I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1735 

To require the President to transmit to Congress a plan with timeframe 

and completion date and reports with status updates on the transition 

of United States military and security operations in Afghanistan to 

the Government of Afghanistan. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. JONES, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. PAUL, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. 

DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, 

Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. AMASH, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. 

WELCH, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the President to transmit to Congress a plan 

with timeframe and completion date and reports with 

status updates on the transition of United States military 

and security operations in Afghanistan to the Government of Afghanistan. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Afghanistan Exit and 

3 Accountability Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) On November 29, 2009, in the Final Orders 

7 for Afghanistan/Pakistan Strategy, President 

8 Barack Obama wrote that sending significant addi9 tional United States troops in early 2010 would set 

10 the conditions for an ‘‘accelerated transition to Af11 ghan authorities beginning in July 2011’’. 

12 (2) Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghani13 stan is America’s longest conflict, with October 7, 

14 2011, marking the 10-year anniversary of the start 

15 of United States military operations in Afghanistan. 

16 (3) Military operations in Afghanistan have cost 

17 United States taxpayers $336,000,000,000 in deficit 

18 spending from October 2001 through fiscal year 

19 2010, with an additional $100,000,000,000 appro20 priated in deficit spending for fiscal year 2011. 

21 (4) As of March 15, 2011, over 1,500 members 

22 of the United States Armed Forces have lost their 

23 lives in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 

24 Afghanistan and over 10,000 have been wounded. 

25 (5) In November 2010, the Department of De26 fense reported that suicide rates are soaring among 


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1 veterans, and the backlog at the Department of Vet2 erans Affairs had reached more than 700,000 dis3 ability cases, including cases involving post trau4 matic stress disorder. 

5 (6) The combined costs of the wars in Iraq and 

6 Afghanistan are currently estimated to account for 

7 23 percent of the United States deficit for the period 

8 2003 to 2010. 

9 (7) Nobel Prize-winning economist and Colum10 bia University Professor Joseph Stiglitz estimates 

11 that the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 

12 including interest payments on the money borrowed 

13 for these wars and care for wounded soldiers and 

14 veterans, are likely to total $4,000,000,000,000 to 

15 $6,000,000,000,000. 

16 (8) On December 1, 2009, at a speech at the 

17 United States Military Academy at West Point, 

18 President Barack Obama stated that the United 

19 States would begin withdrawing United States 

20 Armed Forces from Afghanistan in July 2011. 


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1 SEC. 3. PLAN WITH TIMEFRAME AND COMPLETION DATE 

2 AND REPORTS WITH STATUS UPDATES ON 

3 TRANSITION OF UNITED STATES MILITARY 

4 AND SECURITY OPERATIONS IN AFGHANI5 STAN TO THE GOVERNMENT OF AFGHANI6 STAN. 

7 (a) PLAN WITH TIMEFRAME AND COMPLETION

8 DATE REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit 

10 to Congress a plan with a timeframe and completion date 

11 for the accelerated transition of United States military 

12 and security operations (including operations involving 

13 military and security-related contractors) in Afghanistan 

14 to the Government of Afghanistan. 

15 (b) REPORT WITH STATUS UPDATES REQUIRED.— 

16 Not later than 90 days after the date of transmission of 

17 the plan required by subsection (a), and every 90 days 

18 thereafter, the President shall transmit to Congress a re19 port setting forth the current status of such plan, includ20 ing the following information: 

21 (1) Progress on completing the redeployment of 

22 United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan and 

23 the accelerated transition of military and security 

24 operations to the Government of Afghanistan. 

25 (2) The total number of United States Armed 

26 Forces deployed in Afghanistan over the reporting 


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1 period, including military and security-related con2 tractors, logistical support, and maintenance for 

3 bases and facilities utilized by the Armed Forces. 

4 (3) The total number of United States Armed 

5 Forces permanently withdrawn and redeployed from 

6 Afghanistan during the reporting period, including 

7 Guard and Reserves, that will not be replenished or 

8 replaced by new deployments or by military and se9 curity-related contractors. 

10 (4) The total financial costs of maintaining 

11 United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan over the 

12 reporting period, including military and security-re13 lated contractors. 

14 (5) The number of members of the United 

15 States Armed Forces killed or wounded in Afghani16 stan during each reporting period. 

17 (6) The number of United States military per18 sonnel (active duty, Guard, Reserves, and veterans) 

19 who were or had been deployed to Afghanistan that 

20 committed suicide during the reporting period. 

21 (7) The cost of providing care and benefits to 

22 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans and 

23 members of the United States Armed Forces de24 ployed in Afghanistan during each reporting period. 


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1 (8) The estimated amount of increased deficit 

2 and increased public debt attributed to continuing 

3 military operations in Afghanistan accrued during 

4 the reporting period and projected through 2020, in5 cluding interest payments on money borrowed for 

6 OEF and the care and benefits for wounded soldiers 

7 and veterans. 

8 (9) Information on variables that could advance 

9 the timetable and increase the rate of redeployment 

10 of United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan. 

11 (c) SAVINGS FROM ACCELERATED REDEPLOY12 MENT.—Each report required under subsection (b) shall 

13 include the estimated savings, immediate and over 5-year, 

14 10-year, and 20-year time periods, were United States 

15 military and security operations to be concluded and 

16 United States Armed Forces redeployed from Afghanistan 

17 within 180 days of the date of each report. 

Æ 


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