U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-08) today joined a congressional delegation in the White House to brief President Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, National Security Adviser General James Jones and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on what they learned from soldiers, diplomats and President Hamid Karzai during a recent foreign assignment in Afghanistan.

“It was an honor to meet with President Obama and his top advisers in the White House today.  The President fully understands how instability in a desolate and mountainous region on the other side of the world is so intimately tied to security on America’s streets.  The President also appreciates and values the leadership of our men and women on the ground.  They are our most important resource in combating terrorism.  The only way to achieve military or diplomatic victory in Afghanistan and Pakistan is to closely follow the counsel and direction of the soldiers and diplomats who are engaged day to day in central and south Asia.”

Pascrell recently returned from Kabul and other locations in Afghanistan with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and six other House members.  The delegation met with America’s soldiers as well as domestic and foreign military and diplomatic leaders including Afghan President Hamid Karzai.  Corruption in the Afghan police force, the resurgent Taliban, reducing poppy cultivation and drug trafficking and dealing with extremism along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border were among the issues of highest concern expressed to President Karzai by the delegation.

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