Madam Speaker, the last 8 years has taught us a very hard lesson. There is no military solution to Afghanistan. Escalating the war by sending in tens of thousands more troops will not defeat violent extremism in that country.

That's why I have urged President Obama to change the mission in Afghanistan. We must abandon the military-only strategy that has failed us and that we must begin to emphasize humanitarian aid, economic development, reconstruction, better health care and education. These are the tools that the Afghan people need to improve their lives and to reject extremism.

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times wrote a column last week entitled, ``More Schools, Not Troops.'' His article makes the case for changing our mission very well. In his column, Kristof writes that investments in education, health and agriculture ``have a better record at stabilizing societies than military solutions, which have a pretty dismal record.''

Education is especially important, he says. He argues that ``schools are not a quick fix, but we have abundant evidence that they can, over time, transform countries.''

He gave Pakistan and Bangladesh as examples of that. The United States has spent $15 billion in Pakistan, Madam Speaker, since 9/11, mostly on military support. Yet Pakistan is more unstable than ever and al Qaeda has found a home there.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh, once a part of Pakistan, has made major investments in education, especially for girls. This has spurred economic growth, which has helped keep al Qaeda out of that country.

Kristof also writes that ``when I travel in Pakistan, I see evidence that one group, the extremists, believes in the transformative power of education. They provide free schooling and often free meals for students. They offer scholarships for the best pupils. What I don't see is similar numbers of American-backed schools. It breaks my heart that we don't invest in schools as much as medieval, misogynist extremists.''

He then goes on to say that ``for roughly the same cost as stationing 40,000 troops in Afghanistan for 1 year, we could educate the great majority of the 75 million children worldwide who are not getting even a primary education. Such a vast global education campaign would reduce poverty, cut birth rates, improve America's image in the world, promote stability and chip away at extremism.''

Madam Speaker, I hope that President Obama will keep this in mind as he reviews his options on Afghanistan and makes his decisions in the coming weeks. America simply cannot afford to rely on our military power alone, because that strategy plays right into the hands of the extremists. Our heavy military footprint is feeding the insurgency in Afghanistan, not weakening it.

By changing the mission to emphasize education and the other tools that can give the Afghan people a real stake in peace, we can stop violent extremism in its tracks. And we can keep our troops safer and build a more peaceful world for our children and our grandchildren.