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Ryan Reports from Central Asia, Afghanistan
Wisconsin’s First District Congressman, Paul Ryan, today provided a brief report from overseas on highlights of his trip to Central Asia. Ryan has been traveling throughout the Afghanistan region over the past week as part of a small bipartisan congressional delegation sent by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The delegation is scheduled to return to the United States
today.
In his account of the trip, Ryan reported that he and the delegation have toured five military bases, including one in Uzbekistan (located on the Afghanistan border) called Karshi Khanabad, as well as the Bagram base in Afghanistan and U.S. military installations in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Ryan said the delegation met with President Karzai of Afghanistan for approximately two hours over lunch to discuss a wide range of topics. These topics included rebuilding the country, winning the war on terrorism, controlling the various warlords in the country, focusing on infrastructure, educating children – especially young women, and Karzai’s personal security which is supplied by the U.S.
government.
Ryan also reported that, after visiting Afghanistan, the delegation traveled via C-130 military transport to Bahrain. At the U.S. naval base that is the headquarters for Central Command and the Fifth Fleet, they received exhaustive intelligence briefings on Iraq. Furthermore, Ryan and the delegation were able to land on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in the Indian Ocean, where naval flight operations into Iraq and Afghanistan are conducted. They received lengthy briefings on these operations and toured the carrier. Ryan also noted that he and Rep. Mark Green (R – Green Bay) presented the sailors with a banner bearing the message "Wisconsin Is Behind You" that had been signed by Wisconsinites and a football that had been signed by all the Green Bay Packers. This is to be displayed in the carrier’s mess
hall.
"This has been an incredible trip, both from the standpoint of information gathering and in terms of the level of contact we’ve had with area leaders and our military men and women," Ryan said. "We met with troops at every stage, and I have had the chance to visit with several Wisconsinites including soldiers and sailors from Brodhead to Racine. It has been a great privilege to meet with and learn from them. Moreover, the knowledge and experience we gained during this trip will prove invaluable as we consider the next stage of the war on terrorism."
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Contact: Kate
Matus (202) 226-7326
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