Washington: A Congress panel unveiled a bill on Monday that would cut US aid to Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority unless the Obama administration reassures the House that they were cooperating in the combating terrorism.
The legislation is a direct challenge to US President Barack Obama and his foreign policy authority, and comes as the House is looking at significant cuts in the annual budget for the State Department and foreign assistance. The House Foreign Affairs Committee will consider the bill authorising the money on Wednesday. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chairwoman of the panel, released an initial draft on Monday.
While the House is likely to approve the bill, its prospects in the Democratic-controlled Senate are dim. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, is likely to reject many of the bill’s provisions.
The bill would block aid to Pakistan unless the secretary of state can certify to Congress that Islamabad is “fully assisting the United States with investigating the existence of an official or unofficial support network in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden, including by providing the US with direct access to OBL’s relatives in Pakistan and to bin Laden’s former compound in Abottabad.”
A separate spending bill likely will provide US$40 billion for foreign operations next year, US$9 billion less than the current amount and US$11 billion less than Obama requested.
