National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014

Floor Speech

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Chair, included in this en bloc package is an amendment I offered that relates to Pakistan. It adds, as a condition of aid to Pakistan, that Islamabad must not use the funding we provide to its security forces for purposes of domestic repression of ethnic and religious minority groups as it has in the past.

The State Department's 2012 Country Report on Human Rights in Pakistan states, ``The most serious human rights problems were extrajudicial and targeted killings, forced disappearances, and torture, which affected thousands of citizens in nearly all parts of the country.'' Members of the Pakistani military as well as police are involved in these lethal abuses of human rights.

Repression of minority groups is systemic. Human rights organizations have reported that many Sindhi and Baloch nationalists were among those missing. Non-Sunni religious practitioners, Christians, Ahmadis, and Shia Muslims, are attacked with impunity.

There are already four conditions in the core bill and my amendment simply adds a fifth requirement to prevent the misuse of our aid. Thank you, Madam Chair, for accepting my amendment.

Source