August 16, 2021 - Washington - Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) today released the following statement calling for domestic and international support for the evacuation of Americans and at-risk Afghans from Kabul and other regions of Afghanistan.

"I encourage the administration to do as much as possible to expedite the safe evacuation of Americans and Afghans whose lives are at risk of Taliban retaliation. I'm particularly worried about activists who vocally supported the rights of women and girls, all of whom will face significant jeopardy under a renewed Taliban government.

“We have an obligation to do all we can to save human rights advocates, translators, journalists and many others who worked with the United States and led the fight to build a civil society in Afghanistan. Any way to accelerate the processing of visas and refugee applications should be undertaken to save lives from Taliban retribution, and I will support any legislative action necessary.

“I also support actions being taken by the State Department to call on other nations to increase the number of Afghan evacuees they can take. I implore these nations to accept as many individuals as possible who will be in jeopardy under a Taliban government.

“The extraordinarily rapid fall of Afghan forces has placed countless lives in jeopardy to Taliban violence as retaliation for their work to improve their nation. We must act now save as many of those lives as possible."
Source: Senator Dianne Feinstein