Courtney Statement on the Afghan Government’s Collapse
NORWICH, CT — Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), a senior Member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on the collapse of the Afghanistan government:
"It has been gut wrenching to watch, after twenty years of precious sacrifice and treasure by the American people, the Afghan government and its security forces concede to the Taliban with barely a whiff of resistance. As frustrating and exasperating as this turn of events has been, for the US service members and their families who are bearing the loss and wounds of this war, it is important to say over and over again that their devotion to duty did in fact bring justice to the perpetrators of 9-11, and have made our homeland safer, which at the end of the day was the core mission they bravely took on. Our nation owes it to them to ensure that the Taliban does not revert Afghanistan into a terrorist haven, and we owe it to our allies on the ground to keep working until all our translators, interpreters, Afghan army allies, and their families have been made safe," said Congressman Courtney.
On July 29th, Courtney helped pass the Emergency Supplemental to Respond to January 6th Appropriations Act (H.R. 3237), which included an authorization of 8,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) available to America's Afghan allies and their families.
Courtney has helped advance other bipartisan efforts to expedite SIVs for Afghan translators and interpreters as well. Rep. Courtney was one of the first co-sponsors of the ALLIES Act (H.R. 3985), a bipartisan bill to increase the Afghan SIV cap, which passed the House on July 22nd. Courtney also co-sponsorez the HOPE for Afghan SIVs Act (H.R. 3385), which passed the House on June 29th.
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