mr. kinzinger and mr. blumenauer, thank you for your continued leadership on this issue and many others. it has been through your persistence and perseverance that this day come and you deserve gratitude and recognition for your work. thank you, mr. kinzinger. throughout the war in afghanistan, u.s. service men and women worked alongside thousands of afghan partners who were translators, drivers, cooks, culture advisors. they risked their lives on a daily basis to come to work. they faced the very same violence, attacks and threats as u.s. troops but bravely put themselves in harm's way to aid in our shared mission. as frequently been the case in the past when the united states began to withdraw troops from afghanistan, congress created a special immigrant visa program opened to foreign nationals who served in critical roles and supported our american war effort. to date, more than 9,000 afghans have benefited from a special immigrant visa program. i'm pleased to hear that the state department has accelera

mr. adam kinzinger, a member of the committee on foreign affairs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. mr. kinzinger: thank you. and i want to say thank you to the chairman for yielding me this time. thank you to both sides for your hard work. it's rare that we get compromises in washington, and i appreciate the work you've put in, but i cannot in good conscience support this. . i'm a veteran of irblinge. i saw many people that -- of iraq. i saw many people that fought hard to bring the iraqi people freedom. and i saw a war that was won in 2011. what we are watching happening in iraq right now is the worst case scenario in the middle east. there is a march of jihadism and extremism that makes al qaeda look like puppy dogs that's happening in iraq. a president that's indecisive on what to do. we have genital mutilations ordered in mosul just the other day by isis. and we are here in washington, d.c., debating what we need to do to hamstring the president who is already indecisive enough about this. you k

mr. kinzinger. >> thank you, madam chair. i just want to point out i'm a veteran of iraq. it's sad to see this gone now. i'll be honest with you all. i think -- i mean, everybody east kind of not saying it, but what it seems like is the administration is just paralyzed. they just don't know what to do. there's this fear of getting involved in iraq again and getting sucked into iraq with this reality that the worst-case scenario in the middle east is playing out right before our very eyes. frankly, this administration bears some responsibility for that. i'd also like to remind folks that in america, we threw out the articles of confederation. we had articles of confederation. we threw them out and drew up our constitution. political solutions are not something we can put in the microwave and expect to happen in a short amount of time. this takes time. what we're seeing right now with the enroacroachment and growth isil is the worst-case scenario. therefore, this kind of narrative that we have to have a political solution before we do anything, i would much rather see a flaw

mr. kinzinger. >> thank you, madam chair. i just want to point out i'm a veteran of iraq. it's sad to see this gone now. i'll be honest with you all. i think -- i mean, everybody east kind of not saying it, but what it seems like is the administration is just paralyzed. they just don't know what to do. there's this fear of getting involved in iraq again and getting sucked into iraq with this reality that the worst-case scenario in the middle east is playing out right before our very eyes. frankly, this administration bears some responsibility for that. i'd also like to remind folks that in america, we threw out the articles of confederation. we had articles of confederation. we threw them out and drew up our constitution. political solutions are not something we can put in the microwave and expect to happen in a short amount of time. this takes time. what we're seeing right now with the enroacroachment and growth isil is the worst-case scenario. therefore, this kind of narrative that we have to have a political solution before we do anything, i would much rather see a flaw

mr. adam kinzinger, a member of the committee on foreign affairs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for two minutes. mr. kinzinger: thank you. and i want to say thank you to the chairman for yielding me this time. thank you to both sides for your hard work. it's rare that we get compromises in washington, and i appreciate the work you've put in, but i cannot in good conscience support this. . i'm a veteran of irblinge. i saw many people that -- of iraq. i saw many people that fought hard to bring the iraqi people freedom. and i saw a war that was won in 2011. what we are watching happening in iraq right now is the worst case scenario in the middle east. there is a march of jihadism and extremism that makes al qaeda look like puppy dogs that's happening in iraq. a president that's indecisive on what to do. we have genital mutilations ordered in mosul just the other day by isis. and we are here in washington, d.c., debating what we need to do to hamstring the president who is already indecisive enough about this. you k

mr. speaker, representative kinzinger and i have a nonpartisan, fully paid for bill. house leadership willing that could pass on the floor in the blink of an eye. all we have to do, what we must do is choose to make it a priority. remember, we've done this before. reforms that enabled the program to work passed as an amendment to the national defense authorization act on this floor by, i found an inspiring 423-3 margin. passing this bill is not only the right thing to do for these poor souls, it's in our own national security interest. as secretary kerry pointed out in urging congress to grant more visas, the way a country winds down a war in a farahway place and stands by those -- faraway place and stands by those that help us in the fight sends a powerful message to the world that is not soon forgotten. whether or not you supported the wars in iraq or afghanistan, what matters now is where we stand in keeping our commitments. this bill authorizing an additional 1,000 visas for the balance of this current fiscal year is a band-aid but a critical one. we're going to h