Mr. Speaker, everyone here in the House of Representatives knows that I've been a critic of our Nation's long occupation of Iraq. Our strategy there has relied almost exclusively on military power, which is what got us into this quagmire that we still can't escape. Now I fear we're making the very same mistake in Afghanistan and Pakistan because over 90 percent of the supplemental budget for Afghanistan and Pakistan, which the House passed just a few weeks ago and which I opposed, goes strictly toward military purposes, and less than 10 percent goes toward the building of our smart power in that region.

``Smart power'' means investing in humanitarian assistance, in economic development, in reconciliation, and in reconstruction. It means helping the Afghan people to improve their transportation, their health care, their education, and their agricultural systems. It means investing in their judiciary and law enforcement systems to expand the rule of law. It means creating jobs, building up local capacity and improving the lives of women and girls, and it means strengthening our diplomatic operations in the region.

All of these efforts are desperately needed to shore up the fragile governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They're desperately needed because we must offer the people a better life. We must give the people of Afghanistan real hope for a better future because that is the best way to defeat the Taliban, and it is the best way to bring peace and stability to the region. We will never be able to do that if we nickel and dime smart power.

Even our own counterinsurgency strategy recognizes this. It calls for an 80-20 ratio. That means 80 percent of our funds being spent on the smart investment that I just mentioned with 20 percent going to purely military spending. Currently, we've got a 90-10 split going the opposite way. We're actually ignoring our own best strategy.

On this subject, I would like to call the House's attention to remarks that were recently made by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. He spoke about Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the very explosive area on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Referring to the tribes there, he said, ``A successful strategy to deal with them is not to take them head on--sending in troops, throwing grenades and missiles or sending in tanks.''

Instead, he said that we should be working to win the hearts and minds of the tribal members, of those who have a great sense of pride and dignity. He said, if America did that, there would be ``resistance to the Taliban, not from 30,000 feet in the sky but right here on the ground.''

He also said, ``The one thing every Pakistani wants for his kids is education.'' If America helped to improve education in that country, he said that we could turn things around in a few years and that America's greatest enemies will become America's allies.

Mr. Speaker, the American people want a strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a strategy that will protect the lives of our troops, that will strengthen our national security and that will help the people of that region to lead better lives. I've recommended a plan to accomplish this. It's House Resolution 363, the SMART Security Platform for the 21st Century. I'm hoping every Member of the House reads it and remembers that smart power is not soft power. It's the real power, the power we need to keep America safe and to make our world peaceful.