[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2637-2640]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RELEASE OF AMERICAN HOSTAGES

  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I, along with Senators Graham, Hoeven, 
Blumenthal, and Sessions, had a very interesting trip last week, where 
we visited various countries and learned a lot at each one. The reason 
we are here on the floor today is to talk a bit about the recent 
release--thank God--of Americans who were in the American Embassy and 
were subject to trial and prosecution by the Egyptian Government. This 
was a humanitarian issue from the standpoint that no American citizen 
should be treated that way, especially by an ally, but it was also a 
larger issue in that the outcome could have significantly impacted 
relations between our country and Egypt.
  Egypt, as my friend from South Carolina well knows, is the heart and 
soul of the Arab world. What happens in Egypt affects the entire Arab 
world. Our relationship with Egypt is one that is vital not just for 
Egypt but our national security interests are that the region remain 
peaceful and that there not be conflict and abrogation of the treaty 
that was concluded between Egypt and Israel as a result of the Camp 
David agreements.
  I think it is important to recognize that Egypt is in a bit of 
turmoil. These young people, from the National Democratic Institute, 
the International Republican Institute, and Freedom House, 
unfortunately, had to go to our embassy because they were going to be 
prosecuted under then-Egyptian law.
  I wish to begin by saying that our Ambassador to Egypt, Anne 
Patterson, may be one of the finest diplomats this Nation has produced. 
The more the Senator from South Carolina and I travel, and the more we 
meet with and have discussions with representatives at our U.S. 
Embassies, we realize these people are enormously good, and we are 
proud they represent the United States, particularly Anne Patterson. 
She has worked tirelessly since this whole crisis began. I believe the 
majority of the credit for this successful outcome, as far as our 
American citizens are concerned, can be directly attributed to her 
dedication, her hard work, and her tireless efforts day and night on 
behalf of these young people. So we are extremely proud of her.
  I wish to ask my friend from South Carolina what he thinks were the 
reasons why the Egyptian Government changed what they had previously 
said would be a judicial prosecution of these American citizens to 
allowing them to leave Egypt and return to the United States, as they 
are now on their way?
  Mr. GRAHAM. Madam President, I wish to add my gratitude and 
recognition of Ambassador Patterson and her whole team--the State 
Department team on the ground. They did a very good job making the case 
to the Egyptian Government. But we have to all realize Egypt is in 
transition. They have just had their elections for the lower house, the 
Parliament. The upper house has not been seated yet, and they have not 
elected a President. They have gone from a dictatorship to an emerging 
democracy, and this case comes along, the NGO prosecutions.
  I think both of us--our entire delegation--think this is offensive. 
The IRI, the NDI are Republican-Democratic organizations funded by the 
government and the private sector that try to help emerging democracies 
all over the world. They have been in every country hotspot you can 
name--after the collapse of the Soviet Union--doing great work. So the 
accusations were the people involved in these organizations--and 
Senator McCain is the head of IRI--were involved in spying and 
espionage, and I wanted to take the floor to say I found the 
accusations offensive and without merit.
  The Egyptian coworkers, Egyptian citizens who were working with the 
IRI and NDI, are still in custody in Egypt, facing criminal 
prosecutions for helping these fine organizations, and we will not take 
our eye off of that and we will keep pushing to make sure we get the 
right answer.
  But how did this end? We know how it started. I think it was a 
political effort to try to justify Mubarak-era law that was used to 
oppress and keep out of the country people who were helping to bring 
about change. One of the bright spots of this engagement was that the 
army--and General Tantawi was as helpful as he could be, given the 
constraints of the army in this new government formation.
  But when we engaged the Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice 
Party, the largest bloc in Parliament, Senator McCain, in his first 
engagement, the first thing he said to the representative was this NGO 
situation and how damaging it was to Egypt-American relationships, how 
unfair it was, how out of bounds it was in terms of the law. The 
response was from this group that we find the NGO law unacceptable, 
unjust, and we are wanting to change it. Once that statement was made 
publicly, it allowed this momentum to withdraw or lift the 
administrative travel ban. The cases may still go forward, but our 
people are coming home.
  I think the reason this happened is because of the collaboration 
between the State Department, the delegation, every aspect of the 
American Government, and the people on the ground in Egypt I think 
understood the value of the United States-Egyptian relationship, and 
the judicial system finally made a wise decision. To those left behind, 
we are certainly standing with you, and you will not be forgotten.
  But this could have ended the United States-Egyptian relationship.
  Senator McCain and Senator Hoeven, let me ask a question to you both. 
If this had not ended well, if they had insisted on prosecuting and 
having the American citizens questioned appear in cages before an 
Egyptian court based on an outlandish acquisition, what kind of 
reaction would we have had in the United States and what damage would 
it have done to United States-Egyptian relationships, in your opinion?
  Mr. McCAIN. As the Senator from South Carolina knows, there was a 
pending amendment to cut off the $1.3 billion. I would emphasize to my 
colleagues that $1.3 billion was a commitment that was made at the time 
of the Camp David agreement which led to a peace agreement between 
Egypt and Israel, which, if that amendment had been enacted, I am 
confident would have been cause for the Egyptians to abrogate the peace 
treaty with Israel. The consequences of all that I am not sure of.
  I wish to emphasize to my friend--and I see Senator Hoeven here--we 
did

[[Page 2638]]

have meetings with the speaker of their Parliament and his colleagues. 
We did have meetings with the chairman of their committee on human 
rights, who happens to be the nephew of Anwar Sadat, one of the 
signatories to the Camp David agreement--the signatory, along with 
Menachem Begin. We did meet with the Muslim Brotherhood, who then 
agreed with us that NGOs are important and the law needed to be 
revised. Of course, we met with Marshal Tantawi, the head of the 
interim military government.
  What confused us a bit at first, I ask my colleague from North 
Dakota, was that everybody said: We are with you. Yet, they were 
gridlocked. In the words of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
who had been over there, they were paralyzed. It seemed to me that the 
statement of the Muslim Brotherhood--who all of us I know have concerns 
about, but it was the statement of the Muslim Brotherhood supporting 
NGOs, supporting revision of the Mubarak law that seemed to be a major 
factor in unsticking what had clearly been a situation which day by day 
grew more and more of a crisis. I would ask my friend from North Dakota 
if he had that same impression.
  Mr. HOEVEN. I wish to thank the esteemed Senator from Arizona for 
allowing me to join him on the floor today to talk about this very 
important issue that has had a favorable outcome. Even more 
importantly, I want to express my great appreciation and gratitude to 
Senator McCain and Senator Graham for organizing the opportunity for us 
to go over to Egypt, and to not only meet with our NGO workers at the 
U.S. Embassy, but to engage in conversations and meetings with military 
and government leaders on this very important issue.
  It is not just these seven Americans we are very concerned about, and 
their safety--which obviously is paramount. But as Senator Graham 
indicated, this situation clearly had ramifications for the 
relationship on a longer term basis between Egypt and the United 
States, and Egypt and Israel, particularly in regard to the peace 
treaty.
  So taking this initiative to sit down with Field Marshal Tantawi, who 
is the leader of the military council, but also the leaders of the 
Freedom and Justice Party--which is the majority party now in the 
Parliament. Of course, that is the Muslim Brotherhood. We sat down with 
the Muslim Brotherhood as well. I think those meetings were extremely 
important in helping to foster an understanding that broke the logjam.
  I too want to commend the work of our Ambassador, Ambassador Anne 
Patterson. She did an outstanding job. I want to thank Secretary 
Clinton and the people at the State Department for their diligent 
efforts. But I must say, having the opportunity to be part of a 
delegation led by Senator McCain and Senator Graham gave us the 
opportunity to talk to the Muslim Brotherhood, gave us the opportunity 
to talk to the leaders of the Freedom and Justice Party. And the next 
day they put out a statement, which I agree was very important in 
helping move things forward, because what they said in that statement 
involved two things, two things that I do think helped break the 
logjam; first, that they support nongovernment organizations. They 
support nongovernment organizations. They recognize that these NGOs do 
important work, and they want to address the laws in Egypt to make sure 
they have good laws that will enable the NGOs to continue.
  The second thing they said, which I thought was particularly 
important, is they also expressed their concern about NGO workers, and 
that those NGO workers be treated fairly.
  As Senator McCain said, I hail from the State of North Dakota, and he 
knows I am going to say this. I can see the smile sneaking up on his 
face already. One of the NGO workers, one of the Americans detained 
under the travel ban whom I had the opportunity to visit with at the 
Embassy is a woman named Staci Haag. She has been over there working. 
Needless to say, I was worried about all of our Americans. I was really 
worried about Staci, and making sure that she and her fellow workers--
and of course, Secretary LaHood's son, Sam LaHood, but all of them, 
that they were able to get home safely.
  Again, I think it was important in terms of fostering an 
understanding that I hope now will continue as we work to build 
relations with Egypt and their new government.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. HOEVEN. I will, to the Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. GRAHAM. And I will turn it back over to Senator McCain.
  I can tell you that very few people in Egypt, almost no one in Egypt 
realized somebody from North Dakota was being held. You were on 
message. You were very effective. I hope Staci and her family 
appreciate it, and I know they do. But for everybody--Sam, the NDI 
workers, the whole gang--we are proud of what they do.
  Senator Blumenthal is here, and I want people to know this is a 
bipartisan delegation. We had kind of a dinner meeting, when things 
were not going so well, about the idea of bringing our American 
citizens down to Egyptian court to be put at risk securitywise and 
maybe to be put behind cages--which would have destroyed the 
relationship. I think Senator Blumenthal made it crystal clear that was 
not a good idea. And thank God it didn't happen.
  With that, I yield back to Senator McCain.
  Mr. McCAIN. I agree with my colleague from South Carolina. Senator 
Blumenthal was very important, one, for bipartisanship, but also his 
background as a prosecutor.
  At one point in all of this back and forth, one of the lawyers--who 
will be unnamed--said to Senator Blumenthal that: Well, we probably 
have to go along with the advice of the lawyers. And Senator 
Blumenthal, in a very succinct way, said: Well, maybe it is time to 
fire the lawyers.
  So I want to thank Senator Blumenthal for his involvement and the 
expertise and knowledge that he brought to this whole scenario because 
of his background as a prosecutor and attorney general of his State.
  I guess I wonder, from my friend from Connecticut, if he believes 
that this kind of thing is something we should be emphasizing, these 
NGOs, so maybe we can prevent this in the future.
  For example, when we visited Tunisia, the Tunisians have enacted a 
law that encourages the participation of these dedicated men and women 
who come and live and work in their country and help them build 
democracy. That was what was so--not enraging, but certainly it was so 
frustrating to hear these people who are only trying to build 
democracy. They weren't there to make money. They weren't contractors. 
They weren't anybody who was in business. They were just trying to help 
them build democracy, and they end up in the situation that they were 
in--which caused us from time to time to maybe grit our teeth, I would 
ask my friend from Connecticut.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I thank my colleague from Arizona who led this trip. 
Very enthusiastically and emphatically I would say the answer is, yes, 
we should be encouraging these nongovernmental organizations that are 
committed to the cause of democracy and human rights and civil society. 
Their work in Egypt and in places such as Tunisia and other areas of 
the Middle East, as well as around the globe where democracy and 
freedom are at risk and sometimes at great peril, has been enormously 
important.
  I was so proud and grateful to be part of this trip led by Senator 
McCain, and to hear and see the kind of respect there is in the world 
for his views, for his leadership, as well as for Senator Graham's. And 
``receptiveness'' is probably an understatement that Field Marshal 
Tantawi, leaders of Parliament, and others in Egypt had for his 
statements about the importance of allowing these Americans, these 
seven Americans, who committed no crime, to leave that country. The 
power of his and Senator Graham's statements, the ability of our 
colleagues such as Senator Hoeven and Senator Sessions to speak--not on 
behalf of the United States, because we were not there to

[[Page 2639]]

negotiate--but on behalf of public opinion in the United States I think 
was very instrumental and shows the importance of the interchanges and 
the relationships that can be built when we interact face to face, on 
the ground, with our peers and contemporaries in foreign countries. Not 
that we were speaking as military people or as diplomats, but simply in 
reflecting the opinion of people in the United States that these 
Americans, innocent of any crime, should be permitted to leave the 
country.
  Mr. McCAIN. Didn't my friend from Connecticut find it striking that 
these new parliamentarians were most eager to have interparliamentary 
association with us? They wanted to come to the United States to have 
further relations between the two elected bodies. I was very impressed 
by that.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I would say, yes, indeed. I was extraordinarily 
impressed by their eagerness to see what democracy looks like as it 
works. Remember, some of these individuals have been in prison for long 
periods of time, some of them under the most brutal conditions, many of 
them tortured while they were there, with little exposure to the real 
world of democracy.
  In answer to the question of the Senator from Arizona, it would be 
very helpful to them. In fact, on a number of occasions we invited them 
to come to this country.
  But I would ask the Senator from Arizona and perhaps my other 
colleagues who are on the floor today to look ahead and to comment 
perhaps on what we can do to move in a positive way from here, because 
I think all of us feel Egypt is a linchpin for our relationship to that 
area of the world going forward. So much that is exciting is happening 
in that part of the world, and Egypt is so critical to it. So I would 
ask my friends from Arizona and South Carolina and North Dakota what 
they feel perhaps are positive steps we can take to build on this good 
step forward.
  Mr. McCAIN. Very briefly, before I turn to my other two colleagues, 
the day we arrived in Egypt there was a suppliers conference, companies 
and corporations from all over the world, ranging from companies such 
as General Electric, Boeing--the major corporations. It is very clear 
that the one thing they need is jobs--jobs and jobs and jobs. Their 
tourism has collapsed. Unless their economy improves, I think they are 
going to face some very significant challenges.
  At least I was very happy to see a lot of American participation in 
that gathering. I think they said there were like 600 people in that 
room, all of them representing various businesses in the United States. 
And of course they are experiencing a hard currency crunch right now 
that is very significant.
  Mr. GRAHAM. I think this is a very good topic to be talking about--
the future--because this is an episode that could have destroyed the 
relationship before it had a chance to mature. What am I concerned 
about? I am still concerned about the development in Egypt. The 
Constitution will be written here in the coming months, by the summer. 
I want to make sure America's voice is heard about who we are. We hope 
that the Egyptian people embrace tolerance; that the Coptic Christians 
are going to be welcomed as they have been for centuries in Egypt; that 
religious minorities will be protected; that women will not be taken 
back into the darkness; that the Constitution will reflect an Islamic 
nation that understands the concepts of tolerance and free enterprise.
  The Muslim Brotherhood will be the leading organization politically. 
It is up to them to create an environment where the world feels 
welcome. It is up to them to create an economy, working with their 
coalition partners. We will be watching. It is not what you say in 
politics, it is what you do. Apply that to all of us here. I think we 
are failing our people back in the United States by talking way too 
much and doing too little.
  Between now and the summer can really be outcome-determinative for 
decades in Egypt. I am urging the Egyptian political leadership, the 
Muslim Brotherhood included, to write a constitution and create an 
environment where people believe they can come and visit Egypt and do 
business. Senator McCain is dead-on. There is a lot of money to be made 
interacting with the Egyptian people, and they are a proud people and 
smart people, and I want to get our businesses on the ground. I want to 
help the Egyptian economy develop through the private sector, not just 
the public.
  I am the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, working 
with Senator Leahy, the chairman. We will be continuing to provide 
economic assistance, but the end game is to create a functioning 
society we can do business with where we can create jobs in America.
  The main thing to do in the short term is maintain the military 
relationship. The reason Egypt did not become Syria when people were 
rising against the autocratic regime is because the Army stood by the 
people. The relationship we have had with the Egyptian military over 30 
years really paid dividends. Egyptian officers coming to American 
military academies and schools has been invaluable.
  As we go forward, maintain that relationship between us and the 
Egyptian Army, honor the treaty with Israel, make sure you write a 
constitution worthy of a bright future in Egypt, and to all the 
political leaders in Egypt: The world is watching, the Arab world is 
watching, and if you have a narrow agenda, if you have an exclusive 
agenda, you will be doing your country a disservice. We will be a 
willing partner but not under any and all circumstances. Maybe we have 
learned our lesson--that you cannot have partnerships without basic 
principles.
  We look forward to working with the Egyptian Parliament and people. 
They have a chance to change the course of history in the Arab world 
and the Mideast. Don't lose the opportunity.
  Mr. HOEVEN. I echo the sentiments of the good Senator from South 
Carolina. What I would like to add is I think that is exactly the right 
question to pose. The Senator from Connecticut says: Where do we go 
from here? I think that is right-on. There is no question in my mind 
but that the relationships Senator McCain and Senator Graham have built 
overseas made a difference for the United States and our foreign 
policy. This is a clear example of it.
  When we sat down with Field Marshal Tantawi, when we met with other 
government leaders, even when we met with the Muslim Brotherhood, 
because of the fact that there was a relationship there, that they knew 
these individuals, there was some level of trust there that enabled us 
to engage in very important communications that produced a message that 
I think was integral to the resolution of this situation, which could 
have been a very bad one.
  These relationships matter when we talk about working with other 
countries, particularly in that part of the world. There are so many 
differences between our countries and how we operate that having some 
relationships where people can sit down, have these discussions, and 
talk about how we work together and foster some future agreement and 
some mutual understanding is vitally important.
  At the meeting with the Freedom and Justice Party parliamentary 
members, we invited them to come visit us. I think that would be very 
helpful and very important, not only so these new leaders and their 
parliament have a better sense of the United States and how we work and 
the kinds of relationships we can foster in both business and 
government but also so the Members of this Senate, of this Congress, 
and our people here get a better sense of them as well. I believe that 
is very important as we track forward with this new, young government 
that is now embarking on writing a constitution and governing in a 
vitally important country in the Middle East.
  At this point, I would like to turn things back to the good Senator 
from Arizona, with my sincere gratitude.
  Mr. McCAIN. I thank my colleagues and dear friends. It was an 
exciting trip and a very interesting one. I would just like to say that 
when you go to a country such as Libya and see the challenges they have 
with the militias and yet the dedication of their leadership

[[Page 2640]]

toward a free and democratic country; when you go into Libya, where 
both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister both attended 
school or were professors at the University of Alabama, it really does 
show the incredible effect of an education in the United States of 
America.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Will the Senator yield for just 1 second?
  Mr. McCAIN. Extremist, but anyway----
  Mr. GRAHAM. Not only did we meet with people who came back to Libya 
from the University of Alabama--if there had been anybody from North 
Dakota, I would have known about it, I assure you.
  We met a person who was detained at Gitmo--you talk about a small 
world and how the world changes--someone detained at Guantanamo Bay 
because they had been involved with some very unsavory characters but 
who did not adopt the al-Qaida agenda but will be a key player between 
the United States and Libya.
  I want to mention--I think my colleagues will verify this--you have 
been nice to Senator McCain and myself, but let me tell you, having the 
three Senators there, as Senator Blumenthal said, echoing public 
opinion in America--we were not negotiators, we were trying to tell 
people the way it was here at home--we could not have done it without 
the three of you saying, here is the way it is.
  But let me say, when Senator McCain turned to the former Guantanamo 
Bay detainee and said: You know, I have been in prison, too, and about 
forgiveness and about starting over and starting a relationship in 
Vietnam--Senator McCain and Senator Kerry did that--and about 
understanding that the future is what we want it to be, I thought it 
was a very moving moment. I think the interaction between the two 
individuals gave me a sense that there is hope out there.
  I want to acknowledge that was an unusual moment, when you meet 
someone who had been in Guantanamo Bay, who is now one of the future 
leaders of Libya, and have a Senator from the U.S. Senate who served 
his country and was a prisoner of war--that was an incredible exchange. 
I hope something good comes from it.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. It was an extraordinary moment but even more so 
because Senator McCain asked a number of them--one in particular--about 
the impacts on their families and in that case, I believe, the impact 
on his wife. We tend to forget in this country--all too often we tend 
to take for granted the immense protections we enjoy in this country, 
the value of our freedoms.
  That moment was profoundly moving for me, and his reaction in the 
realization of how far he has come as a leader in his country, how much 
he has endured, how much pain and travail for him and his family. It 
was a striking reminder about the importance of democracy and freedom 
and the protections we often take for granted and the great work being 
done by those nongovernmental organizations in fostering freedom and 
democracy, sometimes at peril or risk to themselves.
  The Senator from South Carolina has hit a very important point, and 
it ties to what Senator McCain said about the suppliers conference in 
Egypt. These principles and the growth of democracies in that part of 
the world are important, not just because we like democracy and not 
just because of the strategic value, militarily, and the interests that 
our national security has, but also they are potential markets for our 
exports. The Senator from South Carolina used that word. People should 
understand that there is an important interest that we have in 
promoting jobs in those countries because it will be jobs for us. That 
is, at a very basic level, one of the values of this trip, trying to 
promote and expand those markets, as Senator McCain did in speaking at 
the suppliers conference in Cairo to hundreds of Egyptian businessmen 
wanting to do business, buy our products, and expand their markets.
  I yield.
  Mr. McCAIN. I note the presence of my colleague from Vermont. I once 
again thank my colleague. Every once in a while we can think we did a 
little bit of good around the world, and thanks to the five of us, I 
think we really did. I think we can be proud.
  We are also proud that we represent, still, in their view and our 
view, the greatest Nation in the world.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I request 10 minutes to speak in regard 
to a resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sanders). Is there objection? Without 
objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Hoeven and Mr. Blumenthal pertaining to the 
submission of S. Res. 386 are located in today's Record under 
``Submitted Resolutions.'')

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