The Biden administration must stop sending money to Afghanistan, where it ends up under the control of the country’s Taliban rulers, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Newsmax on Wednesday.

“Kamala Harris, as she so claims and she has verified this, was the last person in the room with President Joe Biden when he made the decision for this disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Ernst told “Newsline.”

And in the course of that decision, the U.S. not only lost 13 service members at the Abbey Gate terrorist bombing during the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal but left billions of dollars behind for the Taliban.

“And now, according to the State Department, they have continued to send dollars to the Taliban amounting to close to $300 million,” she said. “So, I am blasting the administration over this. They must stop sending those dollars to Afghanistan to a terrorist organization.”

Ernst said she’s proposing legislation to track any taxpayer dollars that go to fund countries such as Russia or China, and she’s including terrorist organizations such as the Taliban.

“America needs to know and understand where their taxpayer dollars are going at the behest of this administration,” she said.

Ernst, a U.S. Army veteran who served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, also spoke out about vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and the ongoing questions about his military record.

“The issue is not his service,” Ernst said. “We know that he did serve. However, what is at issue is the fact that he claims to, or he skirts on the claim of being a combat veteran. He is not.”

Walz also did not retire with the rank of command sergeant major, even though he served in that role, she added.

“He is making false claims to the American people,” she said. “Yes, he should be proud of his service. Anyone who has worn our nation’s uniform honorably should be proud, but he should not be claiming things that are absolutely untrue. He needs to be called to the carpet on this. And believe me, veterans, they will vote on this issue.”

Ernst said she’s also concerned about national defense under the Biden administration.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an important strategic partner,” she said, although it is not making friends with the Middle East by coming closer to normalizing relations with Israel.

“We have other strong, strong partners in the Arab nations across the Middle East, and they all face that pariah of Iran, but we have an administration with Joe Biden and now with Kamala Harris that will do anything they can to appease this regime in Iran, allowing them to get away with billions of dollars of oil sales,” said Ernst.

Iran is also under sanctions and funding terrorist proxies that target the U.S., as well as Israeli troops, she added.

“We cannot forget that we have lost soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to Iran and their proxies during the Biden-Harris administration,” she said, adding that if Harris is elected president, she will continue with the administration’s policy of appeasement.

“I don’t know who is advising her, but it certainly isn’t someone that wants to see America strong and remain number one when it comes to national security around the globe,” Ernst said. “We must stand with our allies and partners in the Middle East against Iran and Kamala Harris will not do that.”

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