[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 18 (Friday, February 3, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO GRANT AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP TO DR. 
                             SHAKEEL AFRIDI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 3, 2012

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, today I have introduced legislation to 
grant American citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi, the Pakistan medical 
doctor who risked his life to identify Osama Bin Laden and help U.S. 
military forces bring him to justice. Pakistan's Inquiry Commission on 
the Abbottabad Operation, the U.S. mission which killed Bin Laden, has 
recommended that Dr. Afridi be tried for treason for helping the United 
States. If convicted, Dr. Afridi could be executed. My bill would grant 
him U.S. citizenship and send a direct and powerful message to those in 
the Pakistani government and military who protected the mastermind of 
9/11 for all those years and who are now seeking retribution on those 
who helped to execute Bin Laden.
  Before the May 2, 2011 raid which resulted in Bin Laden's death, Dr. 
Afridi used the cover of conducting a polio vaccination program in 
Abbottabad in an attempt to gain access to Bin Laden's compound and 
identify who was living there. Pakistan subsequently arrested Dr. 
Afridi at his home on May 22, 2011. He has been jailed for the past 
eight months and media reports state that his wife, an American citizen 
of Pakistani origin is currently missing and her whereabouts are 
unknown.
  Recently, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that Dr. Afridi 
``was an individual who in fact helped provide intelligence that was 
very helpful'' to the operation which killed Bin Laden. Secretary 
Panetta is ``very concerned'' about his fate. This bill shows the world 
that America does not abandon its friends.
  I have introduced this bill with the endorsement of Representatives 
Brad Sherman, Louie Gohmert, Jim Moran, Dan Lungren, Collin Peterson, 
Duncan Hunter, Joe Pitts, Jeff Duncan, Joe Wilson, Bill Posey, Ted Poe, 
Roscoe Bartlett, Doug Lamborn, Patrick McHenry, Sam Johnson, Mike 
Coffman, Adam Kinzinger, Tom Cole, Jeff Denham, David Rivera, and Jean 
Schmidt.

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