[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13990]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                   FREE EGYPTIAN BLOGGER KAREEM AMER

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call on Egypt to demonstrate that it 
is a force for tolerance in the Arab world by releasing Kareem Amer 
from prison.
  A young human rights activist, Kareem Amer, was sentenced in February 
of 2007 to rot in prison for 4 years based solely on what he wrote on 
his blog. He is the first blogger of the Arab world to be jailed 
completely for his Internet comments. And his only crime was 
criticizing extremists who persecute women and minorities.
  We have a unique opportunity to right this injustice. President Obama 
should call for the release of Kareem to protect the free speech of all 
of us on the Internet.
  The Egyptian Government is heavily subsidized by the U.S. taxpayer. 
Americans are going through tough times and would not be happy 
supporting a regime that set a precedent that put the first blogger in 
jail solely for promoting tolerance. Egypt should not stand out as a 
repressive regime that stifles Internet speech. That is why Kareem Amer 
should be released from prison before the President leaves Egypt.

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