Congress Seeks Restrictions on Aid to Pakistan

Congressmen from both sides of the aisle have called more restrictions on aid to Pakistan after learning that Osama bin Laden was living right under the noses of Pakistani authorities before U.S. forces killed him. But lawmakers haven’t figured out the proper way to do that yet, The Hill reports.

We have provided more than $20 billion in aid to Pakistan since Sept. 11, 2001, estimates House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Howard Berman, D-Calif.

House Armed Services Committee Vice Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, told The Hill that lawmakers “should be looking at how we can make Pakistan a more active partner versus groups that threaten us and them.”

Pakistan is an important ally for the war in Afghanistan, so our aid to Pakistan shouldn’t be cut off, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Tuesday. But “more strings” should be attached, she said.

“What’s been missing, however, is just how Congress might write such stringent stipulations into future legislation,” The Hill states.