III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 445 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on the assassination of former Prime 

Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, and the political crisis in Pakistan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 6), 2008 

Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HARKIN, 

Mr. CASEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. REID, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on the assassination 

of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, 

and the political crisis in Pakistan. 

Whereas, on October 18, 2007, former Prime Minister of 

Pakistan Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan after more 

than 8 years in exile, and was welcomed by supporters 

numbering in the hundreds of thousands; 

Whereas hours after her return, a suicide bomb attack on her 

convoy in Karachi killed 145 people and narrowly missed 

killing Benazir Bhutto herself, in one of the most violent 

terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s history; 

Whereas Members of Congress and other friends of Pakistan 

wrote to President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf weeks 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

•SRES 445 IS 

prior to the October 18, 2007, attack on Benazir Bhutto, 

urging support for the democratic process and the provision of adequate security for democratic leaders such as 

Benazir Bhutto; 

Whereas Members of Congress and other friends of Pakistan 

wrote to President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf immediately after the October 18, 2007, attack, urging that a 

specific set of security measures be taken to protect 

Benazir Bhutto, and that a full investigation into the October 18 attack be undertaken; 

Whereas, on November 3, 2007, President Musharraf, in his 

role as Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, declared a state 

of emergency, suspended the Constitution of Pakistan, 

dismissed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar 

Chaudhry and other justices of the Supreme Court and 

provincial High Courts, replacing them with candidates 

willing to take an oath to uphold his actions during the 

suspension of the Constitution, and initiated a nationwide crackdown on political opposition, the media, and 

the courts of Pakistan that resulted in the arrest of more 

than 1,000 political opponents; 

Whereas, on December 15, 2007, President Musharraf lifted 

the State of Emergency, but did not reinstate the dismissed Supreme Court and High Court justices, allow 

full freedom of the press, or release all political prisoners 

arrested during the crackdown; 

Whereas President Musharraf justified his actions in November 2007 on the grounds of more effective counterterrorism efforts, beginning his November 3 proclamation with 

the statement, ‘‘Whereas there is visible ascendancy in 

the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, IED explosions, rocket 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

•SRES 445 IS 

firing and bomb explosions and the banding together of 

some militant groups have taken such activities to an unprecedented level of violent intensity posing a grave 

threat to the life and property of the citizens of Pakistan’’; 

Whereas, on December 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto was killed 

in the garrison town of Rawalpindi; 

Whereas video footage, backed up by eyewitness testimony, 

shows at least 1 gunman firing shots at Benazir Bhutto 

instants before her death, and a second terrorist detonating a bomb near her vehicle shortly after the firing of 

the gunshots; 

Whereas the precise circumstances surrounding both the October 18, 2007, attack and the December 27, 2007, assassination remain unclear, and those responsible for 

both terrorist attacks remain at large; 

Whereas President Musharraf has accepted the assistance of 

Scotland Yard in his government’s investigation of the 

assassination of Benazir Bhutto, but has rejected calls 

for an independent investigation under the auspices of 

the United Nations; 

Whereas President Musharraf has used the turmoil following 

the assassination of Benazir Bhutto to delay elections 

from their scheduled date of January 8, 2008, to February 18, 2008; 

Whereas Benazir Bhutto’s political party and the other major 

opposition parties had opposed this delay, and have expressed concern that it was motivated by an intention to 

shape the outcome of the election through poll-rigging or 

other improper means; 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

•SRES 445 IS 

Whereas the current political crisis in Pakistan has a grave 

impact on the national security of the United States, in 

that it seriously undermines the ability of the Government of Pakistan to devote adequate resources and attention to the fight against al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other 

extremist forces; 

Whereas the political crisis in Pakistan cannot be resolved 

without a speedy return to the democratic path, including 

free and fair elections and restoration of an independent 

judiciary in accordance with the express wishes of the 

vast majority of the people of Pakistan; 

Whereas the United States has provided Pakistan with approximately $10,000,000,000 in assistance over the past 

6 years; and 

Whereas, on December 26, 2007, President Bush signed 

H.R. 2764, an omnibus spending bill which limited 

United States military aid to Pakistan to counterterrorism and law enforcement activities directed against al 

Qaeda and the Taliban, and which withheld $50,000,000 

in military aid until such time as the Secretary of State 

reports that Pakistan has restored democratic rights and 

an independent judiciary, and is making concerted efforts 

to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) conveys the deep condolences of the people 

3 of the United States to the people of Pakistan on 

4 the tragic loss of former Prime Minister Benazir 

5 Bhutto, and conveys special condolences to the fami6 lies of Benazir Bhutto and the other victims of this 

7 terrorist attack; 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

•SRES 445 IS 

1 (2) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, 

2 the murder of Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 

3 2007, and the slaughter of at least 165 other Paki4 stani citizens in this attack and the prior attempt on 

5 Benazir Bhutto’s life in Karachi on October 18, 

6 2007; 

7 (3) calls upon the Government of Pakistan to 

8 do everything in its power to bring the perpetrators 

9 of these crimes to justice, and to permit investiga10 tors to follow their inquiries in whatever direction 

11 they may lead; 

12 (4) calls upon the Government of Pakistan to 

13 support and facilitate an independent inquiry into 

14 the assassination of Benazir Bhutto; 

15 (5) strongly urges the Government of Pakistan 

16 to ensure that free and fair elections are held on 

17 February 18, 2008, as scheduled, and that inde18 pendent election monitors are allowed to monitor the 

19 elections; 

20 (6) calls upon the Election Commission of Paki21 stan to remove all of the restrictions it recently 

22 placed on election observation activities, which in23 cluded efforts to restrict observer movement and the 

24 conduct of exit polling on Election Day; 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

•SRES 445 IS 

1 (7) urges President Pervez Musharraf of Paki2 stan to replace the partisan caretaker governments 

3 at the federal, provincial, and district levels with 

4 neutral administrations acceptable to all major polit5 ical parties, and to reconstitute the Election Com6 mission as a genuinely nonpartisan body; 

7 (8) calls upon the Government of Pakistan to 

8 provide adequate security, including the provision of 

9 adequately armored vehicles and properly func10 tioning jamming equipment to help prevent the deto11 nation of explosive devices, to all senior opposition 

12 political leaders; 

13 (9) calls upon the Government of Pakistan to 

14 release those individuals still being detained without 

15 charges and to end the ongoing harassment of 

16 judges, opposition party activists, and lawyers; 

17 (10) calls for the restoration of Pakistan’s inde18 pendent judiciary and an end to all restrictions on 

19 the media and freedom of speech; 

20 (11) calls upon the President to review all exist21 ing United States aid to Pakistan, to ensure that all 

22 assistance furthers the common goals shared by the 

23 people of Pakistan and the United States, with spe24 cific reference to combating violent radicalism and 

25 promoting a free and democratic Pakistan; and 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
7 

•SRES 445 IS 

1 (12) if the President’s review concludes that the 

2 conditions described in paragraph (11) are not met, 

3 calls upon the President to suspend (until such time 

4 as such conditions can be met) the transfer to Paki5 stan of weapons systems primarily designed and 

6 manufactured for combat against a rival state rather 

7 than counterterrorism or counterinsurgency. 

Æ 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS