Wednesday, 25 August 2021 (YJC)_ Two members of the US House of Representatives travelled to Afghanistan amid evacuation efforts.
Two members of the US House of Representatives travelled to Afghanistan on Tuesday, prompting a rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said such trips could divert resources from the evacuation of Americans and at-risk Afghans.
Representatives Seth Moulton, a Democrat, and Peter Meijer, a Republican, both of whom served in the Iraq war before running for Congress, said in a statement they went to Kabul to gather information as part of Congress' oversight role.
"America has a moral obligation to our citizens and loyal allies, and we must make sure that obligation is being kept," they said in a statement released after they left Kabul.
After their visit was made public, Pelosi sent a letter to House members that did not mention Moulton or Meijer but cautioned that the Pentagon and State Department had asked lawmakers not to travel to Afghanistan "during this time of danger".
Pelosi, a Democrat, told reporters a large number of House members wanted to go to Afghanistan, but she said in the letter such travel would be unwise.
"Member travel to Afghanistan and the surrounding countries would unnecessarily divert needed resources from the priority mission of safely and expeditiously evacuating America and Afghans at risk from Afghanistan," she said.
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