Friday, July 21 2006 12:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Outraged at the manner in which the Bush administration went about notifying Congress about the US$ five billion F-16s package to Pakistan, Chair of the House International Relations Committee Henry Hyde and Ranking Member Tom Lantos have introduced legislation that will reinforce long standing oversight practice.

At a hearing on the sale of F-16s to Pakistan at the House Committee yesterday both Hyde and Lantos slammed the US State Department for ignoring congressional oversight on arms sales and the risk to national security.

"What we can say for the public record is that a sequence of actions and inactions by the State Department recently resulted in a host of serious national security and compliance issues," Hyde said.

"The State Department cannot persuasively justify its position even now. This Committee is determined to take all appropriate action in order to ensure that there will not be a recurrence of this flouting of Congress' role" he added.

Lantos was even more blunt in his comments during the debate.

"Mid-level State Department bureaucrats have convinced their bosses to ignore 30 years of precedent and cut this Committee, and this Congress, out of consideration of US arms sales. This insolence flies in the face both of custom and the intent of the Constitution," he said.

Lantos and Hyde have introduced HR 5847, a bill that requires quarterly updates on possible upcoming arms sales and enforces a 20-day consultation period before the State Department formally notifies Congress of a proposed sale.