[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 EGYPT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. News broke today that an Egyptian court sentenced dozens of 
NGO workers, including the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, 
our former colleague, to jail, for their involvement with prominent 
prodemocracy organizations.
  Beginning with the December 2011 raids and throughout the course of 
the so-called ``investigation'' involving Freedom House, the National 
Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute have 
been a highly politicized charade. Prior to their closure, these 
organizations carried out important and legitimate programs to help 
support citizen participation in the Egyptian transition process--the 
very essence of democracy and America's greatest export.
  I was in Egypt in February and heard firsthand that the Egyptian 
Government's handling of this case is symptomatic of a broader 
crackdown on civil society. This was a sham trial from the start. If 
this decision stands, not a penny more of U.S. taxpayer money should go 
to the Muslim Brotherhood-led government in Cairo.
  I call on President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry to personally 
raise this travesty of justice with the Egyptian President, Mr. Morsi, 
and I would urge every Member of the House and Senate to send a letter 
to the Egyptian Government protesting what took place yesterday in 
Cairo.

                          ____________________