'A Total Embarassment': Matt Gaetz Rails Against Joe Biden's 'Failed' Policies In Niger

5/7/2024

During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) slammed President Joe Biden over US strategy in Africa and ongoing negotiations with Niger.

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Transcript

00:00 Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to enter into the Congressional Record, Part 2 of the

00:05 interim report that I have prepared for the House of Representatives entitled "Unwelcome

00:10 in Niger."

00:11 Without objection.

00:12 Mr. Speaker, I rise to warn this body of the deteriorating conditions in the African country

00:18 of Niger and to give rise to the concern of service members and contractors.

00:25 More than a thousand of them right now are functionally being held hostage in Niger.

00:31 They are being used as pawns during a negotiation that has left America at the bended knee of

00:40 third world criminals and thugs as our troops seek medicine and fresh water and troop rotations.

00:49 How did we get here with more than 1,100 Americans endangered right now in Niger?

00:55 Well, it started back in March of 2023.

00:59 Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to Niger and proclaimed that it was a model of

01:03 resilience, a platform for great democracy.

01:06 It would be where America would execute its Africa strategy.

01:11 One year later, almost to the day, there was a coup in Niger.

01:15 And guess who overthrew the government that we said was the great model of resilience?

01:20 People we trained.

01:22 We trained the coup leaders to go throw out the democratically elected government of Niger.

01:26 And I know this will surprise you, but after that occurs, they say they want our bases

01:31 that US taxpayers have poured more than a billion dollars into gone.

01:36 They want our service members gone.

01:38 And so I came to this floor after hearing from some of my constituents who were stationed

01:42 in Niger, and after the overthrow of the government, there weren't resupply flights.

01:48 They said, "Congressman, we are going to be out of medicine in May if we don't get this

01:53 sorted out."

01:54 Three days after I filed part one of the report that I am supplementing today, the Biden administration

01:59 announced that we will be leaving Niger.

02:02 A welcome sign, I'm sure, but the leaving didn't actually happen.

02:05 We have people who are now more than 200 days into a 180-day rotation.

02:10 And while the negotiation regarding retrograde and withdrawal are ongoing, the government

02:16 in Niger is using the well-being and health of our service members as leverage to get

02:22 what they want out of our government.

02:24 Our troops aren't getting medicine for malaria, for cholesterol, for their blood pressure,

02:29 chronic conditions.

02:31 And I have received the letters from the wives, from the fathers of the people who are in

02:36 Niger now, and they say, "We know that our family members are being extorted by the local

02:41 governments when they try to leave, hundreds of dollars to even bring a bag through the

02:44 airport.

02:45 We know that Russians are behind the wire."

02:47 You know what a real U.S. president would do?

02:49 Say that C-130s are on their way to Niger today with the water and the medicine and

02:54 the food our troops need, that they will have a full fighter pilot escort there.

02:59 And if the Nigerian government or any other third world thug tries to even turn on their

03:04 air defense systems, we should show those leaders and those thugs what the target package

03:08 looks like on their houses and their family members, because it should not be Americans

03:14 that are suffering because President Biden and Blinken are so embarrassed that their

03:19 strategy in Africa failed, that they're willing to let Americans' conditions deteriorate.

03:25 They're willing to let our military spouses and family members wonder what's going to

03:30 happen to their loved ones with their blood pressure rising and no blood pressure medication,

03:35 or concerned what will happen now that we're in May and there's not sufficient malaria

03:38 medication.

03:40 We should always keep our people's well-being at the forefront of our minds.

03:46 And today, today we should be resupplying our troops in Niger, Africa, and we should

03:52 dare these thugs and criminals to mess with us while we're doing that.

03:56 This is a total embarrassment, but saving politicians and people like Biden and Blinken

04:01 from embarrassment is not worth putting U.S. troops at risk.

04:06 I will stay on this.

04:07 I will stay on our government and the Nigerian government to ensure that our military members

04:12 and their families are appropriately treated and their concerns are elevated to the highest

04:16 levels of this House.

04:17 Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

04:18 I yield back.

'A Total Embarassment': Matt Gaetz Rails Against Joe Biden's 'Failed' Policies In Niger

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