U.S. Representative Rick Allen (R-GA-12) said his Republican colleagues are co-sponsoring legislation that would require the U.S. Secretary of Defense to submit daily reports to Congress about the evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan.
Allen announced the news during a Tuesday telephone town hall with his constituents.
U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) is sponsoring the bill, HR 5071. Congress.gov lists U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) as a co-sponsor.
During Tuesday night’s town hall, a constituent asked Allen what he and his colleagues were doing to hold U.S. President Joe Biden accountable for America’s disastrous exit from Afghanistan.
Allen said he and his colleagues “are filing petitions and every tool that we have available to us we are using.”
“We are in favor of using H.R. 5071, which would direct the Secretary of Defense to submit daily reports to Congress on the evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan. But House Democrats blocked the measure,” Allen said.
“And obviously we need to make a change because this country cannot survive what they [Democrats] are doing to this country, and I promise you that we are fighting as hard as we can fight.”
The reports from the U.S. Secretary of Defense, assuming the bill is passed into law, must include the following:
• The total number of members of the U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan
• The total number of citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States in Afghanistan
• The total number of individuals who are citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States who have requested but not received evacuation from Afghanistan, including, to the extent practicable, the location of each such individual
• The total number of citizens and legal permanent residents of the United States evacuated from Afghanistan
“When the President determines that each citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States who is seeking evacuation from Afghanistan is evacuated from Afghanistan, the President shall submit to Congress certification of such determination,” according to the bill.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
