Congressional Statements

Brown denounces Pakistani military's overthrow of Sharif government

Press Release
October 12, 1999

U.S. Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today denounced the Pakistani Military's ousting of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and immediately called for the elimination of provisions in the fiscal year 2000 Department of Defense (DoD) conference report that would lift the current embargo on U.S. arms sales to Pakistan.

"The Pakistani military's coup is a complete mockery of the rule of law. While hundreds of millions of people in India just completed their national democratic elections, the people of Pakistan had their government stripped away without casting a single vote. The people of Pakistan, especially children and the elderly, are oppressed in the same terrible way that people are in North Korea or Iraq," Brown said.

"Unfortunately, American policy toward Pakistan has long been to maintain strong ties with its military to guard our interests in South Asia. Just last week conferees to the FY 2000 Defense spending bill quietly approved a measure that grants the President the green light to conduct future arms sales to Pakistan. I agree with Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee that this provision would indirectly reward the Pakistani military for its invasion of Kashmir last spring," he added.

"If we've learned nothing else from the Cold War, arms sales to dictators do not benefit American interests or those of our allies, including India. Congress must not give the President permission to sell weapons to Pakistan or any other nation that denies its people the right to choose their government," Brown said.

Brown is a senior member of the House Commerce and International Relations Committee and cofounder of the Congressional Caucus on Indian Americans.