Progressive House Democrats Call On Biden To Change Policy On Frozen Afghanistan Funds

On Monday, members of the Progressive Caucus of the House of Representatives urged President Joe Biden to alter the United States’ policy on its frozen reserves for Afghanistan. 

In a letter, the group said they “strongly support [Biden’s] decision to bring the longest war in the history of our nation to a close,” but asked him to change the policy of the United States regarding funds for the country. 

They added that they “stand with American allies and humanitarian experts in urging the United States to avoid harsh economic measures that will directly harm Afghan families and children. This means conscientiously but urgently modifying current U.S. policy regarding the freeze of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves and ongoing sanctions.”

Specifically, the group of members said that the “U.S. confiscation of $9.4 billion in Afghanistan’s currency reserves held in the United States is contributing to soaring inflation and the shuttering of commercial banks and vital private businesses, plunging the country — which relies overwhelmingly on imports that require hard currency — deeper into economic and humanitarian crisis.”

While the group noted that they “deplore the new Taliban government’s grave human rights abuses, crackdowns on civil society and repression of women and LGBTQ people,” they stated that “pragmatic U.S. engagement with the de facto authorities is nevertheless key to averting unprecedented harm to tens of millions of women, children and innocent civilians.”

“Punitive economic policies will not weaken Taliban leaders, who will be shielded from the direst consequences, while the overwhelming impact of these measures will fall on innocent Afghans who have already suffered decades of war and poverty,” they wrote.

They also claimed that “the overwhelming majority of reserves returned to the central bank of Afghanistan will be used primarily to purchase imports by Afghanistan’s private sector…”

The letter was signed by Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Chuy Garcia (D-IL) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA), among over 40 additional members. The letter was also cc’ed to Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, and Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

In a tweet, the group said the members were calling on Biden “to reverse U.S. policy contributing to economic collapse, imminent mass starvation in Afghanistan,” adding that “There could be ‘more civilian deaths in the coming year than were lost in 20 years of war.’”

Today @RepJayapal, @RepChuyGarcia, and @RepSaraJacobs led 48 Members to call on @POTUS to reverse U.S. policy contributing to economic collapse, imminent mass starvation in Afghanistan.

There could be “more civilian deaths in the coming year than were lost in 20 years of war.” pic.twitter.com/G2j9MMTKPI

— Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) December 20, 2021

The Washington Post reported that an official from the Treasury “said in a statement that the United States is the world’s biggest source of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and that the administration is searching for other ways to help, while also pointing to the licenses it has approved to help the flow of international aid to the country.”

The Post added: 

The statement also said it is unclear if the United States has the authority to unilaterally release the reserves, which are part of litigation related to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Treasury statement also said Afghanistan’s difficult financial problems would not necessarily be solved by releasing the funds. 

The Treasury statement also raised the possibility that the funding could be used by the Taliban for things other than humanitarian aid. An official with the White House National Security Council also said the matter is being reviewed in conjunction with other international allies that hold part of the Afghan reserves, adding that no country has so far formally recognized the Taliban.

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has been building for some time after the Taliban took control of the country in August. President Biden’s handling of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan has been widely criticized and is considered to be one of the most catastrophic foreign policy actions in recent years. 

Republicans in congress have demanded that the U.S. not give the Taliban the ability to get even slimmer quantities of money, the Post noted. 

The Hill reported, “This call comes just days after a bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers similarly asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to provide aid funds to the Afghan people. They recommended that Biden release frozen Afghan funds to a U.N. agency in order to pay for teachers’ salaries and meals for children.”

In August, The Washington Post reported that the Biden Administration “froze Afghan government reserves held in U.S. bank accounts, blocking the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars held in U.S. institutions, according to two people familiar with the matter.”

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