Date: 2010-07-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

As you can see. there are untold stories of valor on the front lines of war around the world. We can be very proud as Americans of the resilience of our men and women in the United States military and those valiant animals who stand by them and the support that families have given to them. I stand here as a proud American not out of arrogance. but simply out of recognition that we are the frontliners for peace and democracy. I had the privilege of spending the last week in Afghanistan. not closed in in a small room. but traveling throughout the country. visiting with our commander on the ground. visiting with the international allied forces. being briefed and seeing in action the Afghan National Security Forces. meeting the leadership of the Afghan Government in Kabul. going down to Kandahar and being out on a command post and a check site that was engaged with Afghans on the highway. I got a sense of a countryof which I chair the Afghan Caucus in this Congress. And I want what is best for people who are striving for democracy and freedom. I want to say to my colleagues that I stand here asking us to do what we did not do in Vietnam. which was to recognize the valiant and outstanding service of our men and women. and to understand victory had been achieved. Today we have two Vietnams side by side. North and South. exchanging and working. We may not agree with all that North Vietnam is doing. but they are living in peace. I would look for a better human rights record for North Vietnam. but they are living side by side because that was a civil war. And because the leadership of this Nation did not listen to the mothers and fathers who bore the burden of 58.000 dead and did not declare victory. the mounting deaths. the violence continued going up and up. Rather than understanding the political nature of the war in Vietnam. we did not listen to those families. So we mourned. But I say today they were valiant heroes. proud of them. although fallen. and proud of those who lived. As I look back on Afghanistan and the past week. I will say to you that it is time not out of defeat. but it is time in victory to return home. Our soldiers can come home in victory. for not one more treasure should be cast in this war that is a civil war. Al Qaeda is not present in Afghanistan. And we have the opportunity to cast over to the Afghan civilian government. which is now working to build up the Afghanistan National Security Forces. which we expect to be some 300.000 strong over the next couple of months. national police. and national army. trained by the brilliance of our young men and women. We understand the military says the job is yet not done. conditions on the ground. Conditions are movable. They are always changing. What you have to look at is whether you have a government that has the resolve to lead itself. President Karzai must stand against corruption. he must fight to eradicate the poppy crop. he must stop the bribery so that farmers can get their products to market. That is a civilian challenge. That is a challenge of the Afghan people. He must get electricity with the money that has been given to him down in the south. But to go into the NATO hospital. or to go into a hospital in Germany. to see the brutality of the IED injuries. to see the lost limbswe have claimed victory. We have provided an opportunity for President Karzai to lead. And so Im a proud American. again. not standing here in arrogance. but for the sacrifice of the reservists and others who have come and the fulltime military willing to stay as long as the civilian leadership of this country demands that they stay. And so I say to the moms and dads and families whove sacrificed their loved ones both in terms of those who now serve us and those who have fallen in battle. we cannot thank you enough. And none of us can mourn as youre mourning if you have lost a loved one. But we can say "thank you" by bringing our troops home with a heros welcome. something we have not done probably since World War II. It is time to bring our troops home. to declare victory. and to thank them for being heroes. not only of America but for this world. in the name of peace and freedom.