Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Ranking Member Jim Risch and 21 other GOP colleagues in introducing the Afghanistan Counterterrorism, Oversight, and Accountability Act.
He said, “We have seen no accountability from this Administration after Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan—a poorly planned and poorly executed withdrawal that was driven by a public relations calendar rather than actual conditions on the ground. When I traveled abroad to meet with our Allies in Britain and NATO, it was evident that the United States has lost credibility among our allies.
The Taliban, who now control Afghanistan, are conducting new atrocities each day and suppressing the rights of women and young girls throughout the country. This legislation is imperative to bring accountability to the Administration, to repair our country’s credibility, and to prevent the Taliban from being recognized as a legitimate government. I am pleased to join my colleagues in this effort, and will continue to press for answers and accountability because that’s what the citizens of Tennessee and those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces deserve.”
This legislation:
· Establishes a State Department task force to focus on the evacuation of American citizens, legal permanent residents, and Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) who are still stuck in Afghanistan.
· Imposes oversight mechanisms on the processing of SIVs and refugees.
· Requires strategies for counterterrorism and for the disposition of Taliban-captured U.S. equipment.
· Sanctions the Taliban and others in Afghanistan for terrorism, drug-trafficking, and human rights abuses.
· Authorizes sanctions on those providing support to the Taliban, including foreign governments supporting the Taliban.
· States that the United States should not recognize any member of the Taliban as the ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States or as the ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Nations.
· Calls for a comprehensive review of foreign assistance to entities that support the Taliban.
· Places restrictions on non-humanitarian foreign assistance to Afghanistan.
Text of the legislation can be found here.