in afghanistan, we are on the pathway out of afghanistan. we're in the middle of a transition there. i do believe that we have accomplished a great deal and there is still yet more to accomplish. afghanistan still faces tremendous challenges those are challenges we will remain focused on. the underlying policy is to transition and transition means that afghans will be more capable and better able to take control of their own destiny. is the co-chollet, editor on six blocks of american foreign policy. -- six books of american foreign policy. luis is waiting from fredericksburg, va., and our republican line. just how tough -- how much defense to really need and how we have a good defense that there was a state department employee that sold visas vietnam and made $1 million? we also see the state to pardon was giving visas to people like the ballston bomber. these are all real people coming into this country and we don't know who is coming in. what good is it for us to have all of these drones these countries that we are involved in. the defens

afghanistan works. one of the things i noticed when i went over there -- i flew over can the car when i came in. 700,000 people in the city of can the hearth. they are fed every day. -- of kandahar. it may not work to standards that the west and western countries are used to. it works of their terms and it is growing. their economy is growing at almost 100% since we have been there. it will not be a first-rate nation it any time in the future in my lifetime. it may get to the point where they get out of the bottle -- bottom 10. that is a reason to be hopeful. host: we are moving between syria and afghanistan. i will go back to syria. this is from our twitter page. .ou can follow us on @cspanwj where are the muslim nations stopping assad in syria? guest: one of the reasons the united states has made the move on the rebels is because the islamic states saw that the most progress being made by the rebel forces to remove the assad government was being made by islamic groups. they started moving their money

military operations in afghanistan. he's carrying it out. this amendment requires the police department to stick to his time -- requires the president to stick to his timetable. depending on your point of view, this amendment puts the wind at the president's back or holds his feet to the fire to fulfill the promises he made to our brave troops, their families and the american people. more importantly, it expresses that should u.s. troops be asked to remain in afghanistan beyond 2014, then congress needs to take its constitutional responsibilities seriously and hold a specific vote to authorize that mission and troop presence. the future and fate of tens of thousands of uniformed men and women deserve a vote. i ask members on both sides of the aisle to vote yes on the mcgovern-jones-smith-lee-garame ndi amendment. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. mckeon: i rise in opposition of the amendment though i am not -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mckeon: this amendment is a reflection of the pres

or 13 years of combat between iraq and afghanistan. we are downsizing the poor so that we can pay your bill while facing frustration, which is the $500 billion bill over the next 10 years. that is on top of $487 billion that had been passed a year-and- a-half ago in the budget control act. under bob gates, we found another $200 billion worth of bills that we had to pay, and it is called efficiencies. i don't recall the marine corps getting any of those deficiencies. the bill is $1.20 trillion, for the purpose of discussion. that is real money and it will have a real impact. let me give you my sense of what the world is likely going to look like over the next two decades. i see much of what we are going through right now -- i don't see any of it going away. i do not see major theatre war over the next two decades. i see what i call it difficult, challenging, -- not necessarily technology intensive, but human intensive kind of conflicts and challenges over the next two decades. i often call them the nasty little things that happened arou

they are the largest tribe in afghanistan and they will eventually lead afghanistan. i do not understand why the taliban that we're fighting today who will probably be the leaders in the next two or three years of afghanistan, why we're going to support them with finances and with young men and women? there's something wrong here and i hope that the house of representatives, the leadership in both parties will come together and say we're going to debate the policy in afghanistan. mr. speaker, this cartoon that i have -- and i've been handing this out in a flier to members in my district -- it's got mr. arzai standing in front of a ciatm machine. he's taking a little card. i gets it's paid for by uncle sam. he's taking money out and you can see bags of cash at his feet. the sad thing about it, karzai says, i'm just making a quick withdrawal, but the sad thing about it is a soldier standing behind him that says, "i would like to make a quick withdrawal from afghanistan." i hope the american people will put pressure on the house and senate to stop spending money we don't

he is focusing more on india than he is on afghanistan. we want to play a role or else they will lose in the geopolitical game. but his trust appears to be more toward india. he sees the trade. that is another very serious thing for him. >> when he was prime minister in his second term, he was moving toward better relationship with india when the military moved against him, the military coup. they do not want to see a warming relationship with india. a lot has happened since. there has been some very positive steps forward in improving relationships with india and doing trade with india. i think we will see a continuation in the prime minister characters to do so. >> there was an event on election night. journalists were at this particular event in india. they were all stationed in new delhi. they're covering the election. when you're in that kind of setting, it seems strange that there should not be more of a cohesive relationship between the two countries. they have so much in common. hopefully in the next decade, we are going to go to a

britain has long supported a peace process in afghanistan to work alongside our tough security response, so we welcome this step forward. we also discussed support to libya. i believe that we should be proud of the role we played in ridding libya of colonel gaddafi, but we need to help that country secure its future. so we held a separate meeting with the libyan prime minister, which included president obama, and european nations have already offered to train 7,000 troops to help prime minister zeidan disarm and integrate the militias and bring security to the whole country. more contributions will follow from others. let me be clear that the libyan government have asked for this and will pay for it. finally, let me turn to syria. it is no secret that there are very different views around the g8 table, but i was determined that we should use the opportunity of this summit to overcome some of these differences and agree a way forward to help the syrian people achieve the change that they want. this did not happen during just one night in lough erne; the talks between secretary kerry and

in afghanistan, we are on the pathway out of afghanistan. we are in the middle of a transition their. i believe we have accomplished a great deal there. afghanistan still faces tremendous challenges and those are challenges we have to remain focused on. but the underlying thrust of our policy is to transition and that means afghans are going to be able to take care of their own destiny. coeditorguest is the of six books on american foreign policy, including the road to the dayton accords. and america between the wars nine/11.2 now to luis on our republican line. i would like to know how much defense do we really need. second, how do we have a good defense when i read in the paper recently that there is a state department amply that sold the says in vietnam and made a million dollars. we also see through the state department they were giving visas to people like the boston bomber. these are all real people coming into this country and we don't know who's coming in. so what good is it to have all of these drones and countries, being involved i

a safe, secure, prosperous afghanistan? >> i think it is a key component. self about confidence, governance, writes. >> don't you think the enemy will do everything they can to disrupt that election? >> they will, and they are doing it now. >> if sequestration is fully implemented, how would you describe the kind of military we would have 10 years from now? >> that is the effort the secretary has us undergoing right now. at full sequestration -- >> you said some dramatic things. do you stand by them? >> this will not be a force that will be adequate to the task. >> do you agree, mr. secretary? >> i do. iranians believe the are trying to develop a nuclear weapon or peaceful nuclear power? >> i think we stay focused on our policy. that is preventing the iranians from acquiring any capability to weapon eyes. lex do you think what they are doing and what the centrifuge is designed to produce nuclear weapons material, or just peaceful power? >> it is certainly giving them options to move in that direction. >> do you believe the

not story from afghanistan to iraq, but our problems in afghanistan are related to the mistake we made in iraq, and it is another example of the enormous disaster that was president bush's their wa war in iraq. host: senator chris murphy, democrat from connecticut, thanks so much for your time today. guest: thanks, libby. host: next, we will take a look at it role of contractors and intelligence. scott amey is our guest, with the object on government oversight. first, this update from c-span radio. "new york times" reports that federal regulars are set to sue jon corzine over the collapse of mf global anti- brokerage firm's misuse of -- anti-brokerage first misuse of public money during its final days. the former new jersey governor and u.s. senator ran the firm until his bankruptcy in 2011. the commodity futures trading commission plans to approve the lawsuit as soon as this week tom the agencyre move, i has informed mr. corzine's lawyers that it aims to file the civil case without offering him the opportunity to settle. it sets up a legal battle that could drag on for years. economic

this war began with safe havens in afghanistan on september 11, 2001. i believe we should be proactive, working with our allies to stop terrorists overseas. we cannot wish the threat away because in fact threats are growing. we should support peace through strength to stop terrorism from overseas or face more attacks on the streets of america. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today in upport of access to higher education. mr. matheson: one grew up watching both of her parents struggle providing for her, continuing reminding her that america is the land of opportunity. recently i had the privilege of sitting down with her and several other college students to talk about their experiences p

and we have done that because we had to in iraq and afghanistan. sustain that when we come out of afghanistan so when we get to the next problem we established this keub capability? i want to make sure we don't go corners.he that we stay together. direction is doing we are going to continue to put leaders in interagency washington.around we will send officers to the state department, treasury, f.b.i., others, so we continue to build on the relationships that have been established. we will continue to ensure all of our schools invite people attend er agencies to them so we can have integration as we continue to learn. to lose and have to reinvent this again. valuable. one of the things i talk about lesson i me is one learned is that there is a limit to military power. you can only do so much. you have to have that inter agency agency, intergovernmental to use that allows you military power if necessary but use the other tools out there. my officers and senior leaders to think in those terms to deal with gin keubl conflicts. >> there is a related iss

this war began with safe havens in afghanistan on september 11, 2001. i believe we should be proactive, working with our allies to stop terrorists overseas. we cannot wish the threat away because in fact threats are growing.

personally have tremendous afghanistans and the plight of afghanistans. really they that have been integral to the last few onomy the decades because they have worked tremendously hard and done jobs citizens iranian haven't wanted to do. ut they haven't been well treated. the caller's question is whether change icy is going to under hassan rohani. i would saytatement that under him the hope is that a n is going to become somewhat more tolerant place for who live in ple iran, whether that is women, ethnic and is religious minorities, whether that is youth, and i hope that apply to afghan refuse gentlemens as well. as well.fugees but we should not have undue xpectations that suddenly afghans will be given equal rights. time will take a long before that takes place. about ond question was iran's frozen assets after the 1979 revolution. this remains a huge point of contention between washington tehran because iran continues to claim that it has assets of dollars of which have been frozen abroad and have accumulated interest the years. the first step for the u

presence in afghanistan. my amendment will place this bill clearly in line with no permanent bases provisions historically incorporated in defense operations and defense appropriation measures. this has been signed into law on numerous occasions by both president bush and barack obama. these same provisions were recently included in hr1473, which was passed by the house and signed into law by president obama on april 13, 2011. i intend to withdraw my amendment due to a referal issue, i look forward to a vote before the full house. thank you and i ask for a unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment. >> the gentleman yields back and asks for a unanimous consent to withdraw his amendment. no objection, so ordered. the next amendment of 235. will the clerk pass out that amendment? without objection the reading of the amendment will be dispensed with and the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia for the purpose of offering and explaining his amendment for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i intend to

when it comesy, to afghanistan, are we winning or losing? >> i sincerely believe we are winning. >> i do too. what happens if we lose? >> the region will become unstable. i think there will be problems on the border of pakistan. encouraged to become even more regionally aggressive. >> kandahar could fall back? >> we could find a reemergence of violent extremist groups. >> the difference between winning and losing is what we do between now and 18 months, would you agree? >> the difference is certainly what we do between now and the end of 2014, but also, i think, the commitment we make beyond that. >> i think we need a residual force to maintain confidence and capabilities the afghans do not have, so we can end this war well. 2000 14 inn in afghanistan -- how important would you say that is, in terms of developing a safe, secure, prosperous afghanistan? is a keyk it component. it is about confidence, self governance, writes. >> don't you think the enemy will do everything they can to disrupt that election? >> they will, and they are doing it

been ingnificantly more -- unwind transition from afghanistan, significantly more. it is a dangerous area. it is much more complicated than just moving down to the desert , and then shipped out. it is different. that is another part of the oco funding. i wanted to give the the general sense of this and ask the comptroller to go into more detail. >> we are funding the shortfall in two ways. apart is by moving money around such ascom, -- oco, replacing equipment. you are correct, some of it is coming out of the base budget. a substantial part is coming out of the base budget. $1.4 trillionent, in the last 10 years or so we have used on the war efforts have been emergency spending. the base defense budget has been paid for under the budget accounts of the united states. so it seems to me, have you considered asking for a --plemental to avoid whatever the figure is that you're talking about. that figure is in addition. you have to find more savings and then those savings could have been used next year to pay for other cuts, now they have to be used to fund war costs. no

thedo we help in reconstruction of afghanistan? how about weiters and nation- building in getting the soviets to leave? -- how about we do some nation- building getting the soviets to leave? we were not particularly interested in investing in infrastructure and institution building in afghanistan. we paid a terrible price for that. that led to the taliban and al qaeda training camps protected by the taliban in afghanistan. back to the back and fight the longest war in our history, and we're still fighting it. someone asked me a question if i thought it was a good idea to be negotiating with the taliban, a remarkable question if you think about it in a lot of ways. i think about who we are supporting and what the outcome's you expect from that .upport that is a. in the case of syria and other places throughout the so-called arab spring. i frankly think that folks like senator john mccain and senator lynsey gramm our way to trigger happy in getting involved in every conflict in the region when these questions are unanswered. humanita

it funds the ongoing effort in afghanistan. makes sure that our troops have the support to carry out that mission. however, there are a couple of things in the bill that i am concerned about. i believe that we do need to close guantanamo and i have an amendment before the rules committee which i hope will be made in order to set us on the process to do that. i don't agree with people who say we need to close it tomorrow, we need a plan. it requires a plan within 60 days. i continue to be concerned that the president has the power to indefinitely detain any person captured in the united states who is designated to be an enemy combatant. that is a level of executive power that i do not think is necessary and as we have seen in recent weeks, people are concerned that the growing power that the executive branch has and it is worth mentioning sequestration. this bill is marked to a level that assumes sequestration will not happen. i think that's appropriate. that's where we are at and what we have to do, but it points up the challen

rogers from committee -- hal rogers from kentucky, told us a story of a young man that was wounded in afghanistan -- iraq, who lost one eye, lost eyesight in one eye. as he left the service to go in the v.a. system in order to save his remaining eye, he had to have medical records that could be read by the v.a. doctors. and because of the bureaucratic, inefficiency and poor idiocy we have a completely different set of medical records in the d.o.d. and the veterans administration system. for years taxpayers have spent upwards of $1 billion or more over the last 10 years to get the department of defense and the department of veterans affairs operating in a single -- using a single unified medical record so when a young man like this moves out of active service and into the v.a., when it's a time critical surgery, such as this young man

he did two tours in afghanistan and iraq. garner told his dad once -- excuse me -- his dad told him, use your training because god will be with you. he awoke his dad that morning when he walked out of the house to go to work. that was the last time he saw his father. mr. speaker, houston is the third largest fire department in the united states. it is the busiest. this is the most tragic event in the history of the houston fire department. an estimated 30,000 citizens, firefighters, peace officers and other people will pay tribute to these amazing firefighters. they are the best we have in houston, and we are saddened that they are gone, but we thank the good lord that such people ever lived. and that's just the way it is. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to introduce into the record the 10 firefighters killed in west, texas, on april 17, 2013. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. poe: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. quigley, for five minu

. -- daniel wade's, a private who died in afghanistan. it would not have arisen if you kept the dna of the soldiers. are we making any progress on that? >> he is right to stand up for his constituents. what i would like to do is to meet with ministers so i can get back with the very best answer about the action would take to stop these problems from happening in the future. >> the number of families living in temporary accommodations rose by 5,000 in the last year. can the prime minister explain why? >> what we need to do is build more houses in our country. that is what this government is doing. we are building more social houses. we are building more private houses. we are reforming housing benefits so we can better use the money. the question is for the party they spent weeks complaining about the removal of the subsidy. they do not ask questions about it anymore. could that possibly be because they haven't got a clue about whether they would restore it? >> thank you, mr. speaker. with an estimated 10 billion pounds in boost to our eco

nearly all of that in afghanistan. right now, as we speak on the floor of this house, we're spending over $7 billion each month in afghanistan. every hour costs us nearly $10 million. in all this time we have helped support a corrupt karzai government a government that gets billions of dollars each year and billions more under the table. surely this war and the possible extended deployment of our brave troops for an indefinite period of time are worth a little bit more time than has been given for debate. but mr. speaker, members will have the opportunity to debate and vote later today on ensuring the president completes his timeline to transfer all combat military and security -- all combat, military, and security to afghan control by 2014 at which time u.s. operations is to end and to express that should the president determine to extend the deployment of u.s. troops in afghanistan after 2014, then the united states congress should specifically vote to authorize that mission. so i would urge all

wade who died in afghanistan. if youd not have arisen kept the dna of the soldiers. are we making any progress on that? is right to stand up for his constituents. what i would like to do is to meet with ministers so i can get back with the very best answer about the action would take to stop these problems from happening in the future. >> the number of families living in temporary 5000 inations rose by the last you. can the apartments to explain why? is builde need to do more houses and our country. that what this government is doing. we are building a more social houses. we are building more private houses. we are performing housing benefits so we can better use the money. the question is for the party opposite. they spent weeks and weeks complaining about the removal of the subsidy. i do not know if anybody else has noticed, they do not ask questions anymore. could that be because they have not got a clue? >> thank you. with a 10 billion pound boost to our economy, do you agree that a trade agreement with the united states represents -- >> my friend is right. it is

this got us into the afghanistan war. this is wrong and after 40 or 50 years we need to realize there is a point at which we need to say no. advocatings not arming the rebels. it is absolutely true that there are consequences to providing arms to groups. sometimes you may not foresee what the consequences are years down the road. as we were talking, there were consequences to doing nothing. the idea of what happens in iran having no effect on us is misguided, especially the danger of chemical weapons getting into the wrong hands, the dangers of jordan, lebanon being affected, getting into a wider middle east war. there are all sorts of nightmare scenarios surrounded with syria. there is no host: interviewer writes in and says -- i think we have no right to interfere with the area -- with syria. we are also seeing other comment on our facebook page, including one from joseph who asks if you can identify the american national security interest at stake in syria? guest: i think i just outlined. chemical weapons, if they get

i know there are folks who want to see us do more nationbuilding in afghanistan. there are folks who want to see us do more nationbuilding in iraq. but i think the president has made a priority of doing what we could do responsibly and reasonably. americans but more than a decade of their sons and daughters and tens of billions of dollars in those two countries and i think the president made a responsible choice. it is time now for the people of those two countries to take over and bring our troops and our people home. i think that is certainly a centerpiece of president obama's foreign policy. i think he is doing a lot to rebuild our relationships around the world. there has been a lot of big form policy issues in the first four years, world economic cooperation in dealing with the economic troubles of the eurozone and working closely with leaders over there. i think there will be renewed focus in the next two years of our relationship with china and they turned to asia. it will be a very significant part of our foreign-policy in the next three years. hopefully,

i know there are folks who want to see us do more nationbuilding n afghanistan. there are folks who want to see us do more nationbuilding in iraq. but i think the president has made a priority of doing what we could do responsibly and reasonably. americans but more than a decade of their sons and daughters and tens of billions of dollars in those two countries and i think the president made a responsible choice. it is time now for the people of those two countries to take over and bring our troops and our people home. i think that is certainly a centerpiece of president obama's oreign policy. i think he is doing a lot to rebuild our relationships around the world. there has been a lot of big form policy issues in the first four years, world economic cooperation in dealing with the economic troubles of the eurozone and working closely with leaders over there. i think there will be renewed focus in the next two years of our relationship with china and they turned to asia. it will be a very significant part of our foreign-policy in the next three years. hopefully, a

we also saw an increase of $5 billion to the war in afghanistan. that money is going to those hurt by sequester in the past year. pentagon officials have generally been supportive. they have tried to cut costs through a new round of base closures will stop new healthcare fees. armed services committee rejected all of those. they say it is not fair. they disagree with the pentagon on the usefulness of those cuts. the're frequently vetoed bill over detainee issues in guantÁnamo. this is a new problem for the president. the bill passed by the threat -- by the republicans bars the president from moving detainees. >> how is this battle shaking up question mark -- up? >> it is mostly done in a closed session. they were up late doing their markup. the senate is opening up a session on sexual assault. senator joe brand talked about prosecuting cases. -- did not agree that. he is seeking to establish a review process. >> we appreciate your time. >> defense secretary chuck hagel said the pentagon is reviewing all private military contractors following edwar

i've been helping to report on the wars in afghanistan and iraq for more than a decade. quite a bit longer than i expected when one of my editors said why don't you help cover the military here back in 2001. i certainly realized from a lot of my reporting -- a lot of the rules of will dwarf -- wounds of war if we think we get the right care, everything will be all right. one of the inks i am learning as i go on -- things i learned as i go on, things are not all right for some folks. i wanted to note as i got this award that joel ward -- gerald t ford had a big impact on my life when i was out of college. i headed west and was in eastern washington thinking i could get a job picking fruit. jobident ford had the opportunity program. there was a sign of employment trailer saying we need people to build trails. i took the job. i had a great time. i watch the whole ball, over the cascade. i went east, but i did not want to stay east after that. -- i watched the whole fall come over the cascade. it has been an amazing thing. i want to end by thanking my editors at my newspaper

there was one person there from afghanistan. right now we're fighting a war in afghanistan. it is common sense. why is someone from afghanistan sneaking into our country? then i hear we have 11 million illegals. you said the border is not secure and someone wants to do us harm. it is going to exploit our weaknesses and weak points in our border. it is my job to protect this country, the number one by -- priority in the constitution and you're telling me our border is not secure and i would like to know what you think the biggest threat to the security of our borders is and what risks, can you give me a percentage? >> i share the same responsibility as you. as the chief to have united states border patrol. i took the same oath to support the constitution. the threat that keeps me up as well is those individuals that are potential terrorist seeking entry into this country. and may do so between ports of entry. we identify what the requirements are to minimize the likelihood they are inclined to get into this country. that we're able to detect them and apprehend them. i cannot

we're spending $8 billion a month in afghanistan. the c.i.a. admitted in a "new york times" article that they've been given tens of millions of dollars for 10 years to karzai. he's got to be one of the richest men in the world. we keep borrowing the money from the chinese to give him money. i do not understand it, and i'd like to read just a couple of points from the c.i.a. article. the c.i.a. money, mr. karzai told reporters, was an easy source of petty cash, and some of it was used to pay off mbers of the political group dominated by warlords. mr. karzai said when he met with a c.i.a. station chief, karzai said, "i told him because of all these rumors in the media, please do not cut all this money because we really need it." well, mr. karzai, so do the american people. here we are in congress cutting programs for children and senior citizens, and the congress has a deaf ear to afghanistan. the bill coming up this week from the armed services committee, which i serve on, will have $85 billion additional money going to afghanistan. mr. speaker,

we release many foot soldiers in afghanistan who are far worse than guantanamo detainees. but what is most relevant to this bill's language is that 46 detainees have been designated for indefinite ditension, either because they are too dangerous to release or they can't be charged in a court due to evidentiary standard. the president formed a periodic review board but it's never been formed and the president should do that but those detainees who cannot be transferred, i think, should be tried in civilian courts here in the united states. but given the limits congress broadly placed on such transfer that can't be done today. not withstanding the fact that our federal courts tried more than 1,000 terrorists. the united states holds 373 individuals quicked of terrorism in 98 facilities across the country. there are six department of defense facilities where guantanamo detainees could be held in the united states that are currently a at a bined 48% capacity. -- at a combined 48% capacity. less happen half of the capacity is being usedful believing they will never leave cuba,

we armed them in afghanistan. we seem to constantly be confounded by the middle east and i am wondering if we stop getting involved in syria -- start getting involved in syria as we did with iran, but will be theultimate -- what will be ultimate result of that involvement? guest: the love very much for your question. i think your point is well taken and it is shared by a majority of americans whose polls suggest we do not have an interest in getting involved in syria militarily. we have been involved in afghanistan and iraq. those of the two most recent conflict. i think president obama has made it pretty clear that he is not interested in involving america in a third middle east war. of that is why we see cautioned that the administration is undertaking. seeing any we are emphasis right now on diplomacy and on humanitarian systems. the cautious freckly well is likely well grounded. host: democrat line. theer: if you look at iraq iraqi government has a government that is recognized by the international world as be

our men and women have been serving side-by-side in afghanistan. germany is the third-largest troop-contributing nation there. we?re both grateful for the sacrifices that our servicemen and women and their families have made in this common effort. and because of those efforts, afghanistan now has the opportunity to secure itself and determine its own destiny. we welcome president karzai's announcement yesterday that afghan forces will soon take the lead for security across the country, which is an important milestone -- one that we established in our nato summit. even as we wind down the war responsibly and nato's combat mission in afghanistan comes to an end, we?re going to have to continue to invest in the shared capabilities and interoperability painstakingly built by the tremendous sacrifices of our troops. and i appreciate germany?s interest in making sure that even after our troops are no longer involved in combat operations that we can continue to see progress in afghanistan. and many of you noted that yesterday there was an announcement abo

notably missing in that is an exception to afghanistan, and that is because we are still at war in afghanistan. however, there is no sunset provision triggered that will give us oversight after those operations. we've had extensive .onversations i did want to point that out because i do think that this congress should have oversight over afghanistan. once those operations are complete. i yield. >> i think the gentleman makes a very good point. inn and if combat operations afghanistan, it will be more like other parts of the world, and this exception that is in there is something that we definitely want to consider removing at that point. i think it is important for us to look at those exceptions each year and see what the status of things are. i certainly agree with the point the general is making. that is certainly my intention. there is an exception for afghanistan or anywhere in the future that we have a declaration of war. or once that war is done potentially phased down, i think i yield back. that exempt not to go away. i yield back. -- i think that extension ought to go away. i yield bac

one thing that was most useful was you captured by cellphone and afghanistan. you look at the cellphone and there are numbers. interesting that one of them was in the west. it was that person in the u.s. talking to? at that point you're trying to stop. you need to know this. to do that you will have to get what is essentially like your phone bill. that is what they're collecting. is the ability to and combine things captured on the battlefield. that is where the edge comes from now. this is not new. there was the echelon debate in 1990's for the european suddenly became excited because they thought there was a global system to collect traffic. they did a big investigation on the european commission. they concluded it is really not so bad as we think. i think that is where we will end up here. there are trade-offs that we need to debate. more transparency would be useful but we need the collection capability. were going towe fight all night. to go there is a legitimate problem you're identified. you had an intelligence legal framework in which you could spy on t

there are several extremely dangerous individuals in custody in afghanistan. the only action -- is to allow their release. we have seen the outcome of making this tragic mistake in iraq. you bringingciate the member -- the ranking member's amendment, we cannot agree to bring them to the united states and release of overseas. lastly, this important. i am proud of the men and women in uniform who serve our nation every day. it is not an easy duty. we of them a debt of gratitude. i yield back. >> the senate returns to business on monday. a pair of nominations at 5:00. the vote is expected at 5:30 p.m. the focus will turn back to the immigration bill. majority leader reid said he finished -- he plans to finish the immigration bill. among the issues the house is expected to work on is a bill and abortion after 20 weeks in the farn bill. watch it live on c-span. >> tonight on c-span, dave camp and senator baucus speak about efforts to change the tax system. some of today's speaker at the freedom coalition. and paulorida governor ryan. >> tomorrow, we will talk about

the bill says the $3.2 billion of new technology that worked in iraq and afghanistan has to be bought, purchased, deployed and operational. here's my belief. if you hire the border patrol agents and you put them on the border they're not going to read a comic book. they're going to do their job. you don't need to prove to me they're going to do their job. you just need to get them on the border so they can do their job. and if you have the 18 drones versus the six, you don't need to prove to me somebody will fly them. they'll fly them. and if you have the technology deployed and operational in addition to the drones, the radar and the sensors, people will look at the radar because they want to protect our country what's been missing is capacity. this is a border surge. we have militerized our border almost. why? because we've lost our sovereignty. we've lost the ability to control who comes into america. so my belief is that if you can't get a green card until all this is bought, purchased, deployed, that's enough. there will come a point to where it's enough. ladies and gentlemen, i'

that number actually came down after the initial entourage afghanistan in 2001, 2002 time frame. in 2003 as we prepare to go across the border into iraq from kuwait, the air guard fighter capability, to build up the farms. security forces going in, transportation. we started using the air guard for something completely different and in some cases what support and personnel were designed to do and they stepped up to the challenge to fill those requirements. about 2003, the army guard -- we had been mobilizing a few up to that point. homeland missions, overseas missions. about 2003, 19th of january, specific date, secretary rumsfeld said prepare for the reserve component to augment the active. which for the national guard at that point, it meant on the 19th of january, we alerted 21,000 troops. we gave them anywhere from three days to seven days to pack up and move to their mobilization station. some cases hundreds of miles away. i will tell you some of the conversations i had with generals were pretty amazing but they really took it as a huge challenge. first thing he had to do wa

i know there are folks who want to see us do more nationbuilding in afghanistan. there are folks who want to see us do more nationbuilding in iraq. but i think the president has made a priority of doing what we could do responsibly and reasonably. americans but more than a decade of their sons and daughters and tens of billions of dollars in those two countries and i think the president made a responsible choice. it is time now for the people of those two countries to take over and bring our troops and our people home. i think that is certainly a centerpiece of president obama's foreign policy. i think he is doing a lot to rebuild our relationships around the world. there has been a lot of big form policy issues in the first four years, world economic cooperation in dealing with the economic troubles of the eurozone and working closely with leaders over there. i think there will be renewed focus in the next two years of our relationship with china and they turned to asia. it will be a very significant part of our foreign-policy in the next three years. hopefully,

members of the guard and reserve have fought and died in iraq and afghanistan. time and again, we have called on them to support us and this proposed amendment just urges the secretary of defense to make sure that we send a message that he should make every effort to ensure our military reserve and national guard forces are fully manned and funded to help the united states fulfill its long-standing commitment to the defense of this country. the brave men and women who fill the ranks of both the national guard and reserve deserve nothing else. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. larsen: i yield three gallego of texas. mr. gallego: i rise in support of the en bloc amendments. they include two amendments to support the men and women who serve in our armed services and to support their families. the first amendment ensures that the department of defense can continue to fast track and expedite the hiring of critical health care workers who treat our wounded warriors and provide care to military f

we sigh history play out where they turned that back at u i experienced that in afghanistan. with to be careful before we dive into something like this -- we have to be careful before we dive into something like this. i am not saying maybe we should not at some point back moderate forces, congress has a role the process. it is what our bill calls for. congress should be looking at this before we go to another ward this time in syria. but setting aside the issue of what congress role should be him -- settingng the us aside the issue of what congress's role should be, what is your point was part -- point? >> right now, there is not a good outcome. you have a rebel forces comprised largely by jihadist. it is a sunni war. it is a new rock war. -- an iraq war. it is hard to pick sides. only possible scenario i can see being would be moderate forces if assad is thrown out which i believe he eventually will be and they are put in the position of governing the country rather than the most extremists. these jihadist are pouring in every day and it is a method now. it is one the bigges

we are heading out of afghanistan by 2014. that is another important step forward. clearly, president obama inherited a more dangerous world. something has to be done to deal with the threat of global terrorism. it is calling into question our ability to provide the same level of freedom we have come to expect in america. things changed when the towers collapsed. two planes struck us in new york city. we still have to make sure those fundamental commitments to privacy, civil liberty, to allowing americans to be able to maintain some reasonable expectation of privacy -- those things continue to be important as well. in congress, we have to make sure the administration and subsequent administrations are striking the right balance. host: the next call comes from mary lou on our republican line. please go ahead with your question. judiciarye senate committee with the fbi oversight muellerley did not ask one question that he should have asked. had 1000 threats in boston. why would they allow the marathon if they were so concerned about americans? i did not hear any of th

i also want to say the war in afghanistan ought to be debated on this floor. that is a central part of our defense budget right now is going to this war. last year we were shut out. i'm hoping that this year we'll at least have the opportunity to bring an amendment to the floor, debate what our policy should be, and let members on both sides vote up or down. i urge my colleagues to vote no because this does allow h.r. 1256 to come to the floor under a closed rule. that is wrong. this should be a more open and transparent process. especially when it comes to something, an issue so important. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. nugegent: mr. speaker, i support this -- mr. nugent: i support this rule and encourage my colleagues to support it as well. it allows the house to take action on two different but very important pieces of legislation. it provides us with an opportunity to force the s.e.c. and the cftc to finally and jointly promulgate rules

. >> coming up, james lacey on the situation in afghanistan and syria. then, a look at president obama's recent trip to europe. later, an examination of what drives employment in the u.s. wohlford.woolford -- live every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. senators corker and hoven introduced a an amendment to the immigration bill, requiring 20,000 additional border agents, including a 700 mile fast -- fans, and taking other steps before undocumented immigrants can get green cards. >> thank you. i rise today to discuss an amendment i will be introducing. the copperheads of immigration reform legislation the senate body is carefully considering and debating. i want to thank him for the tremendous work he has done on this legislation. he has been absolutely inspirational to work with, a great leader, and someone who is really working to do immigration reform the right way, to get a bipartisan solution that truly addresses the challenges we face with immigration reform, and to get it done the right way. in addition, other sponsors include senator john mc

but what did they do in europe when we asked them to stand with us in afghanistan? they stood with us. what did we do when they asked wein iraq, all i'm saying is have an obligation today and in the future. mr. coffman: i certainly -- i reclaim my time. nothing in the nato charter that says we have to maintain permanent bases in europe. i certainly support rotational forces. i support our involvement and our obligations to the north atlantic treaty obligation. doesn't say we have to have a unit in the middle of europe protecting a border that no longer exists. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. scott: i would like to two minutes to the gentleman from ohio, my dear friend, mr. mike turner. the chair: the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. turner: this amendment is anything unlike you are going to see because this is not a function of congress. the amendment says the president shall end the regular meants from germany and bring them to united states. there is no where you will find any provisio

we are not talking about countries that were engaged in hostilities ike iraq or afghanistan. i do not understand why you would not want the protection of some sort of judicial review of the target. i am not saying that the president is wrong to try to kill american terrorists overseas who are plotting to execute our citizens, but i am uncomfortable giving the president that authority without any kind of check. i am not comforted by the office of legal counsel opinions which i have read now for the legal basis. let me turn to a second point that you just made about a preference for capture. i have not seen a preference for capture. if you compare the number of terror suspects who are captured in the previous administration versus this administration, there is a huge difference, as there is in the number of lethal strikes with drones that were undertaken. is the reason for the exceedingly low number of captures due to the change in the obama administration's position on detention and the fact that the administration does not want to send captives to guantanamo? isn't that reall

the enemy is there in afghanistan. it is almost like the americans are being spied on more than the enemy. that is my thought on this. host: what you think about the u.s.-russia relationship in particular? caller: it has been deteriorating for a long time. it has been deteriorating since the obama administration. look at president karzai, he is secratary ofr state. it does not look like we're doing a good job working with the rest of the world. host: you find that a reflection of the u.s. than russia? caller: it is both. look at ronald reagan. time when they were help releaseher to some of the tensions of the cold -- many of thee president worked together to keep a cohesive relationship. this is a fresh story -- olympia, washington, our independent line, we are talking about u.s.-russia relations. i think with the syria ,- us trying to arm the rebels that is bad. russia and other countries were telling us not to go into a iraq at one time. voted.. it seems like we are going out on our own. we are supposed to be the lig

i think it's probably comparable to afghanistan during the civil war. people are relying on handouts, i have no doubt foreign aid is making its way in. there is no perception on the ground that the outside world has done anything at all. people receive humanitarian aid, fighters get some weapons, but there is a general sense inside syria they have been abandoned by the outside world. people still to this day, ask what is the difference between a syrian and the libyan? it sounds like a bad joke, there is no answer. they don't see why the libyan's were assisted in a way they haven't been. most of them are victims of a war they didn't choose. whatever their side, whatever their ethnicity, whatever their religion, they are the ones that pay the price because when the armed opposition moves into the area then the government responds and the bombing is indiscriminate in the. you can't pinpoint attacks without advanced technology on the ground, which they don't use. therefore, that is why you have so many killed from 9,000 this time last year to probably about

and inthe iraq war afghanistan, we maintained substantial numbers of military personnel and it -- in the persian gulf. in a post-afghanistan environment where we have little or no presence, what is the right size of our presence in the hirsch and golf? we talk about that. most of it is being handled by rotational forces. forces that are not permanently stationed in the persian gulf. theire most part, rotation is how long they stay in the field is one year. to be prettyg substantial. host: the last question was on the status of overseas bases versus consulates. is that considered u.s. soil? it is not u.s. territory. we are there at the pleasure of the host nation. that is important when operations are being planned. we need to know and we need to negotiate with the host nation the type of operations they are willing to permit from their soil. that changes all the time. it is a constant sorts of discussion. you may have or read about historical cases where that access has not been to the level the u.s. has wanted. it can change. host: we are talking with michael lostumbo. you can check