House Republicans gathered Tuesday to condemn the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan that ended when the final U.S. troops left the country.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, assembled a group of GOP lawmakers and military veterans to press the Biden administration to put forward a plan to repatriate the hundreds of Americans stranded in the country. Republicans also seek an assessment of the massive stockpile of U.S. weapons, aircraft, and tanks left to the Taliban.
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“Never in my lifetime would I ever believe America would have an administration knowingly make a decision to leave Americans behind,” McCarthy said. “We now have Americans stuck in Afghanistan, the Taliban in charge, with more weapons than they’ve ever had in the past.”
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Earlier Tuesday, Democrats blocked a move by the GOP to bring up a bill that would have required the Biden administration provide a plan to repatriate Americans left behind.
Republicans called on the Biden administration to establish a U.S. presence in Afghanistan to monitor and defeat growing terror threats that many predict will evolve with the Taliban in charge.
Rep. Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, lashed out at President Joe Biden for reneging on a promise to ensure all Americans who wanted to leave the country would be evacuated.
“There has been call after call to our offices,” Green said, from Americans in the country who were unable to penetrate Taliban checkpoints blocking access to the airport.
“And yet President Biden did nothing,” Green said. “It is a failure of leadership in America.”
U.S. military officials said the fate of the Americans left behind now lies with the State Department, which will try to use diplomacy to extricate them from the country. The U.S. has severed diplomatic ties to the country, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.
Military and State Department officials have also downplayed the threat of the Taliban utilizing U.S. aircraft, vehicles, and weapons by maintaining much of the equipment was left inoperable.
But Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican partially blinded by an explosion while serving in Afghanistan, said the Taliban could utilize some of the stockpile, such as night-vision and laser equipment that gave the U.S. a distinct advantage over the more primitive Taliban.
“That advantage is now gone,” Crenshaw said. “It is not only a disgrace but it is also a direct national security threat.”
The House is away for the summer and is not set to reconvene until Sept. 20.
Democrats blocked the GOP measure in a pro forma session where only a few lawmakers assemble typically, and no business is conducted.
Republicans accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, of abdicating her responsibility by not returning the House to session to pass the GOP bill.
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“This cannot be where it ends,” McCarthy said. “We will not allow it.”
The Senate Tuesday passed by voice vote a House-passed bill that would provide federal funds to help Americans repatriate from Afghanistan.
Biden is slated to address the nation on the end of the Afghanistan war.
