Congressman Ted Poe (TX-02), the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48), introduced H.R.6069, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act.
A petition was presented at “We the People” platform of the White House website with a required number of signatures within a required period of time. The required number of signatures was 100, 000. The number of signatures put on this petition was:665,769.
This petition was important to the people of United State of America, India and many other countries which are continuously affected by Pakistan sponsored terrorism. Then, the following news was released by the White House.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today (Sep 20, 2016), Congressman Ted Poe (TX-02), the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, along with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48), introduced H.R.6069, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act.
Chairman Poe: “Not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the United States for years. From harboring Osama bin Laden to its cozy relationship with the Haqqani network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror. And it’s not America’s. This bill will require the Administration to formally answer this question. The President must issue a report within 90 days of passage detailing whether or not Pakistan has provided support for international terrorism. Thirty days after that, the Secretary of State must issue a follow-up report containing either a determination that Pakistan is State Sponsor of Terrorism or a detailed justification as to why Pakistan does not meet the legal criteria for designation. It is time we stop paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a State Sponsor of Terrorism.”
Now, in response to this petition, the White House has issued this news release:
“While recognizing the sacrifices of the people and the security forces of Pakistan in fighting some militant and terrorist networks — a fight which we support — President Obama has emphasized that Pakistan “can and must” also take more effective action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. The President has made it very clear that no state should allow its territory to be used by terrorists to launch attacks into another state, and we will continue to engage on this issue.
Since the bill cited by the petition remains in draft, we will not comment on it here, per our Terms of Participation.”
Now, a change of guard is going to take place at the White House on Jan 20, 2017 and it would be interesting to watch what stand the new administration would take on this issue affecting a large part of our world.
Filed under: Contemporary World
