Rep. Dan Kildee Says U.S. Has “Obligation” To Do More To Help Afghan Refugees
Rep. Kildee expresses wish for more streamlined asylum and resettlement processes in the U.S. as refugees flee Afghanistan.
Rep. Dan Kildee at the 2019 Mackinac Policy Conference.
Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint Township) says the U.S. should play a larger role in the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan refugees, prioritizing nationals who worked for and supported the United States during its occupation.
“The expectation was that the U.S. was not making progress … the questions the [Biden] administration will have to answer is, how well prepared were we? Was this the inevitable end to a 20-year occupation that was never going to end well?” –Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township
Kildee also discusses his work in Congress with the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill, and the infrastructure changes he hopes to bring home to Michigan.
Listen: Rep. Kildee on President Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, the budget reconciliation bill and infrastructure.
Guest
Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint Township) represents Michigan’s 5th district. He says he supports President Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. “The expectation was that the U.S. was not making progress … the questions the [Biden] administration will have to answer is, how well prepared were we? Was this the inevitable end to a 20-year occupation that was never going to end well?” Kildee says the U.S. needs to strengthen its refugee policy, first focusing on getting Afghan refugees out of harm’s way. “Just like any other process it can be improved … but I think there’s a broader issue with the U.S. and refugees in general. The situation in Syria for instance … The U.S. had an obligation to do more. Other countries seem to do more.”
On the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill, Kildee says, “one of the things we want to put in the reconciliation bill is water infrastructure … for the cost of $20 or $30 million eight years ago … we could’ve avoided about a billion dollars in the cost of failure.” He says many of his congressional colleagues are unwilling to support 21st century infrastructure changes. “It’s troubling that we’re only able to get bipartisan support around conventional infrastructure.”
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