Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined a letter led by fellow Senate Armed Services Committee member Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) to President Joe Biden demanding information on the crisis created by his withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan. Specifically, the letter requests answers to specific questions on Americans and allies who were left behind, and on the vetting process for evacuees who are being brought to the United States.
“The signatories of this letter may have differing opinions about whether the United States should have maintained a military presence in Afghanistan, but we all agree that the arbitrary and poorly-planned method by which you withdrew from Afghanistan caused this crisis,” the senators wrote. “We request thorough, unclassified answers to these questions that can be made available to the general public. Americans need to see that the United States will not abandon them to terrorists abroad forever.”
The senators’ questions to President Biden include:
- How many American citizens does the Administration believe to remain in Afghanistan?
- How many green-card holders does the Administration believe to remain in Afghanistan?
- How many Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants remain in Afghanistan?
- Of the more than 57,000 Afghans who are not American citizens, green-card holders, or SIV applicants or their families, how many had no pending immigration application or status with the United States prior to being airlifted?
Senators Cramer and Cotton were joined on the letter by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ben Sasse (R-NE), John Thune (R-SD), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).