[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13373]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        MUSHARRAF AND DEMOCRACY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my outrage over the 
continued infiltration by Pakistani-backed militants and the line of 
control in Kashmir and the continued blatant terrorist attacks on 
innocent women and children in Jammu and Kashmir.
  About a month ago, President Musharraf of Pakistan acquiesced and 
promised to end infiltration of militants who were openly supported 
politically and morally by Pakistan. India had been willing to honor 
Musharraf's promise by giving him a chance to act on his word and 
waiting until October to assess the infiltration situation at the Line 
of Control.
  But much to everyone's dismay, this brutal killing in this war-torn 
region is going on unabated, despite Musharraf's promises. This past 
weekend's savage attack has left 27 civilians dead and wounded another 
30 civilians. Another attack today wounded 13 people in Kashmir. I do 
not think there is any justification for such violence.
  Mr. Speaker, infiltration by militants at the border and terrorism in 
Kashmir needs to be stopped in order for peace and stability to be 
reinstated in this fragile region of the world. However, every step 
Musharraf is taking is, in fact, turning Pakistan in the opposite 
direction of achieving any sense of peace or stability, and, most 
importantly, achieving democracy.
  Mr. Speaker, President Musharraf has proposed changes to the 
constitution that are of grave concern. The underlying strategy behind 
his guise of transitioning to democracy is, in fact, to restructure the 
Pakistani government to protect his dictatorship. Through over 70 
proposed amendments, he is attempting to rewrite Pakistan's 
constitution in order to empower his branch of government over other 
branches of the Pakistani government. In addition, Musharraf would also 
be giving the constitutional power to dissolve the parliament, dismiss 
and appoint a prime minister, and establish a national security council 
as a constitutional body.
  The latest piece of his proposal is to require members of parliament 
to hold university degrees which would disqualify 98 percent of 
Pakistan's 144 million citizens, but also would disallow over half of 
the politicians serving in the last parliament from holding office 
again.
  Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about the use of American resources 
provided in economic and military aid to an antidemocratic Pakistani 
regime. In October 2001, Congress passed a bill, S. 1465, which granted 
the President authority to waive all sanctions against Pakistan, 
including sanctions against Pakistan that prohibited aid to a nation 
whose democratically elected government was deposed. I introduced 
legislation today that reinstates the democracy sanctions, because I 
think it is necessary to implement measures that encourage Pakistan to 
transition back to democracy.
  I have written to President Bush and I have requested that he and his 
administration, particularly Secretary Colin Powell, who will be 
visiting the region over the next 2 weeks, to take these violent 
actions by Pakistan into consideration for any future talks with 
Musharraf, and that the United States use its influence to encourage a 
return to democracy in Pakistan.

                          ____________________