[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16286]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       EGYPTIAN FOREIGN RELATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the House is poised to 
consider House Resolution 2601, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007. Among the many critical provisions in 
this bill is one relating to Egypt that I would like to discuss 
tonight.
  Despite large amounts of bilateral U.S. assistance, Egypt has failed 
to modernize its economy, it has failed to end the influence of Islamic 
influence in the schools and in the media, and it has failed to improve 
the human rights situation in its homeland.
  While Mr. Mubarak continues to pay lip service to holding 
participatory, multi-party elections, dissidents and those who voice 
their opposition to the government's policies continue to be arrested, 
to be beaten, and otherwise punished for attempting to exercise their 
most basic fundamental human rights as human beings and Egyptian 
citizens.
  In response, the underlying provisions in the Foreign Relations 
Authorization Act, also known as the State Department Authorization 
Bill, shifts funds from military aid to economic assistance for the 
purpose of supporting Egyptian civil society and improving the quality 
of life of the Egyptian people.
  The underlying provision transfers $40 million in military aid for 
each of the next 3 years, a mere 3 percent of Egypt's overall $1.3 
billion to economic assistance. Egypt faces no military threat. 
However, Egypt continues to procure jet fighters, tanks, armored 
personnel carriers, Apache helicopters, anti-aircraft missile 
batteries, surveillance aircraft, and other equipment under our Foreign 
Military Sales program, in addition to unconfirmed reports of Egyptian 
attempts to procure North Korean medium-range missiles, and these are 
serious questions regarding the purpose and rationale of an ongoing 
military build-up by the Egyptian Government.
  In addition, after decades of promises and unfulfilled commitments to 
the United States, Egypt's economic conditions remain dire. The 
underlying provision in the bill is hardly a major price to pay in 
order to send the message that Egypt needs to pay more attention to 
human rights and economic and social development. Not one penny is cut 
from the overall aid package. It is merely a shift in priorities.
  The Hyde/Lantos/Ros-Lehtinen provision is in keeping with U.S. public 
diplomacy efforts by sending a clear message about U.S. priorities for 
Egypt's future and the future for the Egyptian people. It builds good 
will with the people of the region by supporting educational, economic, 
and biological development, goals which contribute most effectively to 
Egypt's internal stability.
  This provision also supports the priorities of President Bush to 
bring freedom, democracy, and sound economies to the Middle East. He 
articulated here in this Chamber in the State of the Union earlier this 
year that the great and proud nation of Egypt, which showed the way 
toward peace in the Middle East, can now show the way toward democracy 
in the Middle East.
  Finally, the underlying provisions further supports congressional 
views articulated in the 9/11 Implementation Act regarding the need to 
reevaluate our previous policies of supporting dictatorships and, in 
turn, support civil society and reforms as a means of addressing the 
precursor conditions which breed terrorism.
  In Egypt, we see a nation of great potential; and to fully realize 
that potential, Egypt must reform itself, economically and politically. 
The language already in the bill seeks to empower Egyptian civil 
society rather than the entrenched Egyptian military.
  In this context, I ask my colleagues to oppose any amendments that 
seek to strike this provision. Any amendment to weaken or to strike the 
Egyptian language in the authorization bill would send the wrong 
message to Egypt and to other dictatorial regimes in the broader Middle 
East, that they can proceed with virtual impunity and it is business as 
usual. In a post-9/11 world, this is the wrong message to send.

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