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Rand Paul Says He's Ready for a "Fight and Tussle" Over His Pakistan Aid Bill

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says he will use procedural tactics to delay future spending votes unless his bill on aid to Pakistan gets an up-or-down vote. The Bowling Green Republican is pushing a measure that would cut U.S. financial assistance to Pakistan, unless that country frees a doctor who helped the C.I.A. track down Osama Bin Laden.

Sen. Paul told WKU Public Radio today that the Democratic leadership in the Senate doesn’t want the bill to get a vote. But Paul says he’s willing to prevent other legislation from being voted on until his measure is heard.

“And so it will be a fight and a tussle. But they also need me to get out of the way to pass other things. We will have to pass spending bills and things like that, or the government shuts down. And we’ll play hardball with them and we’ll see how far they want to play this out just to avoid voting," said Sen. Paul.

Sen. Paul recently announced he would temporarily put off asking for a vote on his bill after Pakistan delayed sentencing for physician Shakil Afridi. Critics of Senator Paul’s bill say it would hurt any leverage the U.S. still has with Pakistan.

Kevin is the News Director at WKU Public Radio. He has been with the station since 1999, and was previously the Assistant News Director, and also served as local host of Morning Edition.