US House of Representatives to add Haqqani to foreign terrorist list

The US House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday calling on the Obama administration to add Pakistan-based group (Haqqani network) to the list of organizations designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). "The Haqqani Network is engaged in a reign of terror in Afghanistan and is the single largest threat for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) our soldiers face in that country," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. "They actively plot and kill US and allied soldiers and routinely harm innocent Afghan civilian men, women and children in their path. To better protect the lives of US soldiers, now is the time for action, not simply paperwork and talk. There is no good reason that this group has not yet been designated," he said. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, and was brought to the House floor after an amendment was made to Rogers's initial bill that unequivocally declared that Congress believes the network meets the definition of an FTO, and should be designated as one by the State Department, according to the (CNN). An FTO designation allows the United States to freeze the group's assets subject to US jurisdiction, and to prosecute individuals aiding or assisting the group with providing material support to terrorism. The bill now heads back to the Senate for consideration.