The committee will come to order. I want to thank all of you for being here with us today, representing the Service Members who were murdered in a terrorist attack. You also represent the goldstar families, all of them, through the conflict. The Service Members were murdered in a terrorist attack on august 26, 2021, at the airport in kabul. Their names are as follows. Marine Corporal Hunter love has, marine Lance Corporal riley jamie cohen. Lance corporal kareem. Marine corps Sergeant Johnny rosario. Marine corps corporal sanchez. Marine corps Lance Corporal will jareds mitch and Navy Petty Officer third class. Before we start, i would like to take a pause for a moment of silence, in remembrance of them. Thank you. These men and women were marines, soldiers and sailors. They were americans. They were patriots. They were heroes. But you, they were more than that. They were your sons, your daughters, your hearts. And they were ripped away from you in an act of violence, halfway around the world. As a father of five, i cannot begin to imagine your pain and suffering. Two years later, we are still here, seeking answers. How did this happen . What went wrong . Why couldnt this tragedy have been prevented . These questions remain unanswered because this administration wants to sleep sweep what what happened under the rug. They know that they bear the brunt of the blame, and they want to escape any accountability. I will not let that happen. For months, the president s own generals and Intelligence Committee warned that withdrawing all u. S. Troops would result in a catastrophe. Our nato allies begged the president to be considered. To reconsider. When he refused to relent, republicans and democrats in congress urged president to prepare this illadvised withdraw from the kenaston. This was a disgraceful surrender to the taliban. Through my investigation, we have learned that the state department and department of defense warned of increased violence that would threaten the safety of our american citizens. In february 20 21, before the president announced his decision to unconditionally withdraw all troops, the Regional Security officer warned that there was a clear sign that violence in kabul had risen sharply over the last 45 days. In may 2021, he began planning for a noncombatant evacuation operation. Stating that conditions in afghanistan were rapidly approaching the point of triggering the neo execution. The lead agency for neyo failed to request one from the department of defense. They only did so after the fall of kabul. There is an old adage. If you fail the plan, you plan to fail. This was the utmost failure. On june 14, 20 21, the Regional Security officer again warned of an increase in violence, noting that there was 325 increase in attacks from the same time during the previous year. Yet President Biden ignored all of this, and as a result, the world watched the horrors unfold at the kabul airport. People falling from airplanes, innocent men and women being beaten and killed by the taliban, attempting to escape to freedom. Your sons and daughters witnessed this, and then the unthinkable happened, a bombing, killing 13 u. S. Service members and injuring 45 more. Before this committee, Sergeant Tyler andrews we want to thank you for being here. He testified that marine snipers spotted the suicide bomber before the explosion. Yet they were told by their superiors that they could not engage the threat. They were not given permission to engage. The terrorist responsible for this horrific attack was released by the taliban, from a prison at the base that the Biden Administration abandoned. They see the investigative work, we learned the Biden Administration asked the taliban it was believed to be a staging ground for an imminent attack on the airport. Not surprisingly, the taliban did not agree. We also know that the u. S. Military officials sought to strike to be days before the attack. U. S. Intelligence even predicted the exact day and time of the bombing at addie gate, yet that request for an airstrike was denied. In a massive slab in the face to every person who served in afghanistan, the Biden Administration they were named as security allies during this evacuation. I have heard from many that they were told that they were the enemy and then they had to work with the enemy. It was a selfinflicted wound that also killed 170 innocent civilians and injured 45 people in a massive suicide bombing attack. Simply put, it was hell on earth. The saddest part is, it all could have been prevented. All i can do is offer you my promise. I will not relent in this investigation. I will fight with every fiber of my being and leave no stone unturned, until we have the foolproof as to how this happened. This committee will be interviewing the one who led after action review. In the coming months or weeks come in the coming weeks, after months of effort, we will finally be interviewing the commanding officer, the marine corps lieutenant general. I intend to be there personally, for that interview. I will hold those responsible for this catastrophic event accountable. I will get answers. You all, the goldstar families and our veterans deserve no less, and you deserve the truth. This committee will deliver. We have with us here today those who testified before the committee in march. We want to thank you for your service and your sacrifice, and your courage to come before congress and tell the American People and these families the truth about what happened. I would like to recognize all of the afghan veterans who are here with us today and for those veterans that are watching this, for those watching this today, i have a message for yo your service was not in vain. It is because of your heroism that we never witnessed a largescale attack by the terrorists, since 9 11, and the last 20 years. We will never forget and we will never, ever allow this to ever happen again. With that, i would like to recognize the ranking member. Thank you, chairman mccall. I am honored to be here with all of you, today. To the afghanistan goldstar families, both here in the room and those who are at home, many of whom are in my own district, suburban philadelphia. I offer my humble words of thanks for your sacrifice, your courage and your service to our country, alongside your sons and daughters, family members. I am so, incredibly sorry for this crushing set of losses, to these heroes, the loss of your sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and so many loved relationships. Over the course of the 20 year war in afghanistan, 2461 u. S. Service members were killed, including 93 for my own home from my own home state of pennsylvania. I have had the privilege over the years to meet many goldstar families, and i am continually in all of your courage, strength in awe of your courage, strength and devotion. Your devotion to our country. I am in all of your strength. What happened at abby gate was devastating, obviously you, but to our country as well. I think you know that. In your own grief, and your own pain that is unimaginable, know that our country lost, and a crushing way, alongside each of you, even as we cannot fully comprehend the heartbreak that you have suffered and will continue to suffer, i humbly thank and acknowledge those men and women who served in afghanistan over the course of 20 years. The weight of these deployments. Those Service Members were wounded and many others suffer from the often invisible wounds of war, including ptsd. Marine corps sergeant, what an honor it is to be with you, yet again. Thank you for coming before this committee and explaining so much to us because we have an obligation to learn what happened to your family members from the Service Members that were there. Thank you for your service to us, this congress, and obviously, much more importantly, to our country. You know that your family Members Service was not in vain. To all men and women who served, you prevented another 9 11. It is an extraordinary feat. It involved a tremendous amount of sacrifice and suffering. Your loved ones ensure that more than 100,000 people were evacuated. Even as they themselves did not get to enjoy the same. Marine corps lance david espinoza, nicole d, marine corps Staff SergeantDarren Taylor hoover. Army Staff Sergeant ryan christopher, marine corps Corporal Hunter lopez. Marine corps Lance Corporal riley mccollum, marine corps billion. Marine corps Lance Corporal kareem. Marine corps corporal page. Marine corps sergeant, marine corps corporal sanchez. Marine corps lance quote jan schmidt. Navy petty officer. Their names will not be forgotten. I wanted to be sure that i said their names as well, so that they are forever on the hearts and minds of everyone in this country. We should never forget the sacrifice and service that they offered to this country, at the end of a 20 year war. What a heartbreaking horror. We have forever indebted to yo this war cost us so much, yet we could not continue to send americans to fight a war no longer in the nations vital interest. We could not continue to risk the lives of our young men and women. The end was devastatingly heartbreaking, a tragic terrorist bomb tearing away so many. Civilians, as well as our Service Members, your loved ones. It was necessary to bring this war to a close. We know that it was a series of decisions over multiple administrations that brought this war to an end, a very tragic ending. Secretary austin testified to congress, extending beyond would greatly have imperiled our people and mission. Staying longer than we did would have made it even more dangerous for our people and would not have significantly changed the number of evacuees to get out. It was a series of decisions made and executed. But we are here today to honor you, to learn from you, from your service, your sacrifice and your grievous losses, so that we in congress will only do better, in the future, for those who serve us. May god protect and continue to watch over you, your families and all the troops of the u. S. , and with that, i yield. Thank you for being here today to make this a bipartisan event, as it should be. I just want to thank you for being here. With that, i would like to recognize the chair of the oversight and accountability subcommittee. A veteran himself sacrificed greatly and lost limbs. Thank you, chairman. It is a debt that cannot be repaid. Literally, nothing. Nothing can repay it. Their names have been said. I will say their names again, because it is the only way that our falling live on. It is the only way, that we remember them. We remember their smiles, remember the ways that we could get under their skin, the ways that we can make them happy, the things that bugged them. That is how people live on is by remembering their stories, remembering what they did, what made them great, what they wanted the world to know and how they wanted the world to be better, and how they participated in that. Marine Sergeant Nicole killed in action august 26, 2021. Marine Staff SergeantDarren Taylor hoover on the killed in action august 26, 2021. Army Staff SergeantRyan Christian, killed in action august 26, 2021. Marine Corporal Hunter lopez, killed in action and august 26, 2021, Lance Corporal dylan, killed in action. August 26, 2021. Lance corporal kareem, killed in action. Marine corporal, killed in action, august 26, 2021. Corporal sanchez, killed in action, august 26, 2021. Marine Lance CorporalJared Schmitz. Killed in action august 26, 2021. Marine Lance Corporal david l espinoza, killed in action august 26, 2021. Marine Sergeant Rosario pichardo, killed in action august 26, 2021. Navy corpsman killed in action august 26, 2021. Not easy to say the names of those that you remember. Sometimes, a song, a smell or a restaurant to make us think of those that we lost. It is important to say their names. Our president will not say their names. He has not said their names out loud. People continue to do so, so that we never forget the sacrifices that were made, that can never be repaid. Thank you for convening this, convening todays roundtable. I cannot i pray that i never have to try to understand that very visceral, daily heartache of losing a son or a daughter. I have four children. I know the anger, the hatred of losing brothers. I think about it, i can recite their names and dates that they were killed. And i remember the moments that took them, whether it was sniper fire or a trip wire attached to an ied or the spray of an ak47. I lived through it in my own mind, and my own memories. I know what they were staying in their final moments. They were the most capable operators. They were deliberate and every action that they were taking, just like your sons and daughters. They would do anything for our country. They took pride in it. I also know that when one of ours fell, we would scrutinize every detail of what took place. How they fell, how do we do it better next mission . How do we adjust our tactics . What did we miss . Was it just some kind of bad luck of war . August 26, 2021 was not bad luck of war that took your sons and daughters. It was indifference by joe biden. He did something that i never experienced during my time in combat. He sought to execute a political operation to win political points, instead of a military operation to win a fight. That is why he chose september 11 as the withdrawal date. That is why he sent our soldiers home and the diplomats home, left the diplomats in place, only to have to bring back your sons and daughters and thousands more because of his foolishness. I did not say that he planned the military operation because we know for a fact that there was a failing to apply any common sense to any level of planning that took place. They operated on a mentality that counts on the best possible circumstances, not calculating for the worst Case Scenario at all. Anyone who has spent a day in the military knows that is not how we operate. He refused to acknowledge the warnings given by his own people on the ground. Many warned about what was happening. He did not read it and to my knowledge, he has not been a to has not read it to this day. He used our military as ponds for politics. Pawns for politics. He dishonored their duty to america. He decided when he did that, that they were as expendable as the equipment that he left behind. I have spoken to many of you prior. I know what you have expressed to me, that you hope for. That something be learned, that their friends that are still in uniform not suffer the same fate because of foolishness, because of an unwillingness to reflect on how to do things better or what went wrong. We will make sure. We will make sure that foolishness never happens again, that your sons and daughters are remembered. That what they fought for is what this country will always be. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, brian. That was very powerful. Before i turn to the families, i want to read a statement that i just received from general milley. Apparently, the pentagon and state department are watching. He says, we owe goldstar families everything. We owed them transparency and honesty. We owe them accountability. We owe them the truth about what happened to their loved ones. I trust army, navy and marine corps did their best and debriefing those who had loved ones killed at the abbey gate. If there were issues with that, we need to take whatever corrective action is next every. Is necessary. Our hearts go out to those families. He says, this is a personal thing for all of us in uniform. We do not like what happened in afghanistan. We do not like the outcome of afghanistan. We ask the families to take care we owe it to the families to take care of them. And he says, we owe them because their sacrifices were not in vain. For our soldiers, airmen, officers, anyone who served in afghanistan, the cost of blood was high, but every single one of us who served in afghanistan should hold our heads high. Each served with skill, dedication and honor. For two decades, our nation was not attacked by afghanistan, and that was our mission. Each one can be rightly proud of their service. General milley. I think the general for that comment and i know he cares deeply, but now we want to turn to the families to hear your stories about what happened to your children. And we will go in alphabetical order, and we will start with the family of nicole and ms. Christie will give remarks. Thank you. My name is christy and i am Sergeant Nicoles motherinlaw. Her mother becky is sitting with her in heaven, where she would be here today, to tell you about her daughter. Nicole was a proud, female marine. She and countless others like her put on a uniform to protect and defend our freedom. They gave up their own freedom to ensure a more freedom filled life for the rest of us and our allies. Nicole and the other heroes who have actuated over 120,000 allies did not have any part in starting this more, but they gave their very last breath to see it to the end. Nicole spoke about how proud she was to be rescuing vulnerable and careful people. I remember her telling me. These mothers are throwing their babies of her razor wire because they know we will keep them alive. Those men and women in uniform love their job and carried out this evacuation in the worst of circumstances. Those victories belong to the troops. There were failures, and i can count half a dozen opportunities to stop this tragic ending. Systems we have in place were ignored. Our Armed Services request prayer support, multiple military personnel saying, this is not a good idea, our snipers asking for permission to engage, every one of them ignored. These are red flags. Why were they ignored . Please help us answer those questions, so we can create positive change. The u. S. Will again be called on to evacuate and rescue vulnerable groups of people. Please help us make positive changes so that we do not have to watch another parent walked through the hell that we are walking through. I like to always tell a story about nicole. It makes me feel better, so i will end with a story about her. She was a powerhouse. She was in the best shape that i have ever seen a 51 female bn. My youngest son was about six years old at the time and after we hiked in about 2 miles, he was voicing his discomfort and hiking back, so nicole carefully gave him a piggyback, 2 miles, leading the group, always encouraging us to keep going and stay hydrated. She was always encouraging and i would like to encourage you guys to help us finish this to make sure another family does not have to join us. Thank you for your time, and i look forward to when we can accomplish together. Thank you. [applause] thank you, christy. I know that nicole would be so proud. Next we have the family of lauren hoover. Of taylor hoover. First of all, i would like to thank general mccall, thank you for being here and the rest of this committee. We want answers and we need answers. We expect those answers. I am calling on you, please, please, do not let this fall through the cracks. You havent thus far and have made us proud. Please continue it. I am not going to talk a lot but i am going to be a little bit. Breathe a little bit of fire. I want to know why this Current Administration isnt able to take responsibility for their action in the days, the weeks and months leading up to this fateful day. Not a single thing was set in stone since the date was pushed back. If this timetable had been pushed back a couple of months, why was evacuation so truncated . And on a specific timeline . On or about august 18, general milley stated this, there was nothing that i or anyone else saw that indicated the pullout of the afghan army or this government in 11 days. How is that not possible . Secretary austin stated, we will evacuate all americans that we can, at least until the clock runs out. Where our capabilities are overextended. What in the world does that mean . What does that mean . Well before the clock runs out. Were there not contingency plans upon contingency plans, upon contingency plans executed, made ready, in case one plan fell through and another one had to be put into place . Chairman mccall said, failure to plan is planning to fail. Special operators from they were there at the time needing leading up to that fateful day. They tell the story a little bit differently. There was a plan put in place before the Previous Administration had left. It was not planned by students by suits, but it was planned by boots. And they were training for, training for and training for it. They had it down. They had the contingency plans set in place. This administration walks in and blows it to kingdom come. Ignorance . To me, it is, complete ignorance. 11 days. That is how long it took for kabul to fall. The country, the government. The airbase was abandoned under orders of this administration on july 1. Several weeks prior to the date our kids were taken from us, not 11 days. In several weeks, leading up to that. Our citizens and our allies, including the interpreters who were there with our men and women in uniform. I ask the question did the right hand know what the left hand was doing . It did not seem like it. Was it the department of defense or was it the students in the the suits in the administration . Was general miller not doing the debating . Doing the bidding of the dod, the state department, or the administration . Again, why are they not being listened to . They were living and breathing the chaos that was on the ground. Every single day. Why did we, the u. S. Military have to tell a tell event to ask the taliban to take out that cell . They were our enemy. Isis was our enemy. We spent 20 years fighting. Why was it denied a drone strike . A Precision Drone strike to take those individuals out . We bombed a family, we bombed strike a family afterwards and took out a family. Youre telling me we could not precision drop on those isisk members . This is all actionable intel that we sat on but nothing was done. Why . Why . How is that going to change in the future . Was it done on purpose . I do not know. I want that answered as well. Intel had been tracking the individual, the bomber. What he looked like, what he was wearing, down to the computer bag, the black computer laptop bag with writing on it. Did that not standout . And we cannot do anything about it . Our snipers cannot do anything about it when they see him . Are we more worried about upsetting the taliban . Why . Then we move to two weeks ago. We have biden shouting in a press conference, namely one objective that we set out to accomplish that we failed on. Name me one. And all of our history, not one. I say to you, mr. President , you have 13 pictures that we have all named. You have 13 that you did not accomplish. I know he cannot name one of them without a card sitting in front of him or a teleprompter in front of him. I say to him resign. Secretary blinken, secretary lloyd, general milley, you need to resign. We have not gotten every piece of information. It is being withheld. Now i move to the lt. Colonel. You cannot possibly think that you have any respect from those you command, any longer with the actions he failed to take or the actions that you dictate. Captain boll is a disgrace to the uniform. He stayed in his hotel while his guys were out on the line and when he did show up, chaos ensued even more. They should have been spread out instead of clustered together. That is when echo company came out to relieve ghost company. They had to fight to regain some semblance of order. After doing this for several days, they started to notice that when the black shirts came out, they had to behave, but with the green shout when the green shirts came out, they could create chaos again. In closing, i want general milleys stars. I want major balls clusters. I want them in my hand, now. You can no longer lead. None of you have the respect of your men and women anymore. Do what is white right. It is past time. Today is the date, two years ago that we received our kids home at dover. Two years ago today. We were disrespected with stories of bidens son and him looking at his watch. And today, here we sit, as their families, begging you, two years later. Finally his answers. Our veterans deserve it. This cannot continue to happen because of the failures. Thank you. [applause] thank you. Kelly, did you have any remarks . Let me say that general milley, i talked to him recently and the pentagon has said that they will fully cooperate with this investigation. Thank you to fox news for reporting the statement that was recently transmitted to me. I hope that they will keep that promise. It would be nice to hear from secretary blinken as well to provide full cooperation to this committee to get to the bottom of the questions to the answers that you deserve. Thank you. Kelly . From the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting us have a voice and going on this journey with us. I am taylors mom. Kelly, you are quiet. Can you pull a little closer . Thank you. Sorry. I am Staff Sergeant taylors mom. An amazing creature. I am angry today. This was an orchestrated nightmare. That is what i see. The withdrawal from afghanistan, chaotic nightmare, purposely orchestrated. The only question that i have is why was the taliban entrusted with my sons security . As you know, he served twice before in afghanistan, 2011. He thought these people. He fought these people. We fought these people for 20 years and we are supposed to rely on them for securing our men and women . Improper venting. Vetting. There was no vetting coming through the checkpoint. Hundreds of people came through without being searched. Who knows but came into our country or other countries. The taliban let the bomber through. The night of august 25, 2021, i received my first last gift from my last text from my son. He said, i love you. It was his last scheduled rotation of aggregate. Of abby gate. The gate was supposed to be closed. We were taunted. The taliban were in the crowd with the innocent. They recognize them because they saw them on the tower, earlier today. They were telling them that they would kill them, all night long before disappearing into the shadows. The morning of august 26, 2021, on the bus from the gym, where they were sleeping, to navigate, to abby gate, a chaplain jumped on the bus with them and said, we need protection. They knew a bomber was in the crowd. These brave men and women did their jobs and they knew that there was imminent danger. I do not want to hear lies. I do not want to hear excuses from joe biden, from the administration. I do not want to hear excuses. They knew this was going to happen or it was part of their plan. They were too busy shaking hands with the taliban, cleaning up, making sure we left it nice and tidy for the taliban to worry about giving our snipers the ok to make it all ok. I want justice. I know the justice that i crave will never be had this life. I want them to stand on that wall. Ill even throw in the state department to back them up, to see how they fare. I will settle. For leavenworth. I pray for the families of the marines this last weekend, who lost their lives. I pray that they are shown the honor and respect that they deserve. I pray for the families around this table that i have grown to love respect and honor. The veterans in this crowd that i love, honor and respect. I pray for the families who are not here today. I pray for my peace and my comfort, for the strength to continue this fight, my son and until my last breath, i will fight. Make me believe. Thank yo thank you. [applause] thank you for that powerful testimony. Next we have the family of army Staff Sergeant ryan, represented by paul. Good morning to the families around this table. I have grown to love them. It took me a while, since we are the only army and they are all marines, but i came around. Congressional members, you are making a difference. Every time you hear a voice, you are hearing the voice of thousands and thousands of veterans across this nation, who are hurt by what has not been justice. I tell the world that they are watching, and the nation, our nation, the s. We will not rest the United States we will not rest until we see justice. You have our word. My name is paula. I am the mother of two grown boys. One, my oldest, tyler and my youngest, who chose to be army Staff SergeantRyan Christian. I am very proud of those boys. In particular for ryan, ryan was a real comedian, honestly. He had a smile on his face all the time. He could light up a room. Ryan was also quite smart. It takes a smart man to want to be in the military because you have to be not just boots on the ground, but you have to use your head and be quick and sharp. He was a great influencer. He always wanted to be cool, growing up, but when i mentioned that to his brothers in arms yesterday, they looked at me and said, ryan was cool. We always wanted to be like ryan, which is quite comical he reached his goals in that also. He studied many great men and women over the years of his studies. What he was trying to do was to be the best leader he could be and whatever he was going to do in life. I really believe that ryan found the answer for that. Serving with the u. S. Armed forces. In particular with the army 82nd airborne and with the Army Special Operations unit that he finished his service with. After serving his first tour in afghanistan for nine months as a new recruit for the 82nd, ryan came back a little bit different. Not only had he been gone for months as a new recruit, but he had seen things, things that he might not talk about for years to come, and he did not talk about them, initially. Then he became assigned to special operations night ninth battalion and ryan said he was in his element because he was using his brawn with his brain. We were so proud of him. He volunteered for that second tour, to go back to afghanistan. Did you know that . He did not have to go. I begged him not to go, as his mom. I said, ryan, stay. Getting ready to get married and i want you to be there. He said, i trained so hard. Im ready to deploy at any time. As i said, son, be careful. Come back home. So off he went to volunteer for the second deployment for afghanistan for the noncompetitive evacuation operations in kabul, afghanistan in august of 2021. They only sent 12 of the special operations men and women. I guess they needed to help all those marines. [laughter] but unfortunately, we lost our handsome 23yearold son, along with many 20yearolds that sit at this table. Taylor was the oldest. At 31. Ryan had numerous words. Awards and decorations. He was a gogetter. In fact, there are so many before he passed that he just shrugged his shoulders and said, i got another one. Here it is. He was a gogetter, but he was also humble. After his death, he got numerous awards, but i will tell you this. I would trade every medal, every award, to have my son back. He would go again if he knew the danger. Because that is what a good soldier faces death, and they are willing to do that for our country. But it was not necessary to have lost him. We should not have lost ryan or any of these kids. We call them kids because you know why . We just let them go. They just got out of high school. They were young men and women, and we watched them grow like that. We should not have lost any of them. We should not have lost or had to go back for any u. S. Citizens either. We shouldnt have had somebody so many afghan refugees clambering onto our plane, by the wheels or any other way, or throwing their babies across the fence. That is not the way the military strategies are. There had to be something that was causing the chaos. Our men and women on the ground have order. Ryan trained and was ready. What he was not ready for was the politics that came with it. There are three things that i would like to say today that i would love to change. Number one, President Biden and his executive cabinet must accept responsibility publicly for the chaotic withdrawal at the end of the 20 year war. Several president s preceded mr. Biden in this 20 year war, but none of them are held accountable for the withdrawal. The second thing that we request is the question now bears on the executive and congressional branches how policies will be changed. No mother or father needs to set sit at this table again and tell you that he failed in some way. Somebody did. Now lets find out who those people are and let them be held publicly accountable. And the third thing is as we get ready for a new administration, my question to the gop candidates will come as the following how do you plan to protect americas borders . And their interests . Domestically and abroad. Do you plan to control the borders again . Not allowing just anyone to pass through them . Finally, another question for the new gop candidates coming. How will you hold your Current Administration accountable for the many evoting decisions that have caused chaos to its own citizens, in the eyes of the world . We must keepwe must keep our status as a power in the world. I want to thank each one of you who came today and on behalf of army Staff SergeantRyan Christian knauss family, we thank you so much for allowing us to be here today. [applause] thank you, paula, for your moral courage. Next we have the family of hunter lopez, represented by alicia and herman lopez. Good afternoon, chairman mccall, and everyone thats gathered here today. The days leading up to this meeting were preceded by some of the most difficult and dreaded days of my life that i faced. The days leading up to august 26 are full of apprehension, fear and guilt. The days after august 26 are full of memories of what we were doing two years ago. The visits, phone calls, Text Messages of condolences, the feverish planning of a trip to dover, the constant state of shock and disbelief. The only thing that keeps you going is the thought that if only get myself and my family through this, everything will be ok. And hunter will be waiting for us at the completion of this mission. Over the last several days i was rereading the Text Messages i exchanged with hunter two years ago. I read how hunter explained the desire to get the kabul to help his fellow marines and help in the evacuation efforts. In those Text Messages, hunter shared with me the things that he witnessed, things that weve mentioned here today. Infants being thrown over walls and fences. The disregard of human life. Especially toward women and children. The lack of food, the lack of water, the sharing of their food and water that they had with those they were trying to help. He told me of the struggles they were having with having the proper equipment, having to hotwire vehicles just to get from one point in the airport to another. No matter what, they stayed strong and they pushed forward the mission, as has been said today, they took on the planning that others lacked to do. One of the things that hunter mentioned that he found the most disturbing was having to work side by side with the taliban and take direction from them or have things run by them first. Hunter had never been in a combat mission, but we all knew that the taliban was our enemy. This is something that was foreign to hunter and to all his marines. Reading these messages always makes me proud of the work he was doing. However, the more time that passes, and the more information that is revealed about about the poor planning and onthefly adjustments, the accommodations given to some at the added risk of our sons and daughters, its not only a feeling of anger and disappointment that overwhelms me. As our country learns of the intelligence that was known and how it was disregarded by some, how care was given to the taliban over the protection of u. S. Citizens and the Service Members on the ground, and more critically, how this could have been dealt with on a number of occasions is unforgivable. To add insult to injury, we find ourselves here in the Nations Capital to fight for answers. Answers that you would think would come naturally to gold star families. Not only those of us present, but to all of those that came before us. You would assume that this information would come knowing that our lives, our families have been changed forever. We find ourselves reading sanitized letters from the white house on this anniversary of this tragic day, letters seemingly authored to please to appease gold star families with an overall tone of indifference to not only gold star families but to all the , veterans who fought in afghanistan. And to all who were injured during these two decades of war. A letter two years in the making, but a followup to silence in the two years since the bombing. In sharp contrast, we have our communities that have provided heartfelt vigils to honor the lives and service of our loved ones. They have supported us and recognized our lifechanging event, something not done at the highest levels of our government. To our community and friends and family, were eternally grateful. In closing, the process of getting to the complete truth has begun but needs to continue. It needs to continue without divisiveness, without challenge. Two secretary of defense often, i recall meeting you in dover two years ago. During that meeting you told my family and i that if we ever needed anything, to call on you and you would help us out. Well, im calling on you today. Im calling on you today to release the complete investigation of the withdrawal from afghanistan and the complete account of actions and inactions leading up to this attack on august 26, 2021. Information that will not only. Save the lives of our current and listed military personnel but will protect our country. It is owed to these families. It is owed to our country. General milley, we were obviously not expecting this note that we received at the beginning of this meeting, but in his note, general milley mentions that he apologizes for any lack of information provided during these briefings that we all had in our homes. The issue is not the briefing, the issue is not the lack of information during those briefings. It is the disregard of intelligence. It is the disregard of planning. Thats what you should be apologizing for. Chairman mccaul, many others, we thank you for your efforts, well continue to be here and stand with you to get to the truth and we thank you. [applause] mr. Mccaul thank you, herman. We stand with you. Alicia . My speech is going to be short. Weve had several families already speak and in case the administration is watching, i would love to be able to mention all the Service Members that passed in the war in afghanistan, however, that list is long. But i will mention the 13 that are pictured here. Marine corps Staff Sergeant darin t. Hoover, 31 years old, of salt lake city, utah. Marine corps Sergeant Johanny Rosario pichardo, 25, of lawrence, massachusets. Marine corps Sergeant Nicole l. Gee, 23, of sacramento, california. Marine corps Corporal Hunter lopez, 22, of indio, california. Marine corps Corporal Daegan w. Page, 23, of omaha, nebraska. Marine corps Corporal Humberto a. Sanchez, 22 of logansport, indiana. Marine corps corporal excuse me, marine corps Lance Corporal david l. Espinoza, 20 years, of rio bravo, texas. Marine corps Lance Corpral jared m. Schmitz, 20, of st. Charles, missouri. Marine corps Lance Corporal rylee j. Mccollum, 20 years, of jackson, wyoming. Marine corps Lance Corporal dylan r. Merola, 20 years, of rancho cucamonga, california. Marine corps Lance Corporal kareem m. Nikoui, 20, of norco, california. Navy hospital corpsman, maxton w. Soviak, 22, of berlin heights, ohio. Army Staff Sergeant, ryan c. Knauss, 23, of corryton, tennessee. Please remember all their names. [applause] mr. Mccaul thank you, alicia. We will remember them and well never forget. Next we have the family of Lance Corporal dylan merola. Represented by cheryl rex. Ms. Rex good afternoon, im the mother of Lance Corporal dylan merola. Thank you chairman mccaul and everyone present today who have taken the time to meet with us. Im here today to discuss the failures that were allowed to happen by joe biden and his administration. Knowing the truth that has been revealed over time, the missed opportunities that were made at abbey gate which ultimately allowed the deaths of our 13 Service Members, including my son. This administration has not only failed us as americans to provide truth and facts, but also have shown true evil as to lie and cover up their failures. This administration has been far from successful in anything it has or is currently doing. Those who seek to destroy are destroyed within are the true enemies. Those who choose to believe divide is to conquer need to remember, as the United States of america, united we stand. Once you start a lie, that lie is covered by another lie which ultimately turns into so many lies that you cant find your way out of the first lie that you told. The plan to withdraw that was already set in place, this plan wasnt implemented during the weeks of our american troops leaving afghanistan. Ive never been to afghanistan , but it wouldnt be difficult to understand abandoning Bagram Air Force base that the United States had controlled for over 20 years, having a Trauma Center hospital that could have properly medically treated people in the event they needed to use it. Dylan was on his first deployment to jordan when this withdrawal from afghanistan began. It quickly turned into the evacuation. Of our afghan allies and civilians, when he and his battalion were redirected to this in this process. My son was home 20 years old. Our Service Members as a whole were sent into a condition that was inadequate from the moment that they arrived. They put forth every possible effort to assist in saving as many lives as they possibly could. Not only have our 13 not been recognized for their heroism and sacrifice to our country, our wounded and all those who dedicated their lives to protect others have also not been honored. It is my promise to all those who served that i ensure you, you will not be forgotten. The words written in our pledge of allegiance state, one nation, under god, indivisible with justice for all. One nation, we are united as one, under god, a nation that is protected and persevered by the almighty god will be indivisible to all earthly powers. Justice for all. Justice means the commission of a crime, arrest by Law Enforcement, prosecution of a case in the trial court, detention by correction agencies. My son did not die because of your ethnicity, your religion, your political views, your left, your right, whatever you want to make your statement on. My son gave his life for what he believed in. He believed in the quality of life. He believed in love, respect, honor for all who came into his life. Saving lives means putting others before yourself. Division. Some cause division and some create unity, unity. You and i together, it took a group, not just one. It will always take a whole to gain. I will continue my efforts for justice. I feel this is the only way the required action would prevent one from believing that they can misuse their power, is to be held accountable for their actions. Some of these actions can also be easily spoken when those will tell their truths. I end this the same way i did san diego. Behind every heart is a hero. Behind every hero is their story. Behind every story reveals what they have endured for you, for me and for all mankind. Please continue to stand with me, myself and my family, and the families of our 13 as we seek our answers to our questions on the failures that occurred on august 26, 2021. Thank you. [applause] mr. Mccaul thank you, cheryl. Next we have the family of Lance Corporal kareem nikoui. Steve, his father is here. And steve, i want to thank you for your prayer before because we all need prayers right now. And healing is so important. Thank you. Mr. Nikoui thank you. Ill segue into that too. And give honor and thanks to our lord and savior, jesus christ, right now, in the capitol of the greatest country of the whole world, of the whole galaxy of all the galaxies. On september 13, 2021, the house on Foreign AffairsCommittee Held a hearing with the secretary of state, anthony blinken, and on september 29, 2021, another hearing. This time with general milley, general mackenzie and secretary of defense austin, which was not even a month after the attack that killed my son and 12 other Service Members. I never saw either of those hearings because in between both of them i was burying kareem. I watched him last week after id watched the hearings from this year on july 27, in which the colonel testified. And colonel Sergeant Major smith testified. Watching these in the order that i did gave me a great perspective. Not even a month after these attacks happened to our kids, the propaganda and the coverup were set in motion by these two first hearings in which two fourstar generals, secretary of defense and secretary of state testified. This was done because of the outrage by the American People on how the withdrawal was conducted, how america is portrayed around the world, because of this withdrawal. And how our allies and our adversaries viewed us sorry. Viewed us after this catastrophe. America was mad and we wanted answers. What was the mission . What was the objective . Why didnt we do the withdrawal from Bagram Airbase . Secretary of defense lloyd austin answered both of these questions by saying, bagram would take 5,000 people to operate. And will put them in harms way. Well, we now know from colonel Sergeant Major smiths testimony is that Bagram Airbase would take 2,000 people to operate. Secretary of defense wept on to went on to say, quote, and it would have contributed little to the mission that we had been assigned. Which was to protect and defend the embassy, which was some 30 miles away. And that distance from kabul rendered bagram with little value in the evacuation. So stand up bagram, even for counterterrorism purpose, meant staying at war in afghanistan. Something the president made clear he would not do, end quote. He associated the use of Bagram Airbase as a segue to staying in the war in afghanistan. Colonel Sergeant Major said bagram is exponentially greater than that of hkia. It was a shared air field. It wasnt completely controlled by the military. It has a significant weak point in its security. Bagram on the other hand had a completely secured air field that would require a massive military presence in order to breach. General mackenzie went on to say, quote, the bagram operation or the bagram option went away when we were ordered to reduce our presence to 650 personnel in kabul, end quote. All of them recommended leaving a minimum of 2500 troops in afghanistan. In fact, Congress Passed a law during the Previous Administration that troop level would not fall below 2500. When the country saw the images of people falling off planes and the chaos ensuing in kabul, they started to ask questions. Well, why werent there enough troops over there to handle this catastrophe . The president went on stephanopoulos early in august because the taliban were videoing from our embassy and had taken over 80 of the country at this time and was asked the same question. He lied and said, none of my generals ever told me that i should keep 2500 troops. General mackenzie stated that he was in the room, as well as with general milley and secretary of defense austin when they gave the president of the United States their recommendations and gaslit the president s course of action by saying, well, we can only give the recommendations, but its up to the president to take those recommendations. I also thought it was the responsibility of generals to threaten to resign as a last measure of persuasion. They didnt do that. But they did do an excellent job of convincing the American People that the only way that we could have prevented the loss of 13 Service Members was to have extended our stay in afghanistan. And that would have caused more deaths than just the 13. But the only reason why we had got to this point was because the Biden Administration had ordered in afghanistan in january, in february, in march, and in april realized that the deadline of may 1 was right around the corner. General milley at this time was conversing with our adversaries, on a media tour promoting himself and giving our secrets and protocols to the authors for their books. The administration had no other option but to try to renegotiate and extend the deadline, which they did to september 11. When they asked general mackenzie if the military was paying off the taliban to go search for people or to do some crowd control, he replied, no. But Tyler Vargas Andrew said he witnessed that happening. When they asked mackenzie, did your guys have any opportunity to kill the suicide bomber before august 26, he stated, no. We now know that they were tracking him for up to 30 days before the incident and even asked the taliban to go where he was staying at and raid it, which they didnt. Upon the moment of attack, Tyler Andrews stated that he had watched the bomber from way back at the beginning of the line early in the morning, which had taken hours before he had reached his authorization point and continually asked for engagement authority, which he never got. Five days prior, they had made a recommendation to that dispersion and it was put up for 300 meters, to protect them. Some leader on the ground the morning of the 26th had that dispersion collapsed. A total of three times we had the opportunity to take out this threat and we didnt. And tyler, a hero of ours, living the rest of his life knowing that he had the opportunity in his sight to take out the man that could that took away one arm and one leg, because he couldnt get the authority of engagement from his whitehead. Commander, colonel whitehead. I dont know a better test of character. Thank you for your service. Were there gunshots firing at our military . We all got letters, questions and answers from the marines, telling us that if me members that if any Service Members say they heard gunshots or seen gunshots that they were disoriented from the blast. And were confused. On what they had perceived. But tyler vargas said that Christian Sanchez was shot through the shoulder and returned fire and killed that isis attacker. He said that david trailer was also attacked and i personally have talked to many of the marines that were on the ground there that day and they all say that they were being fired upon. We taught our children to honor the title, not the man. And we ask that this country, that this administration does the same. These kids need to be honored at the white house in the rose garden by this administration because denying their service and sacrifice doesnt lessen or waive the mistakes made, but it divides us and weakens us on the world stage. Thank you. [applause] mr. Mccaul thank you, steve. I think these families do deserve to be honored at the white house in the rose garden and the president needs to apologize for what happened and show remorse for the deaths of your children. With that, i want to recognize brian mast who will read a statement of shanna chappelle. Rep. Mast this is the correspondence from the mother of Lance Corporal kareem m. Nikoui killed in action august 26, 2021. My son, kareem, was the most amazing human being you could ever meet. His heart was so beautiful and he was so kind. He loved life so much and he lived it to the fullest. On august 26, 2021, my familys world changed forever. Three marines in dress uniform notified us that my son, marine Lance Corporal kareem m. Nikoui was killed at abbey gate during the chaotic and botched withdrawal from afghanistan. That day still seems like yesterday, and every waking moment is filled with the pain that my son was murdered senselessly and unnecessarily. I want to honor my sons sacrifice by speaking honestly about what happened that day. And what has happened since from a mothers heart. My son, my kareem, was the most amazing human being you could ever meet. His heart was so beautiful and he was so kind. He loved life so much, he lived it to the fullest. He loved our country and wanted to make a difference. He knew this was his calling since he was a child. He lived out his dream and became a United States marine. On august 28, 2021, our family flew to dover to bring kareem home. In a casket. Under this nations great flag. On august 29, 2021, with only four hours of sleep since the day kareem died, i met with the person who holds the position of the socalled commander in chief of the United States military. President biden and his wife walked up to shake my hand. And i declined. I was clear to biden that i didnt care to talk to him. I was there for my son. Then i changed my mind. I wanted him to know kareem. My son. He was just 20. He would never have a chance to get married or have a family. He would have made an amazing daddy. I know this because he was so amazing with his niece and nephew. I wanted to show biden the human being and the hero who lost his life serving next to his fellow marines. Instead, he interrupted me twice to talk about his son, beau, who died from cancer, saying he knew how i felt. He never thanked us for my sons service or told us he was sorry for our losses. On august 9, 2022, three weeks before the oneyear mark for kareems death, my oldest son took his own life while grieving his little brother kareem. He wanted to be with kareem and the pain in his heart was too unbearable. This is called the ripple effect. My heart cannot find comfort or peace because i am grieving for two sons. For two years i have tried to avoid watching the news, hearings, etc. Because every time i do, it feels like im being punched in the heart by this administration. My life will never be the same. I will never be who i was before my son was killed. Im still trying to find out who i am and move forward with my life, and thats something that i struggle with every day because all i feel is pain in my heart. I miss my sons so much. They should still be here. What happened in kabul was preventable, avoidable and never should have happened. When you know youre guilty of doing something wrong, you dont talk about it and if you get caught, you blame someone else. Thats exactly what biden has done for two years. He refuses to say our 13 Fallen Heroes names and blames everyone else for his failures. I want accountability. Will it bring my sons back . No, it will not. But it will bring me some comfort and i know my sons will look down on me and smile and be happy that finally something was done about their lives being lost. Keep in mind, there was a description of the bomber. How come the person who gave the description didnt take the bomber out right then and there . [applause] mr. Mccaul we thank you shannon for that powerful statement. Next id like to recognize the family of Corporal Daegan page, his father. , greg. Mr. Page thank you for allowing me to speak and for the families, for the families of these 13 heroes that we have pictures of behind us, for everybody thats here, for all of our Service Members, all of our veterans, all of our wounded, all of our gold star families. Thank you, all. My name is greg page, im the father of daegan page. Daegan was a corporal in the marine corps and was killed on august 26 at abbey gate. Im going to it talk about my son and what has happened since that day. Im not able to go back beyond that and live in the whatifs. As im sure you can understand, trying to play out all the things that could have kept my son alive is a dark place to go as a gold star parent. Something that has become obvious to me since then is that its become forgotten that my son is more than just a marine. He was a son, a brother, a boyfriend, a grandson, a cousin, an uncle. He was everyones best friend. He was not just a number. So i thought it would be appropriate to start by telling you about my son before his service. Daegan or dae as we called him was always an adventure seeker. Even as a toddler he loved , adrenaline. Not just the normal excitement from going down a slide, he was going further than that. He was always going full speed. This caused a lot of laughter in him and a lot of panic in us. As he got older, he kept his love of adrenaline and adventure. He began playing hockey and skate boarding when he was very young and he dressed the part. Long hair, skater clothes and always going 100 miles per hour. He didnt quit. He had no fear. And was all about adventure, experience and pushing himself. We now have a term for this. We call it living the dae way. He proceeded to carry that attitude the rest of his life. He lived without fear. He didnt worry what people thought of him and he was true to himself. In high school he played defense for the westside hockey team. They won the state championship his senior year. His teammates described him as a team player who pushed everyone to get better and pushed even harder when times were down. We heard this same thing many times throughout his life and through his military career. Whether his boot camp instructors or senior battalion. As weve realized now, daegan always found adventures that included brotherhood, to be a part of something bigger than himself. Whether the marines, hockey, boy scouts or his circle of friends. I say all of this because he wasnt just the marine thats on the news. He was our son. We ate turkey at thanksgiving and watched football, wed go out to dinner and go bowling. He liked to put ranch on everything. He liked to go hunting, sailing and wakeboarding, he loved to hang out with his friends. He loved to golf. He would keep track of the speed of his skateboard. That was by the radar that was by our house. We watched him play hockey and do things that most kids do as they grow up. He was my son. Needless to say, the knock on our door on august 26 turned our world upside down. To this day, i cant describe the emotion that i felt when i saw two marines at our door in the shadows. You know why theyre there when you see that. Its an emotion i hope to never experience again. We were thrown into a world that we never imagined and i cant even begin to explain. After going through that and knowing that those killed and wounded were nothing short of heroes that day, manage how all imagine how all of those families feel when we see an administration, military leadership and politicians First Response be, how can we spin this, how can we limit our damage . Or flat out ignore the events and the requests that come their way. Apathy, including those who dont show up to hear the families speak, is a slap in the face to families like mine. It shows that they dont see the human side of what happened that day. As a father, i often think, is there something i could have done in those 23 years to change this path and change what happened . As i mentioned, its a dark place to go, as you can imagine, and being a father that has thoughts like this and then hearing the leadership that had the ability to make changes say things like, i have no regrets in the way the withdrawal was handled, or i didnt see any chaos from my perch, i continue to see Senior Leaders literally turn their back and walk away from those who are trying to support the families and share the story of the events. Yes, thats really happened due to Service Members speaking about that day publicly. Weve been lied to about what happened that day, as well as to what happened to our children. Weve been lied to about our relationship with the taliban, who by the way, have done moreh. Today i ask this committee to remember, this is not just a group of Service Members that were killed or wounded. They are loved family members and friends who deserve more. Get the truth, hold people accountable and show respect to the affected families. There are a lot of physically and mentally wounded from that day that we owe it to to make it sure the truth is heard and acknowledged. Our family has started the Corporal DaeganPage Foundation to support our Veterans Community and turn a tragedy into good. But all of that starts with our countrys leadership doing the same and recognizing that these are not just numbers, but loved ones. Thank you for your time. I ask for you all to find new ways to grow, make yourself a little uncomfortable in this process and live the dae way. [applause] mr. Mccaul next we have the family of Corporal Humberto sanchez. Represented by coral. Ms. Briseno good afternoon. I am the mother of Corporal Humberto sanchez. First, i want to thank you guys again, the committee for standing up for us and doing what we cannot do. We can be here and testify and we can be here and talk about our kids, but there are things we cant accomplish without you. Thank you very much. And then i want to thank, this is my biggest probably to , taylor. After march, he gave me the courage to be here. I was not planning on doing any of this, but he is a brave man. And humberto was a great man. I want to make them proud. 26 years ago i came to this country to give my little girl a better life. A life that with all my efforts i would not be able to afford. One year later, i gave birth to my handsome boy. I raised those kids to love and respect this country and foremost, to appreciate the opportunity to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. It was never, ever in my plans to lose my kid at the age of 22. Today, three years ago yesterday, we flew to dover with my husband and only my oldest daughter to transfer my son in a flagdraped casket. And 12 of his brothers and sisters. I will never get another hug or be able to tell him i love you. That day, to be honest with you, i was numb. I still cannot believe he was inside the plane. I truly wanted to run to his casket, open it and kiss him. But instead, i have to hold my daughter standing next to me. Her legs were giving out from underneath her as she had just lost her best friend in life. I remember alan and myself were holding her. The pain abby was feeling was unexplainable. Bert protected his sisters. They were very close growing up. He loved her. Im sorry, she lost her little brother and wants him to be alive. And that moment is when i understand that i didnt have another option but to be strong. Even when my pain was probably worse than my daughters, i still have to be a mom for my three kids and my granddaughter, that she was only 1 year old. She was never going to be able to raise that little girl. Somebody needs to step up. I learned how to smile during the day and cry at night when no one was looking. My wounds were healing slowly, just learning to live with the emptiness every day. I tried to live my life until this past march when this hearing started and i listened to tyler testify and something clicked on me. I had stood my ground for over 18 months. I was not going to get involved in anything politically. However, something never felt right in my heart. I am the type of person that likes to listen, not likes to talk and fight. I was being told too many things that didnt match and stories didnt add up. What really happened . Was i even told the truth about my sons death . I wasnt. Something i learned about my son after he got killed, it was that he always stood for the people and he stood to defend the ones getting bullied at school, the ones who cannot defend themselves. He was the great defender. Who was going to defend my kid now . Who was going to go to defend the one serving alongside his side in afghanistan . Bert was gone. I understand he was teaching me a lesson after his passing. I had to finish the work he was doing. He was helping women and children to have a better life. I remember going to the camp in indiana and i see all those kids with sandals and shorts and the weather was going to change really fast. So i went home, i started gathering clothes, shoes in the community, buying it with my own money. I just make sure that those kids have what they need to succeed in life in the United States. This past three years, i have been working and healing my own wounds and to be honest, i really feel selfish because im not the only one hurt and suffering. If we dont demand this administration to tell us the truth, if we dont get out of our comfort zone and overcome my grace to fight for our kids and their battle brothers and sisters, no one is going to do it. Our kids deserve answers. We deserve to know the truth and why the government sent our kids to their deaths. Their futures are now altered forever. Soldiers, sailors and air men and women fighting their own demons inside their heads, feeling guilty for not being able to help their brothers and sisters. We need closure as a parent. We need this administration to apologize for the awful decisions that lead to the death of our kids. Admit the mistakes they made, the name of our kids needs to be read aloud and remembered and never be forgotten. 13 beautiful lives were lost on august 26, 2021. [applause] mr. Mccaul next we have the parents of Jared Schmitz. Mark and jacqueline. Ms. Schmitz thank you, chairman mccaul and other members in attendance today. We really appreciate it. My name is jacqueline. Im the stepmother to marine Lance CorporalJared Schmitz who was killed at the age of 20 on his first deployment to kabul, afghanistan. At the abbey gate bombing on august 26, 2021. Let me share a little bit about jared first. I remember the day i first met jared. A shy 6yearold walked in to greet me with a white stuffed bunny. He never spoke a word that day but when i thanked him, his smile melted my heart and his shy eyes gleamed at me. And its that smile, even in new or uncomfortable situations, that has warmed the hearts of so many people and thats a smile now that we can only dream of. Through the year, jared knew no stranger. He was an easy going kid and embraced friends from all walks of life. He never had any judgment and always found commonality. Growing up he had a stepbrother that was one year younger than him and two little sisters, all of which annoyed him regularly, im sure. It wasnt always peaceful or easy being the oldest in our home but jared knew how to balance the scales of chaos. He did it without complaint and keenly knew just how and when he was needed. Even though the marines was a perfect fit for jareds personality, we challenged him about that reality. You know, this is not the call of duty, this is real life. But jared was persistent and dedicated in his path. Since sophomore year of high school. He always saw the positive in everything and told us that this is exactly what he was meant to do. By this time, jared had a different demeanor. It was as if his confidence took on a new form. Still childlike innocence, but that shy, timid jared was nowhere to be seen. He had found his calling. Before he even turned 18, jared enlisted in the u. S. Marine corps with the parent permission program. But even prior to that, he trained religiously. Runs in the snow, workouts in 100degree temperatures, and when he was done, he always smiled. That infectious smile. Barely an adult, jared could not have been more excited to move on to the next steps of his life. The few, the proud, the marines. In fact, jareds Favorite Song was hero of war and it blasted nonstop for nearly a year before jared was sworn in july 8, 2019. Little did we know, the song would take on a whole new meaning when we got that knock at the door at 2 40 a. M. Jared, a hero that wanted to help people, and he looked to our military to make a difference. A hero that trained countless hours and weeks to be pulled into a messy and unnecessary evacuation. Being called to handle government paperwork and stand guard to keep order as chaos continued to grow at abbey gate. Mark and i have met a few afghan families that jared had personally helped. And that leaves us beyond proud that he changed the lives of so many and died doing exactly what he intended, helping those that couldnt help themselves. But what i still struggle with most is how this was all avoidable and the continued lack of information, help and accountability and justice from the government. I know from recent testimony that the suicide bomber had been identified for days, yet our men were ordered to stand down. I also find it very frustrating that since day one, our family was lied to. We were pitched a wellexecuted defense and evacuation and ultimately spit in our face by referencing the evacuation as an extraordinary success. Is losing 13 of our service men and women successful . Is success ending a 20year war where veterans feel they fought for nothing, they lost their brothers and sisters in arms for nothing . Is success hundreds of other people seriously wounded . As more information has unfolded from frontline military, i now understand why the pentagon sat in my dining room and tried to persuade us of details that at the time made no sense. They touted full medical treatment locations, scheduled timing of shifts and the level of security measures taken with barriers of protection and the reasoning for the chosen abbey gate. Our last call with jared was that he was going on break and then heading out to the air strip. Thats not what happened at all. He never got that break. And was actually pulled to the abbey gate that was supposed to close hours prior. All our family ever wanted was answers. And nothing has ever added up. One piece of information would conflict with another and ultimately, there was never any physical evidence. Ive never been one to follow politics much, but unfortunately when we lost jared, we were thrust into a political situation, and i can see clearly that everyone had their own agenda. All we wanted were answers. We leaned on our local politicians that spoke outwardly on our behalf. But nothing ever came of it. Here we sit two years later, the general public recognizes the sacrifice and unnecessary loss we endured. Yet biden continues to play ignorant to our 13 as it stains his reputation. The military has values much like our christian family. Those of integrity, societal generosity, person of principle, belief in something bigger than yourself, being a leader, being valorous, taking responsibility for your actions. Never forgetting those that were killed and never let rest those that killed them. As a grieving family, i repeat, we just want answers. Why is it that two years later we still dont have any information . In fact, more questions are being raised. Again, im not a political expert, but i only see much beyond this committee, that not both sides of our Political Parties are helping our 13 families. I dont understand what they are trying to protect, why some politicians are so afraid to dig into the abbey gate disaster, why is it so hard to get answers from the president and top military leaders . After all, many of those leaders took the military oath and are missing the values i just mentioned earlier. Especially being responsible for your actions and never let rest those that killed them. Dont you think its time for answers . Jared, david, nicole, taylor, ryan, hunter, rylee, dylan, kareem, johanny, humberto, max and daegan are not just casualties of war. They are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters that were pawns in some agenda and we deserve some information and collaboration from all Political Parties. It may not be easy or on your specific schedule or dockett, but neither was any of this for all of us. Until it was. Our military was created to protect us, but leading up to august 26, 2021, they were not given that opportunity. The deck was stacked against them by agendas and decisions we still dont fully understand and many of our politicians are leaving us to die of absolutely no closure, no information, and no accountability. [applause] mr. Mccaul thank you. Thank you jaclyn. You do deserve the answers, and mark. Mr. Schmitz thank you, chairman mccaul and other members of congress who are respectful enough to be here today. My name is mark schmitz. Im the gold star father of marine Lance CorporalJared Schmitz who was killed in afghanistan on august 26, 2021. I identify as a father, a husband, a pissedoff, fedup American Patriot and now thanks to this administration, a gold star dad. A title no one ever wants to have. From the age of 3, jared has always dreamed of being a marine. Once he made it into his sophomore year of high school, he was heartset on becoming a marine. His next move after graduation. Little did he know or i know that would end up being his final major decision in his life. 2021 rolls around quickly, he says hes getting to come home to see us and his brothers and sisters. Because hes finally getting to go home on his first deployment to jordan. I could see the excitement and nerves in his eyes similar to when he left for boot camp. The unknown could always be a scary thing but the thrill to see the world also drove the excitement. He felt like he was finally getting the chance to make a difference. He felt by becoming a marine he would make that difference a reality. To know jared meant you knew he always looked out for the little guy. He was the type of young man who looked out for everyone. Especially those not capable of looking out for themselves. While in jordan, he trained with his fellow marines as they honed their skills to perfection. He earned the right to shoot and train with a designated marksman so i reminded him of the opportunity that he could be a sniper someday. He says, no, dad, too much math. Little did we know at that time, that a sniper of all people would be the first and biggest asset that we would meet later on, named Tyler Vargas Andrews. Thank you, again, sir, for being here. Jared reached out to me mid august and said they were sending him somewhere, he couldnt talk about. I knew it had to be afghanistan. We followed the news back home about what was going on and knew that had to be the place. Ever since biden decided to ignore all reliable intelligence from his top advisors and close Bagram Air Force base, anyway, in july 1, 2021, which directly and immediately led to the taliban taking back most of afghanistan, that our warriors previous had fought so hard to control. We knew somehow jared and his marine brothers would end up there, having to help clean up this mess that never should have been created in the first place. After landing in afghanistan a few days went by before i heard from him. When he finally had a chance to call, he told me he was at the abbey gate. He said he thought he was going to die there those first couple of days due to the absolute chaos. He said, dad, the look on these peoples faces was that of utter human desperation and theres no way we can save them all. He said he was exhausted and needed to get some rest before going back on the post. He told me they were shifting his post and he would be heading out on the air strip. That never happened. The next day the explosion happened. The next day my son son was gone forever. Fortunately i was able to tell him i love him one last time. Jared would have made a wonderful husband, a father. He wanted to go into Law Enforcement after the marine corps but changed his mind after seeing how our police have been treated the first year of bidens administration. He had mentioned taking over the Family Business someday and that couldnt have made me happier. All these things have been stripped from us now and none of them will happen. He will never have the sun shine on his face again. He will never have the chance to get married, he will never experience the joy of being a father and he would have been one hell of a dad. We will never meet our grandkids. Our family name died that day. Two years has gone by and where are we . To be frank, were knee deep in bullshit is where we are. Everyone who held a key position in the military still has that position or has been promoted. John kirby still sits on his perch which faces the opposite direction from where all the action was. Antony blinken continues to delay key evidence by delaying subpoenas. Not a single general slapped down there stars should have happened two years ago when biden ignored his reliable intelligence. Not a Single Person has been held accountable. Our so called a leader cant seem to even utter their names in public, not even once. Mr. Biden has ran his Political Campaign as of the family man. Well i have got news for you, the curtain has been lifting. Aunt that Campaign Slogan will never work again. We have seen what is going on in your family and even worse, how you have been treating us as goldstar families. There cannot be anything cowardly and disgusting with how you treated us. You are a disgrace to this nation. We have no business having ultimate command in the military. I regret not saying that to your face when i had the opportunity send over. I felt it was more important to bite my tongue but i also had more important things on my mind at the time, like receiving my sons lifeless body stateside. While i stood there on the tarmac watching you check your watch over and over again. All i wanted to do is shout out, time. It is 2 30 time. I have respect to the other grieving families and i bit my tongue once again. As you can probably tell by now, i am done writing my tongue. You stole their lives, futures, dreams and have ripped apart 13 families. You cannot even man up and admit that. You gave us all the title gold star family. You, sir, discredit honor and integrity. Two years later, there is things i find myself thinking about. What was bidens logic for even speaking out a bagram before ever getting a single afghan or american civilian out . This is the peer definition of intentional negligence, just one of many negligent decisions coming from the white house. In addition, leaving behind billions of dollars of military hardware has led to the Biggest International free black market , free market in history. Unfortunately, this will undoubtably lead to more military lives lost in the between what happened here domestically between the last two by five years and all of your policy decisions, i would venture to guess that you have more american blood on your hands, mr. Biden, than any other president in history. I was approached by a cia operative who connected we connected me with more operatives. You choice to you chose to ignore all that. China is certainly enjoying our fortress. I am often asked what accountability looks like. What is most important to me is that the history books are written accurately and honestly. And truthfully. About what happened to our fallen 13, and the truth to be told about those who failed to perform their duties should be identified and held appropriately accountable. Lastly, i have a shortlist of answers i will stop i will not stop fighting for. The bare minimum. I am requesting the chairman of the Foreign AffairsCommittee Subpoena the Inspector Generals Office to review the complaints that were filed. Why those complaints were disregarded and who failed to follow up. I am requesting an investigation on joe biden, Antony Blinken as it regards to the constitution for their involvement in intentionally leaving bagram and all assets, by abating terrorists all while abandoning allies. I am requesting this abu the Surveillance Video footage, any drones were flying that day, as was all st cards sees from cameras warned by our military on the ground that day sd cards seized from cameras worn by our military on the ground that day. How could a thorough investigation possibly even exist when keep menaces to the events were never even interviewed, including not a single afghan or sniper for could have ended it all before it even started. How could it be acceptable that our snipers cannot get immediate and straight answers from the commanding officer. Commanding officer . They had intel that the bomber was in the area. Those on the ground were aware of this and did nothing to prepare our sniper teams. In closing, mr. Biden and secretary if supporting our military is too difficult for you, i suggest you pack your when you surround her double the notion this was during your success, who is tightening a little more each and every day. Thank you. [applause] thank you. As a former u. S. Attorney, i will followup on the requesting have made. I will not stop until we get answers. Let me say thank you to all of the family members. I know hundred. Nothing we do or say here today will bring back your children. We cannot get answers that you deserve, they deserve, and the American People deserve. American history will record the disaster of america of portions. Record this disaster of epic proportions. What was preventing denied . Why was permission denied . Real leadership means we make mistakes, you own them. He returned and said the book stops here. He did not pass the buck. He says the buck stops here. True leaders own it, they take responsibility. There is accountability. What i would like to ask all of you very briefly, well the nation is washing right now, and the pentagon is watching, and the state department, and the president , this administration is walking this right now. What is your message to the president of the United States . We will start with christie. Would like to know why the red flags were ignored . The cable, the separate requests , their support request. Having transparency is really important to me. Derek . For me, i want them all to be grown men like our son was. Im forward come forward, admit those mistakes. Rectify the problem. We owing to our sons and daughters that will come up to the military to know that their leadership has their back. This cannot and should not happen ever again. Thank you. Kelly . Just as my son, i want my president to do the next right thing. I want him to admit what he did, what he ignored. I went to saint their names and i want to to never happen again. I to want accountability from the executive office. I would also like to say that anyone who is running for office right now, sure that they never make the same mistakes as the Current Office has made. Americans expect accountability, honesty, and to be able to trust our leaders to do exactly what theyre told to do by the people. Fez ovi expect from the next administration. Thank you. I think our children, our sons and daughters, have more courage in their little fingers than this mannish own body has been in office. My challenge is, tell the truth, all the truth, to all of us, or get out of the way. Mother to hunter and a current son who is serving in the army. I request accountability. A request for this not to happen again. God forbid, that the planning and plans in place that i received another knock on my door for mistake have already caused. Thank you. Steve . Yeah, i would like all other evacuations of this type to be held from the Defense Department instead of the state department and the white house. I do not think we can change be honest i think if they could do it again, they would do it exact same way. I dont think luis change their train of thought, but i would reiterate that they need to have 13 of these in the rose garden, at the white house, to be honored by this administration, period. I agree. I agree. Acknowledge what happened that day. We have a lot of mentally, physically, looted servicemen and women that need support that we are not getting as we have not acknowledged that day. We need to acknowledge that. Fainter names. They have earned it. Thank you. I think need to be sitting in this seat. They should not lie to us. We deserve to know the truth and not ask for the truth. I want to hear biden saying our kids names. I we say our kids because they were our kids. I always say our kids, because they were our kids. As during mentioned, i would love to see the president man up, admit this was a more political move on his part than it was a military. This is not a game, the cause our kids lives. Change 13 families and its nation of veterans forever. If these are himself and feels he cannot do this job because we have active military and place right now. It scares the crepe out of me it scares the out of me. If you cannot do it, let someone else. Thank you. As i mentioned, i would ask him to accept accountability. Help those other veterans that we are close to that are really struggling or who have already had their lives taken because it would have happened what has happened. We do not need any more of that. He needs to own up and acknowledge exactly what happened. Thank you. I know the nation is watching, the initiation is watching. Another president will hear your voices. I hope he does respond to each of you. Because you deserve it. After everything you have been through over the past two years. With that, i would like to recognize four questions. For questions. I think it is working. Thank you. And so many ways, i have been sitting here thinking about what in gods name i could possibly say to any of you. Your loss is unimaginable. You so generously say you do not want any other parent to go through this same hell. And we are here for that same purpose, i will say that. We want to learn. We want to understand. We want accountability. We want the facts and the truth. It has been pointed out that im a democrat sitting here. Im not alone. Democrats want answers, too. This is a grievous and to a wart that represented so much pain and sacrifice for families. Some of the children and kids, their our kids, too. 20 years old. As old as war. Only 20 years old. Please know in my heart and i know im not alone we know you deserve the truth. It is really at my core, my job, i believe we all deserve the truth. I do not see this as a political game. I see this as life and death. Much more importantly, it is about service to country. But your children did, who they are and were, what they stood for and continue to stand for as we say their names over and over again, is the very best of us. I never served in the military. I am in extraordinary about veterans, of our goldstar families, of those we have lost. Please, please know, you are not alone in your search for the truth. Terry mccall, after our set of hearings, ive spoken with the initiation directly about the truth and the gathering of the facts and making sure there is accountability for what happened , for the chaos is the end of this war. For the withdrawal. That understanding for the very purpose that we never go through it again. Certainly to honor was doing. To honor what you are here doing. I want to reflect to you your losses, your extraordinary losses. In some cases, click. In some cases, two children. What you bring to the table, the strength to make sure we know your children stories. I think was you the said your son has taught you a lesson as you move forward in life. Your children are continuing to teach us all lessened. We honor their service. We are compassionate to you. I say that, not as a democrat, or as a politician or a member of congress but as an american. We honor you. In the little bit of time i have left, with each one of your sons and daughters, you talked about the drive, their absolute commitment to service. The so that america better understand, where does that come from in a young person . Where does that passion for service come from . Would anyone like to tell me about that . I like to come forward on that. We taught ryan to make a difference. From in our old, he did a pushup. We knew he was going to be something. All i can say is, is that ryan fulfilled our familys wishes to finish well and to make a difference. Thank you. Mark . We raised shared with morals and dignity with a faith and belief in god. And you knew the difference between right and wrong. He understood the difference between david and goliath. I guess he always, cured himself as david. But, what other place could you ever take that mentality and live it out to its fullest than in the marine corps but military in general. So that is why he went in that direction. My time has expired, was there anyone else that wanted to speak to the question of service . I raised my son with values and a teach him to love. I think he did it well until the last minute. That is why he was that person. Because he loved and he respected. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. I know you and i can work together, regardless of party labels, to get answers for this family. We will go to mr. Wilson. Thank you. Thank you chairman mccall for your leadership and having this meeting today with such wonderful people. I would like to think the gracious family members here. Im a fellow afghanistan veteran parent myself. My son served for a year in afghanistan as an engineer. I am so grateful for service. We note that the American Allied troops have been successful for successful from given america safe. Your families are always the american heroes of the ongoing mobile war on terrorism. Kelso identify as a veteran myself. 218 brigade during their yearlong deployment in afghanistan. I visited four times to learn of their devotion to their afghan brothers for freedom. Bidens shameful decision ignored military advice. Mr. Mccoy, mr. Smith, you are right. Biden has no letters that he falsely claimed. Bidens political decision is the worst political and military policy decision in american history, putting American Families at risk worldwide. Put this in mind, mr. Mrs. Lopez i to have a son. I am so grateful for his service and what he has meant to our country. What Representative Administration what representative information does your mission have does the emaciation have the you would like to see . The complete investigation. On a more personal note, there is some debate on whether some of Hunters Property was ever recovered. It was mentioned earlier that there are st cards and Digital Media that is perhaps missing from several families. Ive always been curious as to why those items were not returned to us. I definitely understand National Security and the need for intelligence, but once that has been accomplished, those are items that rightfully bunked to each of us. That is one thing. Thank you. To piggyback on that. We were told that none of his property was located or that it was misplaced. Via instagram messages and pictures posted by summaries that were there. We found a picture of all of our kids best laying on the ground, discarded and looked through. We found his kyl patch, months after the marines had returned. A junior marine had collected my sons kyl patch. It was given back to us months after he had been laid to rest. For the military to tell us that there items were discarded or lost i just cant explain how with the nations that comes to be the best, that they failed to collect our childrens belongings. The last of what we have them. It is lost. This should be bipartisan working together for each family. We are happy to all participate. This should be bipartisan. I want to join with you. It is not political from my side. I asked two years ago for mr. Biden and racers to resign. I knew at that time that would be that would mean a democrat recession. Is not political. Sadly, we see is still in office and the consequences are worldwide. Weakness by america. I believe with open southern orders, families are at greater risk today of terrorist attacks then history. The border should be secured. The American People are brisk. Thank you for alerting us. God bless each of you. I yield back. Mark warner me to delay his flight was delayed because of the hurricane in florida but he will be at the dinner this evening. He served in the u. S. Military with a station. Thank you for calling this important roundtable. However to think for doing this a few weeks ago. I think we were most of us moved to tears. You have touched more of our hearts in the most profound way. Thank you for doing this. Words are inadequate to express our condolences. We all feel inadequate to say that because you have suffered so much. The covered up to coverup that has followed for the last two years makes it that much harder for you i am sure to process this. Again, i apologize on behalf of our government, especially the executive branch for eight not being candid with you and for engaging in what i consider to be a gross coverup. I saw the president s statement that he put out on the 26 when he said we will always continue to support them talking about you. Words are cheap in washington. There needs to be an independent, comprehensive, investigation. Ids do a good job, sometimes. Does a good job, most of the time. There needs to be a truly independent investigation into all of the very valid questions you have asked and my colleagues have put forward in regards to our concerns as well. I think they ought to meet with you just like this, a roundtable discussion. No timetable, you have an hour, 45 minutes. As long as it takes for you to convey to them the horror that you have faced and the horror that your loved ones endured. We had a hearing. Sergeant, thank you for that. We were all moved. He had clear line of sight. Could have taken out the perpetrator and yet he could not get permission. Thank you, sergeant, for that. That just shows a breakdown in the chain of command. My final thought would be to all of you, the independent investigation, i think that has to be done. As he done well. Outside people. We cannot turn to the pentagon interest. Need to have honesty, outside people, perhaps even a blueribbon commission. High level people who know 2 know how to ask hard questions. This committee will do it. We are all behind him. We need answers, we need it now. Fortune not happen again, god willing, we need steps for this kind of charade and spin just ends. It has to be the truth and nothing but the truth. I yield back. Gentlemen yields. Recognized. An thank you for being here. Your words and your presence says a lot towards the importance of what the families have to say here. I am a fellow army person. Please understand, in my 20 plus years representing cap angleton, a little bit of the marine has fallen off of me. Unfortunately, im going to show right now, a few good men. We do not join the core because we felt like it. We joined because it was a life decision. We wanted to live by a code. Another quote. We lived by a code, sir. Either we were right, or we were wrong. We do not make deals. One of the challenges we face every day now is that our country has begun making deals. You hear it every day here. One thing i think is important for us all to understand today is that we have to stop making deals. I will ask a question at the end of this quick statement. Cheryl, i want to let you know that i have been honored to present you a flag. That flag was flown over the capital to years to the day on saturday. That was an usual day. It is at the behest of the speaker, the flag was flying at halfmast in honor of all of your family members. That does not happen very often. It is a unique event. It did so because the speaker the importance. Each of you will receive a flag from that day of the capitol. In honor of what happened, we flew at halfmast. Allies been said about what the president did or did not do. I think i will leave that. Im going to ask a question, a question i think all of us will go away with. Her children, your siblings, they died for because they believed him. They died for a code they lived by. Im going to ask this one question that has been bugging me. Two years ago, had the telethon taliban become so strong we could not defeat them, had isis become so strong we could not contain them. Had al qaeda become people we had to compromise and negotiate or had we become so weak we could no longer defeat them . The answers yes. Then there was a reason to leave afghanistan the way we did. We still stand with our allies in europe against a threat from the east. We still stand in the pacific against any aggression there. We still stand at the northsouth korean border with our colleagues and the korean republican army, to prevent the kind of aggression that has occurred in the past. I will ask you, as people who have paid a sacrifice that we can only imagine in horror of losing a child, a loved one. Should we quit standing did we quit standing because we are too weak or the others are too strong or should we continue to stand against aggression and the way your loved ones did and pay the price for it . We stand up for aggression. We have to continue to stand up. We just need to do it better. My family continues to stand. Thank you for their service. To answer your previous question. We are strong with accounts. We have boots on the ground. All of these families signed up. They continue to sign up. There are a lot of young men and women out there who continue to sign up. Unfortunately it looks like we have gone week in the case of some decisionmakers. I concur. I would also like to recant it is a statement i said. There were only six of the sent from the army to help out those marines. So [laughter] it doesnt take but a few good men, paula. [laughter] thank you, all for the answer i knew i would get from the families whose children served and who served. They serve for a reason. They were raised to believe in this country. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. I think the chairman for bringing us all together to commemorate, sadly i cannot believe it has been two years since his tragedy. This terrorist attack at abbey gate. To each of the families here, as a Proud Army Mom of an afghanistan veteran, i want you to know how much i think you for your witness, for your courage, for your strength. You are a blessing to us. You are a blessing to this nation as we hear your stories and we will continue to seek truth and accountability. Truth, answers, and accountability. To the family live just outside the Second District missouri, st. Charles. We have spoken before. He was only 20 years old. As i understand, he had asked your permission at 17 years old to enlist early so he could serve and fulfill that mission that he had grown into our prayers continue to be with you and, your anger, i think, we are all emboldened by that and feel the same anger as you do. We seek answers and accountability here. I would submit to all of you, there was an article put out today, a new account. A reporter writer from the atlantic. His name is mr. Franklin. It details President Biden terrific failure in afghanistan. It confirms in excruciating, painful and heartbreaking detail what we knew from the very beginning. That President Biden committed the United States to a deeply flawed and bad plan. It was obvious from day one that the shameful flight from afghanistan was going to be a disaster. A humanitarian tragedy. In fact, it was. What is amazing about this is that the president refused again and again and again to recognize the reality on the ground and fixes mistakes. Against the advice. The advice of many experts. Complete incompetence and hubris. It was a dishonorable flight from afghanistan, it was a betrayal of our servicemembers. And the brave afghans who lived, worked and fought alongside us, our allies. The Administration Needs to own what they did. Again, and again, we have directed the state department and the strongest possible terms to cooperate with our investigation, i want you to know that. I have been, as all my colleagues have been to the state department s willfully and adequate classified readings. I read i heard them read the overly redacted documents with discussed. They have done their best to hide the incompetence. Know this. This committee will not stand for it. We are not going to stand for this. We will not rest until this Administration Takes her shots ability for its failure. Its failure to see this mission through. To say or childrens names. We will get that accountability. I would just like the chairman to go around the room each time and have you say your childs name in order to the described to the are. And a word or two that describes who they are. Nicole was an encourager loved life. Staff sergeant Gerren Taylor hoover. Fearless leader and great protector. Taylor, taylor hoover. Champion of the people. Lover of humans. Seth Sergeant Ryan christian canel. Brave, influencer. Full of joy. Hunter lopez. United states marine corps corporal. Noble, marine, or your. Hunter lopez. Jedi worrier. Fence corporal marla. Lovable, strong marine. Honorable. Kareem, bornagain christian. Dagan page. Huge heart, tough outer shell. Corporal sanchez. He was a great defender. Lance corporal Jared Schmitz. Passionate warrior, honorable. Jared marcus was humble and dedicated. I thank you, i yield back. Are next speaker is a veteran of the vietnam war. This will not be another vietnam. We will not see helicopters flying on top of the embassy. Yet, that is exactly what we saw. I would submit, it was worse than vietnam. Thank you. I really appreciate having this opportunity for all of you to be here and share your very compelling stories. For whatever is for whatever is worth, paula, my background is in the army as well. I say thats of the marines can adjust to what i will say. [laughter] the most important thing i would like for you to know is that your sons and daughters are really appreciated. This country appreciates you. Even though you have not had the kind of response you wouldve liked to have had from your government. The American People appreciate it. I think he should be very proud. I can say this with integrity, i think he should be very proud. Very proud of the sons and daughters that you raise an end of serving in the military. I had the opportunity to commend them when i was in vietnam. Our gun trucks we ran with convoys. Our job was to protect that convoy. Whenever it was hit, we had to go protect the drivers. Never once, never once did i see one of our members of the gun trucks hesitate. As a kind of courage in the kind of young people that you raised. They did very well with your concern tear. The last thing i would say is, by you being here, by you telling your compelling stories about your families, i think that makes us all stand up and take notice about what we might need to do or do better in future situations. I can tell you this, for those young people that i served with, i can call the ones of us are left today and they would be here as quick as a be here. They were given an award and inducted into the transportation hall of fame because of their courage and the work they did. I take my hat off to them and i take my hat off to all of your families and i want you to be very proud of the kind of young men and women that you raised. And i thank you for being here. That is great. Our final member is a veteran of the United States army. Thank you mr. Chairman. Accountability. Transparency. Transparency. Accountability. Two words i keep hearing from every Single Person here. We sit here two years later with not a sickle person having resigned, having been transparent, having been held accountable. Even know we know there was willful dereliction of duty, you can call it what you would like. Maybe that is a vote of noconfidence, articles of impeachment, whatever. I look at this at thighs level. At the highest level. If you have the right to call yourself the commander in chief or the secretary of defense, secretary of state, and the accountability stops at you. Nice single one has had the honor of standing up and saying, this was on me. I have an issue with that. To answer former ambassador wegners question of a description of your sons and daughters. It is simple. Hero. Had the honor of serving in the United States army as an Army Combat Veteran of the 92nd division where i know that seth sergeant also served. I remember in my time of service , one of the things we should always we would always look at was ensuring that we completed our missions and objectives to the greatest percent possible. I want to be clear on something when i say that. The failures that occurred in this afghan botched withdrawal, had everything to do with the suits and nothing to do with the boots. Our men and women carried out their objectives, purpose with honor, integrity encourage. They do not deserve to have the feeling that all they have fought for was for nothing. To everything that served over those 20 plus years, you are heroes and or servicemen something. When i asked secretary austin about what the definition of dereliction of duty is, he acknowledged my question. When asked him if someone could be removed for dereliction or willful dereliction, he acknowledged it, not realizing i was talking about him. I stand by my articles of impeachment that i put forward against secretary lloyd austin. I do find that whether he found there was credible until or not, whether or not could have been prevented, we all know it could have. Ive seen the intel reports, how detailed they were up to the day. How they were planning the attack. They were readying the attack, entering the city, the attack is eminent. I looked at secretary blinken who actually receive something the woman who was responsible had 16 years plus of time where she had been reviewing these cables. I knew that ambassador waggoner put her on the spot because she knows about these. When we asked her mother not there has been cables that have had 23 diplomats signed it she said never in her career had she seen that. This was political strategies, the reason we have 13 old sir families among us and i want her to be here. Have not been in congress long. Where the things ive pledges that i would get accountability, answers and transparency. I think those dissent cables, those reports should be declassified for the families and American People so we can get one of those two words, transparency. Tyler, you are a hero, im proud to call you my brother and im grateful youre here today. Your testimony is one of the strongest and i was nearly looking like i was cutting onions because you had me cheering up so bad on that one. There should have been clear escalations and rules of engagement so that you should have carried out your job and stop this from happening. Not even during the state of the union did President Biden want to acknowledge her children or the failures. I will not stop fighting, whether it is to change policy so it does not have to come to get them where they need to be to their final resting. Whether it be making sure that those who are responsible hold their hand up and try and be a dignified and honorable individual, to knowledge what happened, so does not happen again. I think chairman mccall, i think my brother, i think justine for being here and acknowledging the sacrifices so we cannot just looked at this from a parson perspective, so we can get accountability for guarantees that we do not see this again. Weatherby and i rock, syria, any other future operations. The successful and victorious battle is the one that we do not get ourselves into to begin with. We have to start prioritizing our nation, our people, our borders, and make that our priority, and not the borders and lives nine thousands 9000 miles away. American lives come first. Thank you so much for everything you did. I yield back. Thank you. In closing, we are behind you. The nation is behind you. We will seek justice. We will hold those accountable. For you, but for most importantly your children. They deserve that. Every veteran who served in afghanistan deserves that. At this time, we will have a flag presentation of a flag over the nights its capital in honor of your child. They were flown on the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks and navigate. Mary never forget them and their sacrifice. I would ask that each family rise and stand beside the photo of your loved one and the members here will represent will present a flag to each of the families. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] delight, madeleine. Madelyn it is so great to be back from a minor absence. Probably only a temporary absence. I am happy to be back with you and excited to speak with david gergen, distinguished political analyst who i grew