- Find your Member of Congress. Remember: you have two Senators and one Representative.
- Send this email to all three.
- Call their office and read this email as a script.
- Tweet your member of Congress and tag @POTUS @JoeBiden @WhiteHouse @StateDept. Click this link to tweet.
- Sign our petition and spread the word.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 16th 2022
Subject: Frozen Afghan Funds Must Go To Central Bank of Afghanistan
Hello [name of staffer/Senator/or Representative],
I'm writing in response to Biden’s executive order issued last week, in which the administration is looking to move a portion of Afghanistan’s frozen funds to the families of 9/11 victims.
As [name of the Member of Congress]’s constituent, I am outraged by this. These are public funds owned by the Afghan people.
This executive order and the economic strangulation of the Afghan economy serves as collective punishment on a people already on the brink of starvation. I urge the [Senator/Representative] to speak out swiftly against this. I urge my [Senator/Representative] to pressure the Biden administration to do the following:
- First, the administration must rescind the executive order and ensure all of the $7.1 billion in reserves are used to allow the Central Bank of Afghanistan (or Da Afghanistan Bank, DAB) to perform its basic functions. None of the $3.5 billion should be used for humanitarian means, an obligation that the United States can fulfill with its own resources. Afghan reserves belong to the Afghan people.
- Secondly, the United States should pay the salaries of unpaid loyal civil servants in Afghanistan and should provide Afghanistan with urgent and immediate sanctions relief.
- The United States should also make an outsized pledge in additional emergency funding for the United Nations’ 2022 humanitarian appeal, in addition to its current contribution. The US has a moral obligation to repair harm to the Afghan people through this aid.
- Lastly, I urge you to support the Merkley (D-OR)/Connolly (D-VA) letter on Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis.
Thank you,
[Your name]