Check out this recent letter that With Honor Action and 23 other Veteran Service Organizations signed on to urging Congressional leadership to help our Afghan allies in their time of need.
August 15, 2023
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
322 Hart Senate Office Building 317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
2468 Rayburn House Office Building 2433 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senator Schumer, Speaker McCarthy, Leader McConnell, and Leader Jeffries,
We represent 24 unique veterans groups and write in support of protecting our Afghan allies. Tens of thousands of Afghans were left to the mercy of the Taliban when Kabul fell in 2021, unable to escape when coalition forces evacuated. They are interpreters who served in American units, members of the Afghan Air Force and Special Forces, female Afghan Security Forces members, judges, prosecutors, civil servants, journalists, teachers and more – they were our partners and friends, and they are fierce opponents of the Taliban. Today they are pursued by a murderous and radical regime set on revenge.
America gave these important allies and partners her word: stand with us and we’ll stand by you. To betray the trust that they placed in the United States would represent an intolerable moral failure and a stain on America’s conscience that would last generations. The compromise of our credibility and leadership on the world stage would be profound.
For two years, thousands of Afghans have been ruthlessly pursued by the Taliban and left in American bureaucratic limbo. The moral imperative is clear and the time to act is now.
We respectfully urge you to come to an appropriate legislative solution by the end of the calendar year 2023, whether it be in the National Defense Authorization Act, a consolidated appropriations bill (omnibus), or through regular order.
We ask that you prioritize the visa backlog for all at-risk Afghan allies and swift implementation of adequate vetting protocols in this agreement to protect our national security while keeping our promises.
We served and shed blood alongside many of these brave Afghans, whose only sin was to pursue a better democratic future for their country. Please do not allow them to be ignored and unprotected for another legislative calendar year. Their lives could well depend on whether America keeps her promise.
With respect and gratitude,
With Honor Action
No One Left Behind
POLARIS National Security
Moral Compass Federation
REACT DC
Operation Pineapple Express Relief
Task Force Argo
Blackfeather Foundation
1208 Foundation
Save Our Allies
Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches
Afghan Free
Flanders Fields Limited
Project Exodus Relief
Special Operations Association of America
Heart of an ACE
Operation Recovery
Operation Sacred Promise
NATO Afghanistan Justice Sector Project
UNCN
Operation Allies Refuge Foundation
Badger Six
Lifeline Foundation
Freedom Bird