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March 27, 2009 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson issued this statement in response to President Obama’s announcement of plans to send additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan and set up benchmarks.
“The President is to be commended for seeking benchmarks in Afghanistan,” said Senator Nelson. “Since early this year, I’ve pressed administration and military leaders to consider setting up a series of objective measurements to track military and diplomatic progress, or lack thereof, in that region.
“Establishing a clear objective in Afghanistan and the creation of a benchmark system to evaluate successes and challenges will demonstrate to the American people what we hope to accomplish in Afghanistan and how we will achieve those goals.”
Senator Nelson, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, co-authored legislation in 2007 that Congress adopted and President Bush signed into law setting 18 benchmarks to measure military and diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and the Iraqi government in Iraq.
Nelson sent a letter on March 4, 2009, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates calling for benchmarks in Afghanistan. He has raised the issue in several Armed Services Committee hearings as well this year.
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