{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rounds-on-senate-floor-president-biden-owns-the-afghanistan-debacle-and-history-will-not-judge-him-kindly", "Rounds on Senate Floor: President Biden owns the Afghanistan debacle and history will not judge him kindly", "2021-10-06", "2021", "2021-10", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "Mike Rounds", "R000605", "www.rounds.senate.gov", "rounds", "https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) delivered remarks on the floor of the Senate today regarding the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.\n\nIn his remarks, Rounds highlighted a South Dakota veteran from Belle Fourche, who reached out to Rounds\u2019 staff in hopes of evacuating her Afghan interpreter. Rounds also spoke in detail about President Biden\u2019s decision to reject the professional advice of his military advisors to complete a conditions-based withdrawal rather than a date certain withdrawal. Read or watch Rounds\u2019 full remarks below.\n\nSenator Rounds\u2019 remarks as delivered:\n\nMadam President,\n\nTomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the day the United States entered Afghanistan \u2013 the beginning of \u201cOperation Enduring Freedom.\u201d\n\nOn October 7, 2001, the U.S. military conducted its first strike on the terrorists responsible for attacking our nation on 9-11.\n\nAs President Bush said on that day: It was not a mission we asked for, but a mission that we would fulfill.\n\nFor the past two decades, brave men and women have answered the call and put on the uniform of our country to fight terrorists in the name of freedom.\n\nWe were a beacon of hope in a region of chaos.\n\nOur presence made a difference.\n\nAs I travel my home state of South Dakota, I\u2019ve heard from many people who were disturbed by the events that unfolded during our final days in Afghanistan.\n\nI share their frustrations.\n\nTogether, we watched the Taliban forcefully regain control of an entire country that we worked so hard to keep free from terrorist groups.\n\nWe watched the credibility of the United States on the world stage diminish as we carelessly left our friends and allies behind.\n\nWe watched civilians hopelessly cling to the wings of aircraft in desperate hope of escape.\n\nAnd we watched 13 brave men and women in uniform lose their lives while helping others seek freedom.\n\nAs we mourn the loss of their lives, we recognize and appreciate their service to our nation.\n\nWe also remember all those who fought by our side for twenty years, many of whom remain trapped in Afghanistan.\n\nBrandy Roseland, a veteran from Belle Fourche, South Dakota, worked as a contractor in Afghanistan.\n\nThat\u2019s where she met her interpreter.\n\nAccording to Brandy, her interpreter served with the highest distinction and faced great personal risk, often putting himself in harm\u2019s way to aid and protect Americans and his fellow Afghans.\n\nOn one such occasion, Brandy\u2019s interpreter discovered an American contractor who died in an accident outside of Kabul.\n\nThe interpreter singlehandedly returned the contractor\u2019s body, as well as sensitive equipment and documents to the US Embassy.\n\nThat took courage.\n\nBrandy returned to the United States, but she stayed in contact with her interpreter.\n\nWhen Afghanistan began to fall to the Taliban, she knew she needed to do all she could to help get him to safety.\n\nThat\u2019s when Brandy called us and asked if we could help him escape the clutches of the Taliban.\n\nFor weeks, our office worked relentlessly to maneuver his application for a Special Immigrant Visa through the bureaucratic process at the State Department.\n\nOur work was ultimately successful from an administrative standpoint, but the overall mission was a failure.\n\nWhile we had done all we could to help the interpreter receive his visa, our forces had exited before he could get on a plane to safety.\n\nToday, he remains in hiding in Afghanistan.\n\nIf he is found by the Taliban, his fate will certainly be sealed.\n\nWe all know that there were no easy decisions regarding Afghanistan.\n\nBut there was clearly a wrong one.\n\nFor months, we had warned of the perils of making an arbitrary decision based on the calendar as opposed to an assessment of the conditions on the ground.\n\nAnd we weren\u2019t alone.\n\nAs the only Republican member of both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, I\u2019ve had the opportunity these past few weeks to hear from the senior military officers who advised President Biden \u2013 General Milley, Secretary Austin and General McKenzie.\n\nTheir message to the president was clear: A withdrawal on a date-certain without conditions would lead to the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.\n\nDespite receiving the best military advice in the world, President Biden decided to use his own judgement and made the wrong decision.\n\nHis directive to withdraw on a date certain - without regard for the conditions on the ground \u2013 needlessly put American soldiers in harm\u2019s way and forced our military to undertake an assignment destined for failure.\n\nOur military simply ran out of time.\n\nThey could not get all of our Americans out.\n\nAnd they could not get all of our Afghan allies out, including Brandy\u2019s interpreter.\n\nBut it didn\u2019t have to end this way.\n\nOur military leaders offered President Biden the correct path forward.\n\nTheir commander-in-chief failed them.\n\nLately, the president has blamed a lot of people for his failure.\n\nThis includes the Afghan security forces and his own generals who he falsely claimed advised him to make this decision.\n\nBut this does not fall on any of them.\n\nPresident Biden owns this debacle and history will not judge him kindly.\n\nBecause of his error, al Qaeda now has a breeding ground.\n\nAmerica is less safe.\n\nThe world is less safe.\n\nI\u2019ll close with a message for our veterans:\n\nWhile I was governor, I attended 31 funerals of South Dakotans who died fighting in the war on terror.\n\nWe will not forget their sacrifice and their family\u2019s loss.\n\nWhile freedom may not endure in Afghanistan today, for twenty years you protected our nation and kept the fight away from our doorstep.\n\nYour service was not in vain. Your sacrifice made a difference.\n\nYou represent the best of our country and your nation is grateful.\n\nAlways remember, it\u2019s not the politician who protects our right to vote.\n\nIt\u2019s not the journalist who protects our freedom of speech.\n\nIt\u2019s not the preacher who protects our freedom of religion.\n\nAll of our freedoms are defended and protected by the men and women who wear, and have worn, the uniform of our great nation.\n\nGod Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:24:51Z"]], "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://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rounds-on-senate-floor-president-biden-owns-the-afghanistan-debacle-and-history-will-not-judge-him-kindly"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1928620990365744, "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"}