Leading Lawmakers Visit Asia

Top lawmakers on Capitol Hill are using their time off to visit the other side of the world.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and five others spent the last two days in Afghanistan, meeting with both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the U.S.’s top commander there, General David Petraeus, to discuss the progress being made by American and NATO forces.

In a statement, Boehner seemed reluctant to embrace President Obama’s plan to begin withdrawing troops from the country in July.

“During our meeting with General Petraeus, he noted that security gains have been made in Afghanistan, but that they are fragile and reversible. That is why we must remain steadfast in our commitment to the counterinsurgency strategy our commanders on the ground have put in place and to ensuring its success, rather than focusing on meeting arbitrary deadlines for withdrawal,” he said.

“Any drawdown of U.S. troops must be based on the conditions on the ground, not on political calculations,” Boehner added. “If the Obama Administration insists on beginning to draw down troops in July, it must explain how the pace and scope of such a move will not undermine the tenuous progress we’ve made thus far. To date, it has not done so.”

Boehner was joined on the trip by Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), and Dan Boren (D-Okla.). Prior to arriving in Afghanistan, the delegation spent the weekend in Iraq.

Meanwhile, a group of ten Senators arrived in Hong Kong on Monday to take part in a week-long visit to China. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are leading the trip, which will reportedly involve meeting with top Chinese officials to discuss economic and human rights issues.

Accompanying Reid and Durbin are Democrats Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Republicans Richard Shelby (Ala.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.).

The Washington Post noted yesterday that seven other members of the Senate are also in Asia this week. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is leading a delegation of five Republicans to South Korea to discuss trade issues, while Democrats Carl Levin (Mich.) and Jim Webb (Va.) will meet each other in Hong Kong this week before heading to Guam to inspect a new facility that is expected to house Marines currently stationed at Okinawa, Japan.