Representatives Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) and Jason Crow (D-CO) led the bipartisan For Country Caucus, a nonpartisan group of 25 congressional veterans, including several who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, in calling President Biden to commit to evacuating all Americans and Afghan allies.
The letter, drafted by veteran lawmakers, comes as thousands of Americans as well as thousands more Afghans who have aided the U.S. remain trapped in Afghanistan after the Biden Administration’s recent withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, according to a statement from Garcia.
The letter was sent to President Biden to demonstrate the bipartisan group of veterans’ strong encouragement to support those who have supported America. The lawmakers stated that a central value of military service is to “leave no one behind” and that self-imposed deadlines of withdrawal should not prohibit protecting Americans and U.S. allies, according to Garcia’s office.
“We write today to ask you to commit to evacuating all Americans and Afghan partners,” read the letter from the For Country Caucus members. “Given the rapidly changing situation on the ground, deadlines imposed by others should not guide the evacuation of our fellow Americans and those whose support for our mission in Afghanistan has placed them and their families in grave danger.”
The veteran lawmakers stressed the need to keep the Hamid Karzai International Airport under American control for evacuations, and the need to allow American citizens, Legal Permanent Residents, Green Card Holders, and all Afghans who worked with the United States—regardless of their present VISA status – to receive assistance in evacuating.
“This is about more than doing the right thing,” read the letter. “This is a national security imperative. The eyes of the world are watching whether we will stand by our friends. We must show the world that we will live up to our values and promises.”
The veteran lawmakers highlighted the serious impact of the fall of Afghanistan and the failure to fulfill our obligations to Afghan allies and American veterans—many of which feel these stories personally, according to the statement from Garcia’s office.
“Your administration will have broad support from America’s veterans in the challenging task of evacuating our Afghan partners. To many of us, these Afghan partners have names and faces,” the For Country Caucus members wrote. “They fought with us and served shoulder-to-shoulder with us for decades to help us achieve our mission and come home to our families. We view it as a personal and moral imperative to do the same for them now. Veterans will support a decision to ensure that we do not leave our Afghan comrades behind.”
The veteran lawmakers concluded the letter asking that President Biden not finish the American drawdown in Afghanistan until all American citizens and Afghan partners are evacuated.
To read the full letter, click here.
Ed. Note: The above information was provided to KHTS by the Mike Garcia Press Office.
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