In a March interview with 60 Minutes, President Obama declared about the escalating conflict in Afghanistan, “There’s got to be an exit strategy …. There’s got to be a sense that this is not perpetual drift and stalemate but in fact that we are making measurable progress with benchmarks in order to achieve our central goal.”

Three months later, the administration still has no exit strategy.

This week, Congress will likely pass the final version of the supplemental funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, but congressional leadership refused to include language requiring an exit strategy from the administration.

In response, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) introduced a new bill, H.R. 2404, to accomplish this goal. The entire bill is one sentence long: “Not later than December 31, 2009, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report outlining the United States exit strategy for United States military forces in Afghanistan participating in Operation Enduring Freedom.”

In a policy world filled with nuance and compromise, this measure is refreshingly straightforward and clean. We must not commit the lives of Americans and the lives of Afghans without a plan or purpose. If the administration vacillates, Congress must hold it accountable.

Encouraged by grassroots peace activists, 85 members of Congress have cosponsored this piece of legislation. The House of Representatives begins discussions of the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act next week, so now is the time to act. The more cosponsors it receives this month, the more pressure will build in Congress to demand an exit strategy.

I urge you to call your representative’s office today and ask her or him to sign on as a cosponsor to H.R. 2404. You can find your rep’s phone number here or you can call the congressional switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask to be forwarded.

Nate Van Duzer is the policy assistant for Sojourners.