Dear Colleague,
The American people have overwhelmingly come to the conclusion that our brave men and women in uniform have accomplished all that we have asked of them and it is time to bring them home from Afghanistan.
Members of Congress need to stand with seven out of ten Americans (including 52% of GOP voters) who oppose the war in Afghanistan.
We invite you to sign on to the letter below which closes on May 10, 2012 (ahead of the NATO Summit in Chicago). The letter calls on the President to expedite our troops’ return and speed up the transition to having Afghans in charge of Afghanistan.
Sincerely,
Barbara Lee Walter Jones
Member of Congress Member of Congress
70 signers as of May 9: Adam Smith, Baldwin, Bass, Blumenauer, Braley, Capps, Chu, Yvette Clarke, Clay, Cohen, Conyers, Costello, Courtney, John Duncan, DeFazio, DeLauro, Edwards, Ellison, Farr, Filner, Frank, Grijalva, Hahn, Hanabusa, Alcee Hastings, Heinrich, Hinchey, Holt, Honda, Jackson Jr., Hank Johnson, Tim Johnson, Jones (NC), Kucinich, John Larson, Lee, Lewis, Loebsack, Lofgren, Maloney, McCollum, McDermott, McGovern, Michaud, George Miller, Moore, Nadler, Napolitano, Olver, Pastor, Pingree, Polis, Rangel, Richardson, Loretta Sanchez, Serrano, Sherman, Slaughter, Speier, Stark, Mike Thompson, Tierney, Tonko, Towns, Tsongas, Watt, Welch, Frederica Wilson, Woolsey, Yarmuth.
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
Last week you visited Afghanistan to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement. As you stated at Bagram Air Base, “this time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end.” The core of al Qaeda has been greatly reduced in size and ability to attack Americans. Our brave men and women in uniform have done everything that we have asked of them. With over 17,000 dead and wounded U.S. servicemen and women, and long term costs estimated at $4 trillion for the past decade of unfunded wars, the overwhelming majority of American people want to bring the war in Afghanistan to an expedited end.
While many of us would prefer an immediate full withdrawal from Afghanistan, there is broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress and across America that it is time to accelerate the transition from U.S. to full Afghan control. We also remind you that any agreement committing U.S. troops to Afghanistan must have congressional approval to be binding.
Therefore, at the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago, we ask that you announce an accelerated transition of security responsibility to the Afghan government and security forces and the expedited withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan as quickly as these can be safely and responsibly accomplished.
Sincerely,
Members of Congress
