Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2007

FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, only a few months ago, the Department of State reported on the type of Egypt that would receive more American tax dollars under this bill: ``The government's respect for human rights remained poor, and serious abuses continued in many areas.'' ``Security forces killed a number of opposition voters and protestors.'' ``A systematic pattern of torture by the security forces existed.'' ``At least seven persons died in custody at police stations or prisons'' during 2005. This on top of 120 such deaths in police custody ``as a direct result of torture'' over the prior decade ``among some 420 cases of torture.''

I think Secretary of State Rice was absolutely correct to speak out on democracy in Egypt earlier this year, and she was also correct when she said previously ``that for 60 years, it has been the policy of the United States and our allies to turn a blind eye to the absence of freedom in the Middle East.'' The only problem is that the commitment of this Administration to democracy promotion is largely determined by its desperate attempt to find more excuses for its other foreign policy failures. And when it comes to Egypt, the Bush administration has merely changed that ``blind eye'' to a wink.

Yes, just after President Mubarak last month extended emergency rule and dictatorial powers for himself, just after he locked up his electoral opponent, and just as his henchmen were beating peacefully assembled people brutally on the streets of Cairo, Vice President Cheney winked and accorded Mubarak, Jr. the prestige of a White House meeting. And the Administration advises that President Bush dropped in to say hello to Mubarak, Jr., but briefly because he only wanted to convey his best wishes to Mubarak, Sr.

Well, the Mubarak strategy deserves more than that kind of wink and a nod toward democracy. His strategy has been, from the very beginning, to convince American leaders and American taxpayers to transfer their tax dollars to Egypt because he represents the only alternative to Islamic extremists. And to ensure that his strategy continues to pay dividends, he aggressively suppresses any moderate opposition that emerges.

It is true that he doesn't boil his opponents alive like Secretary Rumsfeld's former buddy in Uzbekistan. But to follow the sad path of civic discourse in Egypt is to watch an authoritarian respond to his people's demand for a more open society with a big stick, with a view that he can beat that spirit out of them with fear and intimidation.

What we need in Egypt, as several people have said on both sides of this debate, what we need is a pragmatic policy, a policy that realizes if we continue to associate ourselves with a corrupt regime, eventually the pressure cooker will explode, and we will have paid to create the very disaster that these dollars are allegedly designed to avoid.

Now is the time to tell President Mubarak, through this amendment, that we have wasted more than enough money propping up tyranny. Ultimately, by approving the Obey-Lantos-Hyde-Green bipartisan amendment, this Congress can say to this latter-day pharoah, ``let your Egyptian people go.'' Doing that is the best way not only to help the people of Egypt, but also to help American families be safer.

Some have asked about the headline that will likely run about this debate. I will tell you what the headline will be if this amendment is not approved. The headline will be: ``We got away with it again.'' Clearly, the Egyptian government has not heard the comments given quietly in private during the past. They have paid more attention to the winks they have gotten from this Administration. The only thing they will understand is in dollars and cents and in the votes that are cast for this amendment.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment because it will not only protect American tax dollars, it will lead to more safety for American families

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