Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth: 'my focus is getting Americans out of Afghanistan'
WASHINGTON - Local leaders are weighing in on the situation in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, state leaders thanked members of the Illinois National Guard for their work. They also acknowledged the work of those who helped on the ground in Afghanistan as the country was in an uproar over the Taliban taking back control.
People desperately boarded planes out of the country — remembering life under the Taliban before the US moved in, where public executions were common.
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth says she wants to get Americans out of Afghanistan, the Afghan people that helped the US, and Mark Frerichs from Lombard. The civil engineer was kidnapped in Afghanistan in January of 2020. He is the last known US hostage to be held by the Taliban.
"Right now my focus is on getting Americans out of Afghanistan. Getting the thousands of brave Afghan men and women out of that country … we need to get (Mark Frerichs) home," Duckworth said.
"I can't see where they’re going to put my son out in first line, although I wish they would because we're losing more and more negotiating ability by pulling out," the Frerichs family said.
Frerichs’ sister is in Washington D.C. to meet with officials from the FBI, the State Department and the Department of Justice to help bring her brother home.