{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://palmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/palmer-afghanistan-crisis-tragedy-was-preventable", "Palmer on Afghanistan Crisis: \u201cThis Tragedy Was Preventable\u201d", "2021-08-26", "2021", "2021-08", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Gary J. Palmer", "P000609", "palmer.house.gov", "palmer", "https://palmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "For Immediate Release\n\nMedia Contact: Elizabeth Hance (202) 225-4921\n\nPalmer on Afghanistan Crisis: \u201cThis Tragedy Was Preventable\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06) released the following statement in reaction to today\u2019s terror attacks in Kabul that led to the deaths of American soldiers and Afghan civilians:\n\n\u201cI am heartbroken and infuriated by the reports coming out of Afghanistan,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cPresident Biden\u2019s incredibly stupid decision to set August 31st as the evacuation deadline, his failure to maintain control of Bagram Airbase, and his failure to secure exit routes for the safe and orderly evacuation of American citizens and Afghan allies have led to this tragedy. Over the last 18 months, no U.S. military members were killed, but today we have lost at least 12. This tragedy was preventable and unnecessary, and it is time for President Biden and his administration to take full responsibility for it.\n\n\u201cTwelve American soldiers are now dead, yet the American people have had to wait hours to hear from the President. Whatever his message of condolences might be, it will ring hollow in the face of such incomprehensible incompetence. With our forces essentially surrounded by ISIS-K and the Taliban, President Biden needs to face the crisis head on and react with swiftness and force to make sure we get our people and our allies safely out,\u201d Palmer said.\n\nPalmer continued, \u201cSpeaker Pelosi has also demonstrated a stunning lack of focus on what has now become a major national and international security crisis. I fully support Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy\u2019s call on Speaker Pelosi to call Congress back into session to address this crisis. Speaker Pelosi called Congress back into session to pass the Democrats' massive tax and spending bill, so she should call us back into session to help make sure that we get our citizens and allies out of Afghanistan and avoid additional Biden Administration humiliation. Ann and I are praying for the families who have lost loved ones and for the families of the soldiers who lost loved ones during the war in Afghanistan whose hearts must also be breaking.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:11:17Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://palmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/palmer-afghanistan-crisis-tragedy-was-preventable"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9600990451872349, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}