Mohan:
Perennial India basher Indiana Rep. Dan Burton retreats in the face
of mounting criticism of Pakistan by Gary Ackerman and colleagues
Kashmir cause suffers setback: Burton withdraws Anti-India
amendment in House
By Our Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Aug 3: The Kashmir cause suffered a major defeat in the US House
of Representatives late on Monday night when pro-Kashmir congressman Dan Burton
had to withdraw his anti-India amendment conceding that he did not have enough votes.
Mr Burton did not even present his amendment for a vote, as almost 21 members rose,
one after another, to praise India and condemn Pakistan, bringing in the Kargil fiasco,
the issues of cross-border terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, Osama bin Laden and
many others to whip Pakistan. Islamabad got support from only two congressmen, Dana
Rohrabacher and Major Owens, apart from Mr Burton.
Mr Burton had moved his amendment, a ritual for the Indiana Republican, as part of the
Foreign Aid Bill and had demanded a 25 per cent cut in a proposed request of
assistance for India totalling $44.7 million.
After one-and-a-half-hour of debate he acknowledged that he did not have enough
votes to push his amendment and withdrew it promising that he would come back again
next year.
The proceedings of the House, shown live on the C-Span network, created the
impression that the entire US Congress was solidly behind India and its frontmen in the
House, with Gary Ackerman, leading the charge.
"We have not been able to force a complete defeat and a total retreat on Rep Dan
Burton," Mr Ackerman said after Mr Burton withdrew his amendment. "He should not
bring this amendment back in the House ever."
"This is the third victory that we (pro-India American forces) have scored in the past
few weeks," he said, recalling: "first, we had the tough resolution on the Kargil situation
in the House International Relations Committee, then we soundly defeated the Goodling
Amendment which sought to cut aid to countries opposed to the US positions at the
UN."
Mr Ackerman, the current chairman of the India Caucus on the Capitol Hill, taunted Mr
Burton for continuing his annual ritual aimed at bashing India. "Tonight we have
overwhelmed the perennial India-bashing measure by my dear colleague from Indiana
(Dan Burton). He has withdrawn the amendment but unfortunately we have not been
able to force him to make a total retreat."
Mr Burton said in his withdrawal speech that Congress was overlooking massive human
rights violations by India in Kashmir. "I can't go to sleep at night when people are being
gang-raped, people are being tortured, people are being put in jail for no other reason
than they don't like what's going on," he said, blaming strong lobbying by India for the
amendment's limited support.
He said it was a symbolic cut to send a strong message to India that atrocities by Indian
security forces in Kashmir, Punjab and other parts of the country were unacceptable
and would not be tolerated by the US and the international community.
"We acted in Kosovo, Haiti where far less number of people were killed. The least I am
proposing is to make a small cut in aid to India to give a message that it must change its
behaviour and stop maltreatment of its minorities."
Mr Ackerman and the other Indian supporters used the occasion to lash out at Pakistan,
blaming it for the Kargil intrusion, the continued support to what they called "Kashmiri
terrorists" inside Indian-held Kashmir, and warned that if Pakistan did not stop it could
be declared a terrorist state.
Congressional observers, who have been watching the Burton Amendment over the
years, said though it was not meant to be passed, in previous years it did a great job of
focussing on Indian violations of human rights and expressing support of a huge section
of Congress for the Kashmiri people's struggle and cause.
They said Kargil had virtually shifted the focus from India to Pakistan and now the entire
issue was why Pakistan "violated" the LoC and how it could be prevented from
supporting the movement inside Occupied Kashmir.
The Indian point of view was reflected by Carolyn Maloney, who said India deserved
praise as the world's largest democracy. "The momentum gained in US-Indian relations
in recent years needs to be sustained and strengthened," she said.
For the Pakistani side, Dana Rohrabacher, the Republican congressman from California,
and Major Owens, black Democrat from New York, said Indian democracy stopped at
the doors of Kashmir where the people were seeking their right of self-determination to
decide their destiny. India and the world community in the United Nations had promised
them this right which remained denied for the last fifty years.
Congressmen repeated one after another the importance of having strategic relations
with India, as a counterweight to China, and many claimed that the previous US policy
of backing Pakistan was not the right choice and should now be replaced by a pro-India
policy.
The importance of India as a huge investment and export market for US companies was
also highlighted by many speakers.
The Foreign Aid Bill is the main legislation every year which provides for the allocations
to be made to friends of the US. The House left the $12.6 billion bill to decide aid levels
and several tough issues, including the $44.7 million development assistance to India, to
negotiations with the Senate.
Members postponed a final vote on the bill which would cut President Clinton's aid
request by $1.9 billion and this year's funding by $715 million. Administration officials
warn that the cuts, as well as language restricting funding to any group that lobbies for
liberalized abortion laws, could lead to a presidential veto.
The Senate has approved a similar aid level, but many House Democrats supported the
bill with a warning that they could withdraw support on final passage if budget
negotiators did not find more money. A House-Senate conference committee will be
appointed to work out the final language.
The bill provides $7.4 billion for economic aid, $3.6 billion for military assistance, $1.1
billion for international agencies and $595.5 million for export assistance.
Payment of dues to the United Nations, money for US diplomacy and other foreign
affairs funding is included in a separate legislation not yet approved.
Allocation of most foreign aid to various countries is left up to the administration, but the
bill sets aside $2.88 billion for Israel, $2 billion for Egypt and $325 million for Jordan.
Another major item is $725 million for former Soviet states, $307 million less than the
president's request.
The administration says the legislation's cuts would harm a wide range of foreign policy
efforts, hurting the poorest countries and diminishing the ability to respond to foreign
crises, to prevent nuclear smuggling, to deal with the Asian crisis, to expand the peace
corps and to help refugees. |
