WASHINGTON - Today, Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following remarks in response to the President's announcement on new troop levels in Afghanistan. The new troop levels will be set at 8,448.
“The precision of the President’s new Afghanistan Troop Cap would be comical were its consequences not so tragic for our mission and military readiness. It is time that the President level with the American people about what it will really take to achieve our goals in Afghanistan, and how much it will cost. The truth is that many thousands more Americans are performing military functions in Afghanistan - than even the current troop cap authorizes. The President refuses to pay for them, and his budget does not have room for the troops he is committing. For all of the bluster about funding troops in harm's way, it is the President who proposes to extend the vital mission without any resources behind it. The White House must submit a supplemental funding request to accommodate troop levels in Afghanistan immediately.”