US Senator's move to cut-off Pakistan aid blocked

US Senator, Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), had proposed attaching the amendment to the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 (S.3240), arguing that his amendment on withholding aid to Pakistan should also be included.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), however, blocked Sen. Rand Paul from attaching an amendment to the bill. Reid performed a procedural move called “filling the tree”, which essentially took up all the amendment space, to keep Pauls amendment from being considered.The amendment, if approved, would have advocated withholding all U.S. aid to Pakistan. Rand Paul had announced to introduce the amendment, while speaking in the Senate last week, unless and until Pakistan freed Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who had helped the CIA reach Osama bin Laden.I have an amendment thats very important, Paul said. Its not germane, but that doesnt mean its not important. Its very important that we send Pakistan a signal that we are not willing to send a welfare check when theyre holding in prison a political prisoner who helped us get bin Laden, he stressed.However, Senate majority leader, Harry Reid said the said bill was not the place for dealing with Pakistan and urged Paul to work with him on pressuring the country through other legislation. Im sure a number of other senators would to focus on our relations with Pakistan, Reid said. There has to be a time and place for everything, and hopefully we can have a full debate on Pakistan in the near future, he believed.Dr. Afridi was sentenced to 33-years in prison last month after remaining in custody for more than a year, following the May 2 raid by US Navy SEALs to kill Osama bin Laden. He was initially thought to be tried for treason but it transpired later that he had been charged for alleged links with militant groups.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC