US Aid to Egypt Blocked by Republican Congress Following Riots
Latest update: September 20th, 2012
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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, stands between Egypt and billions in aid.
At last, the violent rallies against the U.S. embassy in Cairo, in reaction to an anti-Islam video, and Egypt’s laxidasical efforts to defend American assets, have yielded a real result: talks about $1 billion in debt relief and millions more in aid to Egypt are suspended, according to U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.
It took Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi more than 48 hours to condemn the breach of the US embassy premises in Cairo and the removal of the American flag.
There will not be new aid approved for Egypt until after the November elections, and talks intended to ease to payment of funds that have already been approved are stalled, the officials said.
But the same officials added that the delays are temporary and do not represent a reevaluation of U.S. aid to Egypt.
“Folks are going to wait and see how things materialize both with the protests and on Capitol Hill,” one congressional aide told the Post.
The U.S. annual aid to Egypt comes to about $1.6 billion, and the Obama Administration was fully prepared to continue providing this aid, despite the election of a new government in Egypt run by the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, President Obama has proposed an additional $1 billion in debt relief for Egypt, whose debt to America stands at about $3 billion.
Egypt is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel, since 1979. Of the $1.6 billion it receives, more than $1.3 billion goes to military aid.
The major hurdle in the path of U.S. funds to Egypt is the Republican House of Representatives which last year attached conditions to U.S. aid, most notably a requirement that the State Department certify that Egypt is abiding by its peace treaty with Israel.
Several Congress members have been proposing additional conditions. And there’s been some pushback on the part of the State Department. For instance: this week, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wanted to hold a hearing on U.S. relations with Egypt, but it was canceled because the State Department refused to send witnesses. DOS instead offered a private briefing for lawmakers, a congressional aide told Reuters.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland attempted to paint with pastel colors that clash of wills between Republican Congress Members and Hillary’s DOS: “We are continuing to work with the Hill on the support that we think is important to support those very forces of moderation, change, democracy, openness in Egypt that are very important for defeating extremism of the kind that we saw,” she said on Monday.
According to Nuland, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would appear before Congress in person soon regarding U.S. aid to the Muslim-Brothers run Egypt and all the other painful realities exposed by the violent protests.
According to the Washington Post, American and Egyptian officials were in the final stages of negotiating hundreds of millions of dollars in aid just as the protests exploded outside the embassy and American flags were being set on fire.
And a delegation of 120 U.S. business leaders was in Cairo at the same time as well, as the State Department was trying to encourage foreign investment in Egypt.
Here is an excerpt from the State Dept. Monday briefing regarding the U.S. and Egypt:
QUESTION: On Egypt, you said the Egyptians have been cooperative in providing the additional security you requested. Can you talk a little bit more broadly about what the contact with the Egyptians has been like over the last few days? And what is the status of the discussions about delivery of aid? Has that been affected at all?
MS. NULAND: Well, as you know, the White House reported that the President had a good conversation with President Morsi. I think it was before the weekend. I can’t actually remember. It might have been Friday. Right. And then the Secretary talked to Foreign Minister Amr on Saturday. I think we reported that conversation out to you over the weekend. She, as you know, spoke to leaders around the region on Saturday. She also spoke to Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, FM al-Faysal. She spoke to the Libyan Prime Minister Abushagur. She spoke to Foreign Minister Davutoglu, spoke to Foreign Secretary Hague, and Foreign Minister Fabius of France.
tell a friendAbout the Author: JewishPress.com Senior Internet Editor Yori Yanover has been a working journalist since age 17, before he enlisted and worked for Ba'Machane Nachal. Since then he has worked for Israel Shelanu, the US supplement of Yedioth, JCN18.com, USAJewish.com, Lubavitch News Service, Arutz 7 (as DJ on the high seas), and the Grand Street News. He has published two fun books: The Cabalist's Daughter: A Novel of Practical Messianic Redemption, and How Would God REALLY Vote.
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they don't deserve any of my tax dollars. Don't pay these people blow up us embassy's Finally something out of congress that makes sense.
How rotten does someone have to be to you before you quit giving them money? Wow.
About time, CONGRESS!
"mohamedans", "political islam", "jizyya", "dhimmis" etc…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERou_Q5l9Gw
I just called Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen to thank her for taking this action, and, even though I'm not a constituent, her assistant sounded very pleased to know that so many people appreciate what she's done. In case anyone else wants to call, her phone number is (202) 225-3931.
Where are the Muslims who have come to America looking keeping their women in large bags of fabric and say that they want the freedom of America. There are 57 Muslim countries live in that insame culture somewhere else. America is a Judaic-Christian country and have nothing in common with the tyranny of Islam or for the fact Muhammad.
YAY! I thank all those lawmakers for getting these talks suspended….and hopefully this will result in totally cutting off aid to Egypt!
Isn't US aid to Egypt a bribe to keep the peace with Israel?
Sabra…no…egypt and Israel have a peace treaty due to Israel giving back the Sinai (5 tiimes the size of Israel) first in 1956, then more in the 80's with Carter. If they break the peace, Israel may recapture the land again…they better be careful!
Yes, but the money to Egypt was started only upon Israel giving back the Sinai — that looks like a sort of bribe to maintain peace.
That's great news, Muslims have to understand that our American customs are not to offend or kill, we can't take the law into our own hands like they seem to do, over what one ignorant person done, its not Americans fault. I'm so glad someone in our government is standing up to the hate that these so called nice people is doing to our embassies, the money we give them could be well spent here in AMERICA! How can you defend a religion when it tells you to kill if you are offended, really Jesus is always degraded and we Christians don't go to American Muslims and start killing them when we were attacked on 9/11, period!
Kol Hakavod.
There will never be peace in the world until these Islanimals are at the very least, isolated, away from the human population. SAVAGES!
There will never be peace in the world until these Islanimals are at the very least, isolated, away from the human population. SAVAGES!