US Foreign Affairs Committee passes Foreign Relations Authorization Act
Representative Berman criticises condition requiring Pakistan to issue visas to US counter-terrorism officials.
WASHINGTON:
The United States (US) Foreign Affairs Committee has passed the Foreign Relations Authorization Act 2010.
Twenty-three representatives voted in favour of the bill and 20 against it.
The bill will now be voted for on the floor of the House of Representatives.
On the issue of conditions attached to US assistance to Pakistan, Democrat and Ranking Member Representative Howard Berman said that US had discussed Pakistan numerous times in the House Foreign Affairs Committee session on the bill.
Berman said, "For far too long our relationship with Pakistan focused on supporting military and not civilian leaders, under the previous administration we gave them a blank cheque."
He said that the United States cannot penalise the Pakistani people for the mistakes of their army and that there must be a focus on strengthening the country’s civilian institutions.
Berman also criticised the condition mentioned in the bill that requires Pakistan to issue visas to US counter-terrorism officers, saying that it strengthens the perception in Pakistan that the US is infringing on Pakistan's sovereignty.
He said that the issuance of visas is a decision for the Pakistani government to make.
Updated from print version (below)
The ties that bind: In aid to Pakistan, US seeks more bang for its buck
Even as a US Congressional panel defeated a motion to end all aid from Washington to Islamabad, the US government appears to be seeking to get more out of its financial assistance to Pakistan: ranging from more visibility of US aid projects to greater cooperation in investigating whether Osama bin Laden had any official support inside the country before he was killed.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted against an amendment proposed by Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher that would cut off all aid to Pakistan. Thirty-nine members of the committee, including Republicans, voted against the amendment, and five members voted in favour of it.
At the time of filing this story, the House Foreign Affairs Committee was still debating the various clauses of the Foreign Relations Authorisation Act, which has yet to vote on the new conditions attached to US assistance to Pakistan.
According to a draft of the bill prepared by the Republican-led committee, assistance to Pakistan will be contingent on the US Secretary of State testifying that Pakistan is working with the US in investigating “the existence of an official or unofficial support network in Pakistan for Osama Bin Laden”. Pakistan must also provide the US with access to OBL’s relatives, his Abbotabad residence and material collected from within the compound.
Other conditions laid out in the bill’s draft say that Pakistan should facilitate the visas for “official US visitors engaged in counterterrorism efforts and training or other cooperative programs and projects in Pakistan.
The bill also says that the US government officials must testify that Pakistan “is using defence articles and defence services provided by the United States under the Foreign Military Sales program according to the end-use purposes, security requirements, and other terms and conditions agreed to by the United States at the time of transfer or by subsequent agreement.”
Branding the aid
Meanwhile, the US has asked aid agencies working along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan to distinctly brand and advertise the assistance they receive and distribute on behalf of the US government, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
The move does not appear to sit well with the affected aid organisations, the report adds. The main concern of the groups is that their workers will come under attack if they openly declare their connection to the US.
Aid agencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, central Punjab and in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afghan border used to be exempted from the US’s branding policy, which requires all aid agencies receiving US assistance to use a red, blue and white logo with the words “USAID: From the American People.”
But the policy was recently changed and US officials in Pakistan have been pushing aid agencies in those areas to comply. Aid groups can still get waivers to the policy, but US officials are less willing in granting such exemptions.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Rajiv Shah, meanwhile, defended the need for such a requirement.
Pakistan wants ‘visible’ projects
Islamabad has formally asked the Obama Administration to allocate next year’s Kerry-Lugar assistance for ‘visible’ projects only, an apparent shift in terminology from the ‘mega’ projects that the government had requested US financing for earlier this month.
The request was made during a meeting between Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter on Wednesday, said the finance ministry sources.
The US has agreed to the demand of allocations for visible projects, sources said. A formal response to the request, however, would be given in the next 15 days after receiving clearance of the plan from Washington, they added.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2011.
The United States (US) Foreign Affairs Committee has passed the Foreign Relations Authorization Act 2010.
Twenty-three representatives voted in favour of the bill and 20 against it.
The bill will now be voted for on the floor of the House of Representatives.
On the issue of conditions attached to US assistance to Pakistan, Democrat and Ranking Member Representative Howard Berman said that US had discussed Pakistan numerous times in the House Foreign Affairs Committee session on the bill.
Berman said, "For far too long our relationship with Pakistan focused on supporting military and not civilian leaders, under the previous administration we gave them a blank cheque."
He said that the United States cannot penalise the Pakistani people for the mistakes of their army and that there must be a focus on strengthening the country’s civilian institutions.
Berman also criticised the condition mentioned in the bill that requires Pakistan to issue visas to US counter-terrorism officers, saying that it strengthens the perception in Pakistan that the US is infringing on Pakistan's sovereignty.
He said that the issuance of visas is a decision for the Pakistani government to make.
Updated from print version (below)
The ties that bind: In aid to Pakistan, US seeks more bang for its buck
Even as a US Congressional panel defeated a motion to end all aid from Washington to Islamabad, the US government appears to be seeking to get more out of its financial assistance to Pakistan: ranging from more visibility of US aid projects to greater cooperation in investigating whether Osama bin Laden had any official support inside the country before he was killed.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted against an amendment proposed by Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher that would cut off all aid to Pakistan. Thirty-nine members of the committee, including Republicans, voted against the amendment, and five members voted in favour of it.
At the time of filing this story, the House Foreign Affairs Committee was still debating the various clauses of the Foreign Relations Authorisation Act, which has yet to vote on the new conditions attached to US assistance to Pakistan.
According to a draft of the bill prepared by the Republican-led committee, assistance to Pakistan will be contingent on the US Secretary of State testifying that Pakistan is working with the US in investigating “the existence of an official or unofficial support network in Pakistan for Osama Bin Laden”. Pakistan must also provide the US with access to OBL’s relatives, his Abbotabad residence and material collected from within the compound.
Other conditions laid out in the bill’s draft say that Pakistan should facilitate the visas for “official US visitors engaged in counterterrorism efforts and training or other cooperative programs and projects in Pakistan.
The bill also says that the US government officials must testify that Pakistan “is using defence articles and defence services provided by the United States under the Foreign Military Sales program according to the end-use purposes, security requirements, and other terms and conditions agreed to by the United States at the time of transfer or by subsequent agreement.”
Branding the aid
Meanwhile, the US has asked aid agencies working along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan to distinctly brand and advertise the assistance they receive and distribute on behalf of the US government, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
The move does not appear to sit well with the affected aid organisations, the report adds. The main concern of the groups is that their workers will come under attack if they openly declare their connection to the US.
Aid agencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, central Punjab and in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afghan border used to be exempted from the US’s branding policy, which requires all aid agencies receiving US assistance to use a red, blue and white logo with the words “USAID: From the American People.”
But the policy was recently changed and US officials in Pakistan have been pushing aid agencies in those areas to comply. Aid groups can still get waivers to the policy, but US officials are less willing in granting such exemptions.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Rajiv Shah, meanwhile, defended the need for such a requirement.
Pakistan wants ‘visible’ projects
Islamabad has formally asked the Obama Administration to allocate next year’s Kerry-Lugar assistance for ‘visible’ projects only, an apparent shift in terminology from the ‘mega’ projects that the government had requested US financing for earlier this month.
The request was made during a meeting between Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter on Wednesday, said the finance ministry sources.
The US has agreed to the demand of allocations for visible projects, sources said. A formal response to the request, however, would be given in the next 15 days after receiving clearance of the plan from Washington, they added.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2011.