State of the Union 2023: Republicans invite former Afghanistan Ambassador Roya Rahmani to address
Ryan King
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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-TX) extended an invitation to former Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States Roya Rahmani to be his guest at next week’s State of the Union.
Rahmani served as the country’s first female ambassador to the U.S. between December 2018 and July 2021. The invitation is intended to highlight the ramifications of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the war-torn nation that is now under Taliban rule.
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“Since the United States unilaterally withdrew from Afghanistan last year, paving the way for the Taliban to take over, the situation for women in the country has become dire. Women there, many of whom only ever knew the freedoms of the last 20 years, no longer have rights,” McCaul told CNN.
Recent edicts from the Taliban have barred women from working with nongovernmental organizations and attending universities, the State Department said in a statement about new visa restrictions on Taliban members announced this week.
President Joe Biden had weathered intense criticism over his withdrawal as images of people falling from planes dominated the news cycle in the wake of the Taliban’s surge back to power. The withdrawal was followed by a precipitous drop in his approval ratings during his first year in office. Now, increased poverty and a dramatic rollback in women’s rights have dogged Afghanistan.
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McCaul is conducting an investigation on Biden’s withdrawal, including whether Biden “misled” the public about the pitfalls of his withdrawal plan. His panel has already demanded interviews and documents from top administration officials. He has also threatened subpoenas. The first hearing from his committee on the matter is expected to take place at some point in March.
Biden’s State of the Union address is slated for Tuesday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has selected Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) and Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) to give the Republican rebuttal. Meanwhile, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) has been selected by the Working Families Party to give the progressive response to Biden’s speech and the Republican rebuttal.