mr. walsh. dr. jacobson for five minutes, please, sir. >> mr. chairman, madam chairman, ranking members and distinguished members of the joint subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. i should first note that i, too, extend my gratitude to the andrews family for the sacrifice they have made. i would like to have known their son. from what i have read and from what i have heard, he's a true hero. i'm also honored to be sitting beside my friend, mike waltz, who is also a true patriot and hero and has served his nation bravely in afghanistan. thank you specialist full for your service as well. as someone who served in the pentagon on september 11th, 2001, the threat posed by terrorism is not lost on me. while i had made the decision years before to devote myself to my nation, that day changed all of our lives forever. as a result, i spent several years in afghanistan as a naval intelligence officer and later, as a civilian advisor. i am acutely aware of the danger that remains today in afghanistan. for the four of us

mr. chairman. >>> dr. jacobson, you had taken issue with mr. waltz when they thought this was a great thing for the taliban. well, maybe they thought beheading him would have been better. do you honestly think that if they thought beheading him would have helped them that they would not have done it in a second? they did this, they want those guys back in command. of course it was better for them. so i thought for that comment, i thought just struck me as totally off base. let me ask you this, do we have troops in afghanistan right now? >> yes, congress man. >> so you have referenced troop who is have been left behind. we can argue whether he left his unit behind, and i think he did that. but if we still have troops there, who have we left behind? we're still fighting the conflict. it's not over yet. and so the notion that somehow had wed not done this trade that means we, quote, left him behind, is utter nonsense. to so what we've done is we've replenished the enemy in wartime when we still have fighters in there and those individuals will be

mr. waltz and dr. jacobson. did the president by not consulting congress 30 days before in your opinion break the law? >> congressman, that's my understanding of the law. i'm not a legal expert but my understanding of the law was that congress was to be consulted. >> dr. jacobson? >> i'm not a lawyer and europe all going to argue about that statute but i think what the president did acting on short notice was absolutely the right thing to do. >> the gentleman yields back his time. many chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. castro for five minutes. >> thank you. . and mrs. andrews, my condolences and safe travels back to texas. i agree with part of mr. yoho's statement. i want to focus on the policy. he agreement that was made for sergeant border, that was made and there is still a debate whether it was good or bad but i think the most constructive thing we can get out of this hearing is what do we do in the future? first, if someone leaves their unit. , should we go retrieve that person? and second, wha

mr. waltz and dr. jacobson.id the president by not consulting congress 30 days before in your opinion break the law? >> congressman, that's my understanding of the law. i'm not a legal expert but my understanding of the law was that congress was to be consulted. >> dr. jacobson? >> i'm not a lawyer and europe all going to argue about that statute but i think what the president did acting on short notice was absolutely the right thing to do. >> the gentleman yields back his time. many chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. castro for five minutes. >> thank you. mr. and mrs. andrews, my condolences and safe travels back to texas. i agree with part of mr. yoho's statement. i want to focus on the policy. the agreement that was made for sergeant border, that was made and there is still a debate whether it was good or bad but i think the most constructive thing we can get out of this hearing is what do we do in the future? first, if someone leaves their unit, should we go retrieve that person? and second, what

mr. jacobson and walls thank you for being here and your years of service. we all know that there are substantial questions surrounding the disappearance of sergeant bergdahl and the squaent decision to exchange the taliban five for his release. it may take months before we though for sure what transpired in the days and weeks leading up to the disappearance of aerm sergeant bo bergdahl. was he suffering from psychological trauma? awol? a deserter? rest assured answers to these questions will come to light and the army will take arks on whatever it deems appropriate. i'm a bit perplexed. when some members of congress already decided the facts of this case. we have a solemn obligation to leave no american soldier behind. and when the opportunity to get an american soldier back from the enemy presents itself, we take it. this country has a long history of getting american servicemen back through prisoners exchanges because we promised the men and women when they signed up bravely to serve their country we would do everything we can to protect them and ensure t

mr. waltz, a senior national security fellow at the new america foundation, who demanded special forces in eastern afghanistan. thank you for your service. and dr. jacobson, thank you for your 20 years of service in the military, including your deployment to afghanistan. first, as to a preliminary issue on iraq. let me point out that we do not have forces in iraq. we do not have a status of forces agreement with iraq. president bush established president malki in 2006, and in this governance is responsible for the violence taking place in the country today. it should not be surprising that malik he refused to enter a status agreement under president obama. as to releases for guantanamo, while we are focusing today on five guantanamo prisoners being released, resident bush released over 500 prisoners from guantanamo. most of them were dangerous. over 100 of them we know they are fighting us on the battlefield and we know where. most of the others are fighting against us as well. we just can't pinpoint where they're located. what did we get for the 500 that president bush released? absolutely nothing. except thank you notes from their native countries. as

jacobson. do you believe there was a national security interest of the united states? >> yes, i do, congressman. >> mr. waltz. >> congressman, i believe america is less safe and the world is dangerous with the release of those individuals. >> czar jnt? >> i believe america is less safe and the world is also, in more danger. >> and mr. andrews, i'll give you the last word. >> thank you. i believe america is less safe and i believe these five guys are going to come after us and i believe that it was a must steak to release them and that mistake to release them and it didn't serve our national interest in any way. >> i want to thank all of you for being here. ms. andrews and the committee is adjourned. thank you. >>> on the house floor, lawmakers working on amendments to fund the department of defense next year. just under $80 billion is currently included for the war in afghanistan. work is expected to continue tomorrow on the measure. also tomorrow, house republicans will meet at around 1:30 eastern time to elect new leadership. this coming after majority leadlea lead eric cantor and kevin mccarthy wil

mr. walls is a senior national security fellow at the new america foundation who commanded special forces in eastern afghanistan. thank you for your service and dr. jacobson thank you for your 20 years of service in the military including your deployment to afghanistan. the first as to a preliminary issue on iraq let me point out that we do not have forces in iraq. we do not have the status of forces agreement with iraq. it was president bush who installed maliki as prime minister of iraq in 2006 and the misgovernance of prime minister maliki is directly responsible for the violence taking place in that country today. it should not be surprising that maliki refused to enter a status of forces agreement under president obama. he refused to enter into long-term status of forces agreement with george w. bush the man who in effect allowed them to take power. as to releases from guantÁnamo while we are focusing today on five guantÁnamo prisoners being released -- release president bush released over 500 prisoners from guantÁnamo. most of them were dangerous. over 100 of them we know are fighting us on the battlefield and we know where. most of the others are f