"It's Past Time for Our Brave Servicemen and Women to Come Home," Says Congresswoman Lee on Slowed Withdrawal of U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee released this statement on the plan to keep 9,800 American servicemen and women in Afghanistan through 2016:
“After more than a decade of open-ended war, it’s past time for our brave servicemen and women to come home.
I am deeply troubled by this new plan to maintain nearly 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan through 2016. Military and foreign policy experts agree that there is no military solution in Afghanistan; a political solution is the only path forward for Afghanistan. The future of Afghanistan must be in the hands of the Afghan people.
Our servicemen and women have performed their mission with courage, valor and commitment in an impossible situation. We should not continue to delay their return home.”
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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, the Steering and Policy Committee, is a Senior Democratic Whip, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and co-chair of the Progressive Caucus. She serves as chair of the Whip’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.