Analyzing the Kerry-Lugar Bill‪.‬

Byline: Najam Rafique With prominent Democrats such as Joseph Biden calling for shifting the focus of the US military mission in Afghanistan to the urgent goal of stabilizing Pakistan and the special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke sharing his concern1 the US Senate passed a bill (S.1707) on September 24, 2009 authorizing $7.5 billion in developmental aid to Pakistan. Significantly, the bill mentions no amount for security-related assistance. The Senate bill was approved by the US House of Representatives a week later on September 30, 2009 without any amendments (H.R. 3642).