Meijer, Bice urge Biden to prioritize evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies

As America’s pullout from Afghanistan continues, U.S. Reps. Peter Meijer (R-MI) and Stephanie Bice (R-OK) led 36 fellow freshman House Republicans in urging President Joe Biden to immediately prioritize the evacuation of American citizens and the Afghans who worked alongside United States forces.

“We must safely and expeditiously get Americans and our Afghan partners out of harm’s way,” the lawmakers wrote in an Aug. 16 letter sent to the president. “Leaving Afghan allies behind would almost certainly seal their fate and would have harmful and lasting repercussions for our nation that cannot be overlooked.”

Rep. Meijer, Rep. Bice, and their colleagues also expressed their “deep concern with the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.” 

“While we may be new to Congress, the complete lack of leadership and direction that has come from your administration in the midst of this ongoing crisis has not been lost on us,” wrote Rep. Meijer, Rep. Bice, and their colleagues, who included U.S. Reps. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Blake Moore (R-UT), David Valadao (R-CA), Young Kim (R-CA), and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY). 

The members also asked the president to provide a briefing to Congress on the administration’s plan to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies, as well as how the Biden administration plans to prevent terrorists from capitalizing on the instability in Afghanistan, according to their letter. 

“As members of Congress, we also need to understand how and why your administration had such a poor grasp of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan,” they wrote. “The American people and our nation’s veterans who served in Afghanistan deserve to have a full accounting of the diplomatic, defense, and intelligence failures that led to the crisis we are witnessing today.”