I opposed the invasion of Iraq from the start. I had deep reservations about the war in Afghanistan. But I never once had reservations about protecting the tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan nationals who jeopardized their lives and the lives of their families to help our servicemembers. These were interpreters, guides, drivers, and more who served alongside our troops. In turn, we promised to protect them.  Fighting to fulfill this moral and legal obligation to our allies has been a highlight of my time in Congress. I became heavily involved in the issue after hearing from a social studies class at Lincoln High School. The class told me about an Afghan interpreter who helped an Oregon national guardsman. The interpreter put her life on the line to provide critical support for the guardsman, yet she was struggling to relocate to safety in the United States.  I took the story back to Washington. I introduced legislation to protect Afghan and Iraqi nationals whose lives were in danger because of their service to our country. Alongside the late Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy, we made this vision a reality. We created the Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) program, which created a pathway to legal permanent status for Iraqi and Afghan allies who directly supported the U.S. military mission in their country. Each year since, I’ve led the effort to expand the program, ensuring it meets the demand for visas. Most recently, I helped secured an additional 12,000 new visas in the 2024 bipartisan budget deal—something that is absolutely critical following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.  Last week, we celebrated our progress. I accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award for the creation of the SIV program from a key advocacy group fighting for our allies. The group, No One Left Behind, was founded by Janis Shinwari, an SIV recipient that I welcomed to the United States in 2013 when he got off the plane in America. The award is a symbol of how far we have come since that transformative meeting at Lincoln High and a promise of the work to come.