As a Navy pilot and Afghanistan veteran, I know what it means to come down to the wire.
On many occasions throughout my career, I’ve had only a few seconds to make the right call for myself and those aboard my aircraft. And as the son of former Sen. John McCain, I understand the pressure that senators face in the last few weeks of the year as they scramble to address many critical pieces of must-pass legislation. But there is one priority, deeply personal to me and morally deserving of consideration: doing right by the Afghans who helped us during our 20-year war in their country.
In August 2021, during the shambolic final days before the Afghan government collapsed, I, like many other veterans of the war, worked the phones, leaned on my networks, and logged 20-hour days for weeks to ensure the safe evacuation of Afghans who had been my friends, colleagues and co-pilots.
