Rohrabacher dismisses GOP leadership position on aid to Pakistan

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) on Friday brushed aside indications that House Republican leaders want to maintain U.S. financial aid to Pakistan, and said the time is right to talk about cutting off aid in light of evidence that Pakistan sheltered Osama bin Laden.

"It's premature for our leadership and Speaker Boehner to talk about the issue," Rohrabacher said in an interview with The Hill, adding that it's "exactly the right time" to begin discussing whether to end aid to Pakistan.

Rohrabacher was referencing comments from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who said on Tuesday that "this is not a time to back away from Pakistan."

The California congressman on Thursday introduced the second Republican bill that would end U.S. aid to Pakistan. The bill, H.R. 1790, lists in its findings section a series of facts and news stories that point to Pakistan's military and its Inter-Services Intelligence acting "against the interests of the United States by supporting terrorists who kill Americans and in other ways not befitting a recipient of United States aid."

The bill shuts off aid to Pakistan completely, unlike a bill from Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) that would make aid conditional on a State Department certification that Pakistan had not been harboring bin Laden.

Rohrabacher said he hopes his bill will help keep a discussion going about Pakistan's actions over the last several years, and that this discussion will ultimately lead to a cutting off of aid.

"We've got to make sure the American people understand that we've been providing billions of dollars to Pakistan over the years while they've been committing hostile acts behind our back," he said. "The public may understand that the Pakistanis have been less than honest with us, and they may understand the Pakistanis have done things that are hostile to our national interest … but they may not know that we provide billions of dollars in aid and that we can just cut it off."