Rep. Poe: Pakistan Knows More Than They're Saying

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," May 3, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST OF “YOUR WORLD”: Prove it, or we are going to pull it.

Welcome, everybody. I’m Neil Cavuto.

And, Pakistan, you have some explaining to do, the bin Laden mansion thing within a stone’s throw of a Pakistani military installation thing, the just 35 miles from your nation’s capital thing. And you claim you didn’t know a thing?

Well, my next guest ain’t buying it. He’s introducing a bill that would freeze $3 billion in U.S. aid bound to Pakistan this year, until and unless the State Department certifies that Pakistan was not involved.

Texas Republican Congressman Ted Poe joining me right now.

Congressman, I take it by that you suspect Pakistan knows more than it’s telling us?

REP. TED POE, R-TEXAS: It appears that way. It’s inconceivable that Pakistan authorities didn’t know that Usama bin Laden was living in this big mansion of a compound just a few yards away from a military base for so many months, maybe even years.

Either their intelligence service is incompetent, or they knew about it, and they just didn’t tell us. And so we just need to find out what the truth is and where Pakistan stands on the war on terror, and whether they’re our ally or whether they’re in for their own interests?

CAVUTO: What if they were a little less honest with us at the very least over these many years than they’d been saying? Would you cut all aid to them going forward?

POE: Well, in my opinion, yes. That’s -- this legislation freezes all aid to Pakistan until they can make their case that they didn’t know Usama bin Laden was where he was.

And they won’t receive any aid until they can make that case, if they can. Pakistan has always had the reputation to me that they are not always allies of the United States, that they have a reputation of harboring the Taliban and Al Qaeda. And, as President Bush said, right after 9/11, a joint session to Congress, to our allies, you’re either with us or you are with the terrorists.

We just need to find out where Pakistan is on this issue.

CAVUTO: You know, the argument has always been, if we brush them off, China is more happy and more than happy to welcome them. Would that worry you?

POE: Well, just because we are not giving them aid doesn’t mean we should not still have a relationship with Pakistan. We should do what we can to make sure that they’re a stable government, that they are an ally of the United States. But...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Well, if we quit giving them aid -- your point’s well taken, Congressman, but if we quit giving them aid in this money-grubbing section of the world, I mean, that’s who they define a relationship.

POE: Well, that’s true.

But I don’t think that the United States should be giving aid to a country that may not always be using that aid in our interests.  And we’re not sure even where all of that money goes. It may go to support those people in that -- Pakistan that hate us.

So, that is the argument that’s being made here on the -- on the Capitol grounds, that, well, we’ve got to pay them; otherwise, China will come in. I just think we need to freeze the money until we find out the truth about Usama bin Laden and what they knew about him, whether they gave him sanctuary or not.

CAVUTO: Congressman, thank you. Very good seeing you again.

POE: Thank you, Neil.

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