John McCain
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
March 16, 2017
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on March 15 proposed providing another 2,500 visas to Afghans who worked for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, often at the risk of their own lives.
“We simply cannot win this war without the assistance of the Afghan people who put their lives on the line to help American troops and diplomats serving in harm’s way,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (Republican-Arizona), who co-authored the bill with three other senators, said on March 15.
McCain said Congress has failed to provide enough special visas over 15 years of war in Afghanistan, and “because of our failure, the lives of thousands of Afghans are in imminent danger from the Taliban.”
Also sponsoring the bill were Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Jack Reed, and Republican Senator Thom Tillis.
“We have a moral obligation to protect the thousands of Afghans who put themselves and their families at risk to help our soldiers and diplomats,” said Shaheen. “To abandon them now would be a stain on our nation’s honor.”
With reporting by AP