Lawmaker: House likely to cut Pakistan aid

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. House will likely vote to withhold all aid to Pakistan amid concerns about how it's being spent, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman said.

"We're all skeptical of the aid that we've given to Pakistan, that it's been used in the right way," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R- Fla., told The Hill.

"We look at Pakistan in a way that says, 'What have we done with all of that money?' Everything that we've sold to Pakistan, all the intelligence we shared with Pakistan, it's all been called into question.

"So it's a brand new day for Pakistan funding, and it's a brand new day for U.S.-Pakistani relations."

Ultimately, Ros-Lehtinen said, she expects the House to vote to withhold nearly $2 billion in Pakistan aid.

Her prediction comes about a week after the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee tied $1 billion in counterinsurgency aid to the Pakistani government's cooperation in the fight against militant groups.

The Hill also reported Friday the congresswoman's prediction reflects concerns about the strength of U.S.-Pakistan relations after Osama bin Laden's discovery near a major military training school in Abbottabad, in Pakistan. Navy SEALs killed him in a May 1 raid.

The Obama administration withheld $800 million in aid to the Pakistan military in July, The Hill noted.

The House Foreign Relations Committee has approved a State Department bill that would withhold funding to Pakistan until the department submits a report confirming the country's government is progressing toward security goals and "fully assisting the United States" in investigating a bin Laden support network in Pakistan.

"When the final [full House] vote comes, those conditions will be incorporated, and they are pretty tough conditions," Ros-Lehtinen said.