WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback released the following statement today, the second day of U.S. and allied military action in Afghanistan.

"My thoughts and prayers are with our men and women in uniform," Brownback said.

"I am strongly supportive of the actions taken by the coalition forces against the Taleban and the Al Qaeda network in Afghanistan. This is an appropriate action. It could have been avoided, had the Taleban taken steps to hand over terrorists there.

"We should take this opportunity, with the support we've received from the Pakistani government, to lift all remaining sanctions off Pakistan. This week, I also will press for the lifting of Section 907 sanctions (of the Freedom Support Act) off of Azerbaijan. This is a good opportunity to show that we will stand by our friends.

"I am pleased to see humanitarian aid in the form of food and medical supplies to the Afghan people. Our war is not with them, but with the terrorists inside Afghanistan and the Taleban regime which oppresses the Afghani people and supports terrorism.

"This is the first of many actions necessary to root out terrorism around the world," Brownback said. Legislation authored by Sen. Brownback (S. 1465) to lift the remaining sanctions on Pakistan unanimously passed the Senate last week. The bill is scheduled to come up in the House this week.

A summary of S. 1465 is available upon request.

As the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East and South Asian Affairs, Brownback has taken an active role in developing U.S. foreign policy concerning Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Iran and Israel. He was chairman of the subcommittee for the past four years before the majority/minority switch in the Senate earlier this year.

Brownback has authored legislation (The Silk Road Strategy Act) in the last two Congresses calling for closer U.S. ties with the countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus including, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and others.