Announcement By the Acting Chair

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chair, I claim time in opposition to this amendment.

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. This ties the administration's hands in how it can best support the people of Afghanistan living under Taliban rule. It prohibits the use of any funds authorized via this bill to be used, even tangentially, to aid in our support of the millions of Afghan women and girls suffering under Taliban rule or to those Afghans living in poverty and in need of humanitarian relief.

The administration already jumps through many hoops to ensure that aid is not moving through Taliban hands. This amendment also removes the President's ability to issue waivers or licenses to allow for humanitarian need. This amendment counters our own interests to prevent humanitarian crises, to assist with detained Americans, and to continue our ongoing work to relocate all those Afghan allies who worked alongside the United States over the course of our 20-year war in Afghanistan.

The amendment strives to be tough on the Taliban without any regard for the Afghan people, which will just embolden the Taliban and create further discord and distrust between the United States and Afghanistan.

The amendment is a red herring. The bogeyman word in this amendment is the Taliban. What this amendment does is ties the hands of the administration by requiring sanction mitigation to go through Congress. That is the job for the administration. With the dysfunction of this Congress, you should not even ask us to put toilet paper in the bathroom. This amendment would make that humanitarian aid illegal and people would die.

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chair, the text is not in the Constitution; it is in the bill.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chair, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chair, the last election proved that the majority of the people did trust the President. They voted for him.

I just restate that we don't send money to the Taliban. We send money to USAID and charitable organizations. They use the money to help the people directly.

This amendment would make that work, that very important critical, diplomatic, strategic work illegal, and then people would die. They would die with that red blood.

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Chairman, I want to say how important it is to read bills and to read amendments. Once again, this amendment removes the President's ability to issue waivers or licenses to allow for humanitarian need.

This amendment counters our own interests to prevent humanitarian crises, to assist with detained Americans, and to continue our ongoing work to relocate all of those Afghan allies who worked alongside the United States over the course of our 20-year war in Afghanistan. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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