Political speech, timestamped and in context

Vicente Gonzalez: “It saved six of our pilot allied friends and lives and their family.”

Featuring: Vicente Gonzalez, Democratic | U.S. House, Texas, District 34

Congressman Gonzalez Recollects on Saving Six U.S. Allies During Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Published August 15, 2026

So I didn't tell anybody until years later that you said, okay, I think we can talk about it. And here we are telling the story. So it's quite an incredible story. It saved six of our pilot allied friends and lives and their family. They're all living here in the United States safely and started a new life. (06:15–06:23)

STATEMENT

Asserts that the efforts saved six allied pilots and their families.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

See the main statements from Vicente Gonzalez in this video

“The evacuation of 172,000 people in that short amount of time was an extraordinary achievement.”
Asserts that 172,000 people were evacuated in a short time during the Afghanistan withdrawal.01:09-01:15
“I happened to be the chair of the US Uzbekistan Caucus.”
Asserts that Vicente Gonzalez was the chair of the US Uzbekistan Caucus.01:20-01:24
“We have some allied Afghan pilots who are friends of ours who are flying our planes, although they were Afghanistan owned.”
Asserts that allied Afghan pilots were flying planes owned by Afghanistan but considered as 'our planes.'02:04-02:13
“It took us six weeks, I think, to get them out of Uzbekistan.”
Asserts that it took six weeks to get the Afghan pilots out of Uzbekistan.04:30-04:34
“The colonel was able, through CIA operative who was also working in conjunction with us through this whole process, was able to get the families out and through the gate.”
Asserts that a CIA operative helped get the families of Afghan pilots out and through the gate.04:43-04:53
“They were actually able to come into Virginia, I think, before the pilots actually got here.”
Asserts that the families of the Afghan pilots arrived in Virginia before the pilots.04:57-05:03