[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24066-24067]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ARMS SALES TO PAKISTAN

  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 rise this evening to express my deep 
concern about the proposed Pentagon arms sale to Pakistan.
  Reports indicate that the Pentagon has proposed sales of the 
following weapons to Pakistan: eight P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft 
valued at up to $970 million and 2,000 TOW-2A missiles and 14 TOW-2A 
Fly-to-Buy missiles valued at $82 million. It is undoubted that 
Pakistan has been an ally in the war on terror; however, it is 
necessary to urge President Bush to block these proposed arms sales for 
several reasons.
  A number of my colleagues and I were extremely disappointed to learn 
of the Major Non-NATO Alliance status that was bestowed upon Pakistan 
earlier this year because it allowed Pakistan to purchase military 
equipment that is not normally sanctioned to a country that is not 
under democratic rule. Pakistan unfortunately continues to remain under 
military rule and is not taking meaningful steps to return to a 
democracy; and therefore I support democracy sanctions that will 
prohibit military assistance to Pakistan entirely. Moreover, I feel 
that it is unprecedented for the Pentagon to be engaging in weapon 
sales with Pakistan due to its political instability.

[[Page 24067]]

  Mr. Speaker, the Bush administration's policies with respect to 
military assistance and now military sales to Pakistan are contributing 
to increased security concerns throughout South Asia and particularly 
to India. Although Pakistan has been an ally in the global war on 
terror, Pakistan has not taken steps to end terrorism in its own 
backyard, and foreign military assistance to Pakistan has oftentimes 
been used against India.
  I sent a letter today, Mr. Speaker, to President Bush urging him to 
reexamine the interests and priorities of the United States and to take 
a strong position against selling arms to Pakistan both now and in the 
future. The Pentagon is still in the proposed phase of selling these 
weapons to Pakistan. I urge my colleagues to block this inappropriate 
and unnecessary arms sales to Pakistan.
  Mr. Speaker, the Bush administration and this Congress should be 
promoting peace in South Asia, not a war between Pakistan and India.

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