Obama, Kerry urge relief for Pakistan

President Obama is asking Congress for $200 million to help the estimated 2.5 million Pakistanis displaced by the fighting in Swat Valley, where the Pakistan government is trying to root out Taliban militants at the urging of the United States.

"These funds will provide displaced people in Pakistan with urgent relief and resettlement assistance," he said in the request to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released Tuesday night by the White House.

Senator John F. Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, is also urging more humanitarian aid for Pakistan.

“The humanitarian crisis in Swat gets worse every day, which is why it’s so critical that the government of Pakistan and the Obama Administration undertake immediate joint relief operations modeled on our successful efforts following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake," the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement today. "The United States must commit military assets, such as Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, combat engineers and uniformed medical personnel, that the Pakistani government needs to facilitate these efforts without further delay. When terrorist groups such as Jamaat-ud Dawa are reportedly already operating relief camps in Swat, there is no basis for turning back the far more capable assistance of the United States military.

“The statistics underscore the emergency: between two and three million civilians have been displaced and have little or no access to adequate shelter, food or medical care. In a few weeks, the summer monsoons will turn ramshackle camps into fetid swamps, incubators for a host of preventable epidemics. History has already taught us that poorly-resourced refugee communities are prime breeding grounds for extremist movements; the Taliban itself had its genesis in the Afghan refugee community driven into Pakistan during the 1980s and 1990s. We don’t need to repeat that disaster when instead we can show America’s true commitment to the Pakistani people.”

Obama's supplemental budget request also includes $2 billion "out of an abundance of caution" to fight the swine flu outbreak. To read it, click here.