The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation to freeze some Pakistan aid, slap harsh new sanctions on Iran, and endorse indefinite imprisonment of suspected terrorists. Acting shortly after the White House dropped a threat to veto the bill, the Republican-led chamber voted 283-136 to approve the $662 billion Defence Authorisation bill, which also sets high hurdles for closing Guantanamo Bay.
The White House later backed off a threat to veto the bill. The Democratic-held Senate was expected to vote on the same bill as early as Thursday. The bill would freeze roughly $700 million in aid to Pakistan pending assurances that Islamabad has taken steps to thwart militants who use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against US-led forces in Afghanistan. “If this legislation becomes law, we’ll work with the government of Pakistan on how we can fulfil the requirements. But, this requires us to maintain a strategic perspective,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The measure had drawn fire from civil liberties groups that denounced its de facto embrace of holding alleged extremists without charge until the end of the war on terrorism declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks. US President Barack Obama, who had threatened to veto earlier versions of the yearly measure, will sign it when it reaches his desk despite lingering misgivings, spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement before the vote.
“However, if in the process of implementing this law we determine that it will negatively impact our counterterrorism professionals and undercut our commitment to the rule of law, we expect that the authors of these provisions will work quickly and tirelessly to correct these problems,” said Carney.