text: Today, the House is debating the National Defense Authorization Act. I took to the floor to speak in support of an amendment that would bring our troops home from Afghanistan.  This amendment would ensure that the President sticks to his timetable to end U.S. combat operations and transfer operations to the Government of Afghanistan by the end of this year.  Since the start of the Afghanistan War, more than 41 soldiers at Fort Bliss have lost their lives; countless others are returning to our community with unseen mental injuries and PTSD. These terrible losses should focus us on our solemn responsibility to know when to bring our soldiers home to their families.   Our soldiers and their families have sacrificed mightily for our nation during the twelve years we have been at war. Thanks to their service, Osama bin Laden is dead, the Taliban and Al Queda have been weakened and the Afghan people have been given the opportunity, should they choose to take it, to form a stable and democratic state. Now is the right time to bring them home to their families.