WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Rick Scott (R-FL), and 16 colleagues urged the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to make their hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal available to the public. Next week’s scheduled joint hearing, involving Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, is closed to the public due to the classified nature of the withdrawal.
“President Biden’s misguided and dangerous decisions in his botched withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan led to the United States most stunning, unforced and humiliating defeat in decades,” wrote the senators. “In the withdrawal, America lost 13 brave service members, left billions of dollars of U.S. military equipment to be seized by the Taliban, stranded hundreds of American citizens behind enemy lines and returned Afghanistan to the same terrorist-coddling extremists who ruled it on September 11, 2001.”
“That’s why it is imperative that a portion of this joint hearing be open to the public so that American families and all impacted by the botched withdrawal can hear directly from Secretaries Blinken and Austin,” continued the senators.
Read the full letter here or below.
Dear Chairman Reed and Chairman Menendez:
Next week, the United States Senate Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations are scheduled to hold a closed joint hearing to hear testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on President Biden’s botched and deadly withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces from Afghanistan. We thank you for holding this incredibly important and urgently needed hearing and write to you today in the interest of transparency and accountability for the American people.
President Biden’s misguided and dangerous decisions in his botched withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan led to the United States most stunning, unforced and humiliating defeat in decades. In the withdrawal, America lost 13 brave service members, left billions of dollars of U.S. military equipment to be seized by the Taliban, stranded hundreds of American citizens behind enemy lines and returned Afghanistan to the same terrorist-coddling extremists who ruled it on September 11, 2001. Thanks to this administration’s actions, the world is now a more dangerous place. Now, we as members of the United States Senate, and the American people, are rightfully demanding answers.
That’s why it is imperative that a portion of this joint hearing be open to the public so that American families and all impacted by the botched withdrawal can hear directly from Secretaries Blinken and Austin. We understand the importance of also having a closed portion of this hearing to discuss sensitive or classified information, but cannot allow this opportunity to pass without ensuring that the American people get answers from the Biden administration.
The United States Senate must exercise the full authority of its oversight abilities to ensure that we have total transparency and accountability for the actions and decisions that led to and exacerbated the failures of this withdrawal. We appreciate your attention to this urgently important matter and look forward to working together to deliver answers to the American people.
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