Congressman Ted Poe, R-TX, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, introduced legislation Sept. 20, calling for Pakistan to be designated a state sponsor of terrorism. The bill was co-sponsored with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, R-California
The bill, House Resolution 6069, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act, was referred the same day to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The official text of the bill is not yet available as of Sept. 21, but it requires a report from the administration on why India’s traditional adversary should not be designated a rogue state which sponsors terrorism.
The bill requires the administration to formally answer this question. If it passes, it will require the President to issue a report within 90 days detailing whether or not Pakistan has provided support for international terrorism. Thirty days after that report, the bill requires the Secretary of State to issue a follow-up report containing either a determination that Pakistan is a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” or a detailed justification as to why Pakistan does not meet the legal criteria for that designation.
“It is time we stop paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a State Sponsor of Terrorism,” Poe said in a statement after introducing the legislation.
“Not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the United States for years,” he added. “From harboring Osama bin Laden to its cozy relationship with the Haqqani network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror. And it’s not America’s,” Poe added
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