{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=86036037-DD85-4791-9CB3-4FDB9CF40A43", "Thune: Biden\u2019s Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal Emboldens Terrorists, Abandons Americans and Allies", "2021-09-14", "2021", "2021-09", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today called for Congress to conduct a thorough investigation into the Biden administration\u2019s disastrous and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. With the nation having recently marked the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Thune reiterated that the service and sacrifice of those American troops who served in Afghanistan was not in vain. Thune also discussed the Democrats\u2019 out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C., and the urgent need to prevent saddling future generations with burdensome debt.\n\nOn the Democrats\u2019 out-of-control spending and debt (excerpt):\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a way in which the reconciliation procedure can be used to raise the debt limit to pay for all the new spending that the Democrats have in this bill.\n\n\u201cSo, when they get down here and talk about how important it is for this to be bipartisan, well, it would be one thing if there was actually any kind of a bipartisan negotiation going on, but there isn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cThe last time the debt limit was raised, there was in 2019 \u2013 and at that time it was about caps. It was about reducing spending \u2013 there was a bipartisan agreement to reduce spending as the debt limit was being increased.\n\n\u201cThe other thing I would mention, Mr. President, in response to what the majority leader said earlier, is that the debt that was accumulated in the previous administration \u2013 much of which was done on a bipartisan basis in response to the biggest pandemic that this country has seen in 100 years. In March of 2020, $4.5 trillion of that debt was put on the bill because of a bipartisan agreement that was reached, as I said earlier, 96 to zero. Ninety-six to zero was the vote here in the United States Senate.\n\n\u201cSo, Democrats want to go down this path. They want to spend, spend, spend like there\u2019s no tomorrow; and tax, tax, tax like there\u2019s no tomorrow; and borrow, borrow, borrow like there\u2019s no tomorrow; then they ought to pay, pay, pay with their votes when it comes to raising the debt limit and unfortunately handing the bill for that to our kids and grandkids.\u201d\n\nOn President Biden\u2019s chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, 20 years ago, on a clear September morning, the unthinkable happened:\n\n\u201cAn attack on our nation, here at home, on our own soil.\n\n\u201cAlmost three thousand Americans died that day.\n\n\u201cAnd our nation reeled.\n\n\u201cBut in the midst of grief and fear there was also hope.\n\n\u201cWe saw evil on September 11, but in the days and weeks that followed we saw good as well.\n\n\u201cThe first responders who raced to the scene and spent the weeks after combing through the rubble.\n\n\u201cThe heroic Americans who fought back against the terrorists on Flight 93.\n\n\u201cThe hours-long lines for blood donation, as Americans scrambled to do anything they could to help.\n\n\u201cAnd out of the ashes of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, came a new birth of patriotism and resolve.\n\n\u201cAmerica might be bloodied, but she would not break.\n\n\u201cEvil and terror would not win.\n\n\u201cThe 9/11 generation of warriors and intelligence personnel took the fight to the terrorists in the Middle East and around the world.\n\n\u201cOur men and women in uniform dismantled terrorist safe havens, disrupted terror groups, thwarted attacks, and hunted down and delivered justice to Osama bin Laden.\n\n\u201cAnd in Afghanistan, the downfall of the Taliban at the hands of our soldiers and our NATO allies allowed a generation of Afghans to grow up in freedom.\n\n\u201cI was honored to get to spend part of September 11 with members of the South Dakota Air National Guard, many of whom served overseas in the fight against terrorism.\n\n\u201cMr. President, as we marked the 20th anniversary of September 11 on Saturday, our soldiers and our veterans should have been able to reflect on their successes in the fight against terrorism over the past two decades.\n\n\u201cBut I know that today many of them are struggling with the recent events in Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cThe United States\u2019 disastrous, hasty withdrawal is a stain on our nation\u2019s history and a betrayal of the men and women who fought there.\n\n\u201cBut I hope they know that their sacrifices, and the sacrifices of their comrades, were not in vain.\n\n\u201cAs I said, their actions enabled a generation of Afghans to grow up free from the oppressive hand of the Taliban and kept the country from being a haven for al-Qaeda and other terrorists.\n\n\u201cAnd despite the current grim situation in Afghanistan, I am convinced that the seeds of freedom sown by our military men and women will yet bear fruit on Afghan soil.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I \u2013 and many others \u2013 warned that a total troop withdrawal in Afghanistan that ignored conditions on the ground was going to be a strategic disaster.\n\n\u201cAnd it has been.\n\n\u201cThe United States has historically maintained a limited military presence in foreign countries when it is in our national security interest.\n\n\u201cAnd with a presence of just 2,500 to 3,000 troops, we were maintaining stability for a country that was fighting to find its way toward freedom and democracy, and simultaneously protecting the interests of our own country.\n\n\u201cAll of that, of course, is now at an end.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s disastrous decision to completely withdraw U.S. troops \u2013 on a timeline he announced to our enemies \u2013 allowed the Taliban to bide their time until our ultimate departure.\n\n\u201cAmerican citizens are still trapped in Afghanistan, and thousands of Afghans who worked with U.S. troops and U.S. intelligence are in grave danger.\n\n\u201cAnd Afghanistan is well on its way to once again becoming a terrorist haven.\n\n\u201cIn fact, the Taliban has already appointed terrorists to top posts in its new government.\n\n\u201cThere is also every reason to fear that government oppression will once again become the norm in Afghanistan, particularly for women and girls.\n\n\u201cMr. President, we heard over and over again that President Biden was going to restore America\u2019s standing in the world and repair our relationships with our allies \u2013 particularly our NATO allies.\n\n\u201cIn fact, he\u2019s done the opposite.\n\n\u201cHis Afghanistan disaster is a national embarrassment.\n\n\u201cHe failed our troops, he failed the American people, he failed our allies, and he failed the Afghans who risked their lives with and for us.\n\n\u201cThe parliament of a key U.S. ally, the United Kingdom, condemned President Biden in the strongest terms for his dishonorable withdrawal from Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cThe fact that we have left behind thousands of Afghans who worked with our country and whom we promised to protect is unconscionable.\n\n\u201cIt is a stain on our country\u2019s record that will not be easily wiped away.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope \u2013 I really hope \u2013 that the president does everything within his power to get Afghans who worked with us, and any remaining U.S. citizens, out of the country as soon as humanly possible.\n\n\u201cIn the coming weeks, the relevant committees in the House and Senate need to conduct thorough oversight and investigations to understand why this withdrawal was done in a manner that further empowered and strengthened the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies.\n\n\u201cWe also need to discover why there was no effective plan to get our citizens and our Afghan allies to safety.\n\n\u201cThe scenes of chaos at Hamid Karzai airport should never have happened.\n\n\u201cAnd we need to find out why they did.\n\n\u201cThirteen brave Americans died protecting our withdrawal \u2013 11 Marines, one soldier, and one sailor.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s hard not to wonder if their deaths could have been avoided had there been a better plan in place for the evacuation.\n\n\u201cThe families of these men and women, and the American people, deserve answers.\n\n\u201cAnd the Biden administration must provide them.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the weeks of August 2021 will live in infamy.\n\n\u201cThe president\u2019s ill-considered, untimely withdrawal and complete lack of an effective plan to evacuate Americans and our Afghan allies created a humanitarian crisis and the conditions that allowed the Taliban to swiftly take over the country.\n\n\u201cThe president\u2019s actions have helped condemn women and girls and the entire Afghan people to once again live under pre-9/11 oppression.\n\n\u201cAnd he has emboldened terrorists and increased the security risk facing our nation.\n\n\u201cIt is tragic that all the good we have done in Afghanistan has come to this.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:17:01Z"]], "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.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=86036037-DD85-4791-9CB3-4FDB9CF40A43"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.366086933761835, "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"}