08.18.21

Hoeven Joins Colleagues in Pressing DOD for Accountability of U.S. Military Equipment Abandoned in Afghanistan

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, today joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in urging United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to provide a full account of U.S. military equipment remaining in Afghanistan. The senators expressed concern that the equipment risks potential of falling into the hands of the Taliban.

“It is unconscionable that high-tech military equipment paid for by U.S. taxpayers has fallen into the hands of the Taliban and their terrorist allies. Securing U.S. assets should have been among the top priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense prior to announcing the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the senators wrote.  

In addition to Hoeven and Rubio, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Michael Rounds (R-S.D.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.).   

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