Senate panel votes to cut aid for Pakistan, Egypt

In a fresh warning to Pakistan, a Senate panel on Tuesday approved a foreign aid budget for next year that slashes President Barack Obama's request for assistance to Islamabad by more than half and threatens further reductions if it fails to open supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The Senate Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations also cut aid to Iraq, Egypt and Afghanistan while adding $50 million for Jordan to help it handle the influx of refugees from a violent Syria.

By voice vote, the panel approved the overall bill totaling $52.1 billion, which is $2.6 billion less than what Obama requested for the 2013 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and $1.2 billion below current spending. The full Appropriations Committee meets Thursday to give its final approval to the legislation.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the subcommittee, and the panel's top Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said money for Pakistan was cut 58 percent from Obama's request as lawmakers question Islamabad's commitment to the fight against terrorism and as resentment lingers on Capitol Hill a year after Osama bin Laden was killed deep inside Pakistan. Tensions have increased as Pakistan closed overland supply routes to Afghanistan after a U.S. attack on the Pakistani side of the border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

"We're not adding to the money in the pipeline, but we're going to basically take all of the money out of the pipeline if we can't get these routes open because we're not going to invest in a country that won't help us in a reasonable way to deal with the threats to our forces in Afghanistan," Graham told reporters after the panel's vote.