Report
to Speaker Dennis Hastert
Congressional Delegation to Afghanistan
January 6 and 7, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I recently returned
from a visit to Afghanistan with Congressman Frank Wolf (VA) and Congressman
Tony Hall (OH). We were greeted
with warm, friendly smiles wherever we went, from meetings with Interim
Administration officials to hospitals, schools and orphanages.
There is a hope in Afghanistan that the country will be different and new
opportunities and life will emerge out of the terrible suffering the Afghan
people have endured.
The visit was a highlight, but it
was also sobering. The best
children’s hospital in the nation, the Indira Ghandi Pediatric Hospital,
lacked basic medicines to treat the children, two children and their mothers
shared each bed, one of three children in the malnutrition ward died each night,
there is a lack of basic medical equipment, and no hospital employees have been
paid for six months. Yet, the
doctors and nurses worked valiantly to save the lives of the children in their
care.
We visited a girls school, the
Dorkhanai High School, that had re-opened one week earlier after being shut down
for over five years. The
concrete building was full of bullet holes from the Soviet invasion, one room
had no roof, and no rooms had glass in the windows.
The girls sat on blankets on the concrete or dirt floor as there were no
desks or chairs. Yet, the students
were so motivated to learn they raised the money from the meager earnings of
their families to buy thick plastic to cover the window holes and pay for
kerosene heat to keep out some of the biting cold in the schoolrooms.
The girls greeted us with big smiles and chants of “Welcome,
welcome.” They were
delighted to be back in school. Teachers
need to be re-hired (80% of the teachers were women), and the government needs
assistance with providing basic supplies such as paper, pens, chalk and books.
The Allauddin Center Orphanage has
900 children in their care – 800 boys and 100 girls. The children, many obviously suffering from
malnutrition and trauma from the violence of the war and the loss of their loved
ones, gave us huge smiles and recited and sang for us.
A delegation of firefighters from New York City had visited recently and
donated enough food for the children for the next three months, but after that,
it will again be a struggle to feed these young children.
The
firefighters also provided warm blankets for these children who, in the winter
due to lack of adequate heating facilities, sleep three to a bed with three
rooms of children crowding into one room – this way they can all be in rooms
in which there are heat sources.
We also visited a women’s bakery
with the United Nations World Food Program Women’s Bakery Project that has
been vital in helping women, particularly widows, support and feed their
families. During our visit, we
learned that one woman had been a doctor at the hospital, but she left to work
at the bakery so that she could earn money to actually support her family.
There is an almost overwhelming
humanitarian crisis that continues today.
Food, medicine and shelter are lacking for much of the country’s
population. Yet, there is
hope – hope that the American people will cement their friendship with the
Afghan people by remaining engaged in their country through various avenues.
Government aid to Afghanistan is vital, but people to people diplomacy,
sister relationships between schools and hospitals in the U.S. partnering with
schools and hospitals in Afghanistan, will be invaluable in helping to rebuild
the nation and the historic friendship between our nations.
Our meetings with government
officials also gave us hope. The
Chairman of the Interim Administration, H.E. Hamid Karzai, is an impressive,
capable, straightforward man who has the capacity to lead his country to
establish a coalition that will last through the historic transitions the nation
is experiencing. The Loya Jirga
(Grand Assembly) in June will mark a key transition for the people of
Afghanistan and Hamid Karzai appears to be the one who can lead the people
through that transition.
In response to our visit, there are
several key points that must be addressed as our nation, government and people
remain engaged with the people of Afghanistan:
1. The United States and the
international community must continue to support Chairman Karzai and the Interim
Administration in Kabul as well as the Administration’s clarifying to the
various regions of Afghanistan that federal authority rests in Kabul.
In addition, it is vital that the international community ensure that the
Bonn Agreement is fully implemented and culminated in the Loya Jirga to held on
June 22, 2002. The Loya Jirga is
the traditionally accepted
Afghan method of solving problems and reaching consensus.
We must continue our support for the new government, otherwise lack of
stability could create the opportunity for another pre-September 11 environment
of factional fighting, violence and upheaval, and a central power vaccum that
would have severe implications for our national security.
2. Humanitarian Aid must continue. The UN World Food Programme and US and other NGOs serving the
people there are doing a great job. But
the need remains high. The UN
estimated that they would be feeding 8 million people within Afghanistan, not to
mention refugees in neighboring countries, in the next three months to help
avert an even greater crisis. Food
aid is needed, as is medical and educational assistance. People to people diplomacy can be conducted through Chairman
Karzai’s office in Kabul.
3. U.S. assistance must be deliberate. Security is the primary need, mentioned in every meeting and site visit we had. Unless there is security, no amount of effort will ensure that the new government leaders can implement the very necessary changes in the country. Second, the economy must be developed, primarily through developing the agricultural sector of society. Prior to the 1979 Soviet invasion, Afghanistan was self-sufficient and even exported agricultural products to neighboring countries. Studies show that before 1979, 80% of the society was in farming. The skills are there, but the opportunity needs to be developed. Unfortunately, the four-year drought in the country has drastically affected the output of farms and the ability of animal herders to keep animals alive. Irrigation systems and drought assistance need to be constructed and provided as soon as possible. In addition, development of the agricultural sector with alternative crops is a proactive avenue of fighting against narcotics production.
Third, development of the education
system is one of the primary needs. An
overwhelming portion of the population has been affected by lack of access to
education. As reflected in our
visit to the girls’ school, the people have a desire to pursue an education as
they view this as the primary avenue for bettering their lives. Studies from around the world support this: the development
of educational systems changes nations. The
Afghan people may lack the basic materials for education, but not the desire to
learn.
Mr. Speaker, there are tremendous needs in Afghanistan, but there also is a tremendous amount of hope and an expectation that this time will be different. I look forward to visiting Afghanistan in the future and seeing these hopes and expectations lived out. As Chairman Hamid Karzai said during our meeting together, “Think of the help as help to our children. The families will do well if the children do well.” As we look forward to the hopes and expectations of a new Afghanistan, I will be working with the generous people of Pennsylvania and others across this nation to extend a hand of friendship, partnership and care through practical projects that will help build up the Afghan people.