Dear Friend,

We continue to mourn the 13 U.S. servicemembers killed in last week’s suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan. Injuring 18 other servicemembers and killing and wounding hundreds of innocent Afghan civilians, this was one of the deadliest attacks on our military in a decade.

If you haven’t done so already, you can read about who these heroes were here. They deserve to be honored and remembered for their brave sacrifice. As a father of a Marine and a Sailor, our family grieves with the families of those who lost a loved one, and Jacquie and I continue to pray for the safe return of all of our men and women in uniform serving overseas.  

Over the past week, Americans have seen nothing but chaos in Afghanistan as the Taliban – the group that harbored Osama bin Laden – has once again taken control of the country. Meanwhile, President Biden has shown a lack of leadership as he presides over the ugliest withdrawal of American forces in decades. 

We all deserve answers about how things went so wrong, and what the plan is to protect every American – and ally – still in Afghanistan after the 31st. I will continue to demand them from the Biden Administration. But in the meantime, countless Americans, both civilians, and military are stranded in Taliban-controlled territory, as are thousands of Afghan allies who supported our country’s mission in the region. We must get them out.

We will continue fighting to get American citizens and Afghan allies to safety. If you know anyone who needs to leave Afghanistan, my office still stands ready to help. We have already received several requests to assist Special Immigrant Visa holders, and my staff and I are doing everything we can to help them evacuate. You can find more information here.

ICYMI: Rep. Emmer on Real Talk with Roshini on WCCO Radio

This past weekend, I joined my friend and radio host Roshini Rajkumar on her Sunday show, “Real Talk with Roshini”. Sadly, this was my last appearance on her show, as she sunsets the program on September 5th.

I’ve enjoyed joining her over the years to discuss the issues of the day. Throughout my time in Congress, I was fortunate to join Roshini during some interesting times, like when I was in Selma, Alabama in 2015 for the 50th-anniversary commemoration of the “Bloody Sunday” march, or in 2017 when we helped celebrate her fifth anniversary on-air on the Cambria stage. Most importantly, I join Roshini every anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to speak with her about our experiences on that day and to ensure that we never forget the Americans we lost that day, including Minnesotans, Tom Burnett, Jr., Gary Koecheler, and Gordy Aamoth Jr.

For our last conversation on the air, we discussed the latest with COVID-19. You can listen here.

Until next week, if you are in need of assistance or would like to share your thoughts with me, please write me an e-mail here.

To keep up with what we’re doing in Washington, follow me on Twitter and Facebook for more updates!

Sincerely,