Letter to the US Congress Regarding The New Afghan Marshall Plan in
Support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Dear Congressman,
I am writing to you in order to request that you co-sponsor the
legislation outlined below in support of the goals of the advocacy
group Jobs for Afghans
http://jobsforafghans.org. Jobs for Afghans
represents citizens of the United States, many with family members
serving in with the US military in Afghanistan, who are dismayed that
the neglect of economic conditions in Afghanistan now threatens the
hard-won victory by our troops in 2001, with the overthrow of the
Taliban. A 40% unemployment rate is driving young men into the arms
of an insurgency which has never been popular, but which pays wages of
$8 per day to those who join it, to men who often wish only to feed
their families. it is shameful that the most powerful economy in the
world, America's, cannot manage to properly implement a reconstruction
which is but a fraction of the size, in today's dollars, of the bold
and successful Marshall Plan which secured allied gains in Europe
after World War II. It is a shame that, for about one-tenth of the
yearly cost of the US military occupation, such reconstruction and
job-creation would be adequately financed, and the war won in short
order so that our troops can come home.
Please see our complete mission statement at
http://jobsforafghans.org I ask that you co-sponsor the legislation outlined below:
Inserted into SEC. 105a in HR 2446, link at
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/t2GPO/http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h2446rfs.txt.pdf[NEW LANGUAGE IN BOLD]
"(a) In general.—The President shall establish and implement a system
to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of assistance
provided under this title on a program-by-program basis in order to
maximize the long-term sustainable development impact of such
assistance.
1)THIS SYSTEM WILL INCLUDE A MANDATE FOR CONTRACTORS TO HIRE LOCAL
AFGHAN UNSKILLED LABOR WHENEVER POSSIBLE IN ANY PROJECT, AT A MINIMUM
WAGE OF $10 PER DAY. CONTRACTORS WILL BE REQUIRED TO REPORT, FOR EACH
PROJECT, HOW MUCH EMPLOYMENT WAS CREATED IN TERMS OF FULL-TIME
EQUIVALENTS PER DONOR DOLLAR, AND WILL BE REQUIRED TO CERTIFY THAT
LOCAL LABOR WAS USED WHENEVER TECHNOLOGY ALLOWED.
2) CREATION OF AN OVERSIGHT OFFICE IN AFGHANISTAN, POSITIONS BE FILLED
BY NOMINATION BY MEMBERS OF THE AFGHAN STUDY GROUP. THE OFFICE WOULD
HIRE FIVE U.S. DONOR AID EFFECTIVENESS INSPECTORS, REPORTING TO A
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, WHOSE FUNCTIONS
WOULD BE AS FOLLOWS:
A) TO INSURE THAT LARGE NUMBERS OF TEN DOLLAR PER DAY JOBS ARE
CREATED WHICH BUILD AFGHANISTAN'S INFRASTRUCTURE. THE LEVEL OF
INVESTMENT PER YEAR WOULD EQUAL THE AMOUNT REQUIRED TO ADDRESS
AFGHANISTAN'S 40 PERCENT UNEMPLOYMENT LEVEL, THESE UNSKILLED LABOR
JOBS SHALL BE EXCLUSIVELY FOR AFGHAN CITIZENS.
B) TO INSURE A HIGH RATE OF LABOR FOR CAPITAL SUBSTITUTION, WHEREVER
TECHNOLOGICALLY FEASIBLE.
C) TO INSURE THE USE OF LOCAL COMPANIES WHEN POSSIBLE, AND WHERE SKILL
SETS ARE LACKING, TO SET OF CAP OF FOREIGN CONTRACTOR AND
SUBCONTRACTOR PROFITS AND FEES RECYCLING BACK OUT OF THE COUNTRY TO
20%, RATHER THAN THE CURRENT 40%(SEE THE ACBAR REPORT LINKED AT
HTTP://JOBSFORAFGHANS.ORG )
D) TO REPORT PROGRESS ON THE PRIORITIZATION OF THE ELECTRICITY,
WATER, SEWAGE, HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE
E) TO REPORT ON PROGRESS IN EXTENDING THE PIPES OF INFRASTRUCTURE,
AS UNDERSTOOD WITHIN THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TO CONSIST
OF WATER, SEWAGE, ELECTRICITY, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE.
F) TO ORDER, FROM A SPECIAL ACCOUNT TO BE SET UP BY CONGRESS, BASIC
MEDICINES AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO BE SUPPLIED TO AFGHAN HOSPITALS AND
CLINICS FREE. BACK UP POWER GENERATORS SHALL BE ALSO BE SUPPLIED TO
HOSPITALS FREE OF CHARGE.
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Legislative strategy we leave to the sponsoring congressmen. Whether
SEC. 105a in HR 2446 is the best place for language to appear in order
to govern regulations at USAID, the principle donor agency, is the
job of the co-sponsors to decide.
Finally please co-sponsor and the lead to passage an emergency
release of food aid into the Afghanistan, in the amount of $1 billion,
to be passed as a separate measure in order to facilitate and separate
from any debate the congress may require for the more complex
legislation. Afghans are literally starving, which is shameful in a
country which we the United States occupy and for which we bear
responsibility.
Sources of starvation reports:
Drought and Hunger Kill Nine People in Northern Afghanistan (RAWA)
http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/05/25/drought-and-hunger-kill-nine-people-in-northern-afghanistan_8494.html "I sold my daughter to feed the rest of my family" (UN News Office)
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78276Food shortages cause grass eating, displacement
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=77195Food crisis leaves many Afghans desperate May 2008
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24422672/Sept. 2007, Kandahar Province, video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wc6vfqdaRK8Thank you congressman for your attention to this matter. I and Jobs
for Afghans looks forward to working with you in order to speedily
pass all the above legislation, in order to avert the catastrophe of
the US losing a war for which we have had full international support,
in which we still enjoy the support of the population, and which we
had initially decisively won.
Sincerely,
(district constituent representing Jobs for Afghans, other signatories)
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Congressmen now being lobbied to sponsor and lead on this legislation :
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC, representing Camp LeJeune),
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC),
Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC),
Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC),
Rep. John Carter (R-TX, representing Ft. Hood),
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R - CA, representing Nine Palms, 24th MEU),
Rep. Edward Whitfield (R -KY,representing Ft. Campbell),
Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA),
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA),
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM),
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA),
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA),
Sen. Pete Dominici (R-NM,) and
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM),
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ),
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D- NJ),
Sen. Robert Menendez (D- NJ),
Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC)
My Community
Author
