistan that didn't seem to reflect the reality of what was going on on the ground.
Last week, I sent a letter to Chairman Reed, with several of my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee, asking for formal hearings on the withdrawal. We need to know exactly what happened, how they were advised. Without sworn testimony from Secretary Austin, General Milley, General McKenzie, and General Miller, we will never be able to untangle the chaotic course of events that led to the deaths of 13 servicemembers in Kabul and the abandonment of an unknown number of American citizens and our Afghan partners.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record as follows:
U.S. Senate,
September 8, 2021.Senator Jack Reed,Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee, Washington, DC.
Chairman Reed: It is necessary and appropriate for Congress to examine the manner in which our military mission ended in Afghanistan. We should do so with transparency, candor, and a dedication to ascertaining the facts without regard to politics.
We understand that in the coming months, many committees will claim the authority to ask questions regarding our military's withdrawal. Yet, because our committee bears the special responsibility of authorizing and overseeing America's armed forces, we acutely feel the obligation to seek answers. The American people. and in particular many of those who serve our country in uniform, are hurting, angry, and disappointed. We owe them a clear and comprehensive understanding of what happened, why, and how best to learn from these events for the future. Time is of the essence. These hearings should be our top priority when the Senate reconvenes.
We write to formally request that the Senate Armed Services Committee fully exercise its oversight authority by holding both opened and closed hearings on this matter and that our committee ask the Department of Defense to preserve any and all records pertaining to the conclusion of our operations in Afghanistan. In particular, we seek sworn testimony from Secretary Lloyd Austin, General Mark Milley, General Frank McKenzie, Jr., and General A. Scott Miller.
We owe it to our nation, those who served, their families, and our allies and partners who fought alongside us, to preserve the records of how our fight in Afghanistan concluded. The insights we gather will help prevent future loss of American blood and treasure, a solemn responsibility and sacred trust we believe all members of our committee will seek to uphold.
Sincerely,
Tommy Tuberville, Roger Wicker, Tom Cotton, Joni K.
Ernst, Thom Tillis, Dan Sullivan, Kevin Cramer, Rick
Scott, Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley, U.S. Senators.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Beyond the fact-finding mission, I plan to use these hearings to impress upon my Democratic colleagues the importance of the words that we use to describe our enemies, how we talk about them, how we frame their actions.
Since day one--since day one of this administration--the Biden administration has used their words to rehabilitate the Taliban in the eyes of their radical base. The problem, of course, is that their diplomatic calls for inclusivity and equality, this supports a lie about who the Taliban actually is. The Taliban--like ISIS, like al-
Qaida--is a terrorist organization. They rule by fear. They rule through public beheadings, rape, forced marriage, brutality against anyone who questions their regime, against anyone who disagrees with them. Look at the way women and children are treated.
Now, in my opinion and from a lot of Tennesseans whom I have talked with as I have been home, they feel that expecting terrorists to behave like normal people is reckless and stupid. And they feel that some of the actions that have come from this administration and comments that they would have that expectation would reflect that reckless stupidity. These are terrorist organizations.
If you need another example of this, just look at their approach to border security. Even before the transfer of power, massive migrant caravans had begun moving out of Central America and toward the southern border. They were eager to take advantage of then-Candidate Biden's promises of open borders and amnesty for all.
Where did that get us? Well, this is what we have learned. The CBP reports that migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border reached a 20-year high in July. That is right, massive numbers. They heard those promises. So what did they do? They got to work contacting a cartel, and they made this journey after, of course, they paid the cartel. Most of the nearly 200,000 people our Border Patrol caught in July were traveling alone. Families might be holding back, but the international traffickers certainly are not holding back.
On August 29, CBP officers in Memphis found three kilograms of ketamine in a shipment of furniture from France coming in because of the cartels.
In the first week of September, CBP officers in Texas seized two separate stashes of cocaine with a combined street value of almost
$300,000. In the month of July alone, cocaine seizures increased 91 percent, and meth seizures increased 20 percent. Why are they doing this? They know that the border is open.
On September 8, Texas State Troopers and CBP officers stopped two human smuggling attempts running just hours apart from each other. Our CBP officers have made it standard procedure to scour remote terrain for migrants who have been abandoned and left to die by their cartel transporters. Why is this happening? Because it is obvious to everyone, from the migrants, the cartels to the foreign officials who refuse to police their own borders, that the Biden administration won't do anything to stop it. Tennesseans see this as reckless. It makes no sense.
I talked to some local law enforcement officers this week. They are seeing an uptick in meth, fentanyl, and heroin on the streets--all coming out of Mexico. They repeatedly say: Secure the border.
We live in the greatest Nation on Earth. We are still the world's best example for freedom, and we are the last hope for millions of people suffering under authoritarian rule. It is important to understand that it doesn't have to be the way it has been when you look at this withdrawal from Afghanistan, when you look at this open border, when you look at the fact that, yes, this year, the border patrol has apprehended terrorists at the southern border. That is right. It doesn't have to be that way, but when you have weak leadership--
leadership that is not focused, leadership that says ``it is my way or the highway''--and when you have that reckless disregard for the truth, that can and will destroy us.
The actions of the Biden administration have already emboldened our enemies. They have made our allies doubt our commitment to them and to the work that they are trying to do to advance freedom for themselves--
the work that we are doing to advance freedom here in this country and abroad.
So I would encourage my Democratic colleagues to resist the urge to fall in line with the White House on the issue of the Afghanistan withdrawal and to, instead, join me in demanding as many hearings as it takes to restore accountability and transparency and to find out exactly what happened.
What were our military advisers saying to President Biden? To Vice President Harris? To Jake Sullivan? To Susan Rice? To Antony Blinken? What were they telling them? What was the expectation? Did they have a plan? Did they plan to leave Americans behind enemy lines? Did they plan to give up Bagram Airfield? Did they plan to leave all of the equipment for the Taliban to use? Did they plan on that? Was it intentional that they made those decisions or was it reckless stupidity that got us here?
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 157
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