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

FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - June 08, 2006)

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise on behalf of and in support of the amendment offered by Mr. Obey, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Lantos and Mr. Green, and I associate myself with the remarks of Mr. Obey and Mr. Lantos.

I believe the alliance between ourselves and Egypt is an important one. I believe that Egypt has played an important role, not as expansive a role as I would have wanted, but an important role in the Middle East.

Mr. Chairman, in his inaugural address President Bush stated, ``It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in the world.''

Mr. Chairman, I agree with this unambiguous statement in support of democracy and freedom, and I believe Members on both sides of the aisle agree with it as well. In fact, it is the reiteration of the policy that has guided our Nation from Wilson to Roosevelt, to Truman to Kennedy, to the present day.

Yet today, Mr. Chairman, one of our Nation's key allies in the Middle East, our friend Egypt, has taken demonstrable steps that raise troubling questions about its commitment to democracy.

Mr. Chairman, I will give examples. Multiparty presidential elections in 2005, as has been stated, were marred by allegations of fraud, voter suppression and intimidation. The leading opposition candidate, Ayman Nour, was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison, prompting the State Department to comment, ``The Egyptian government's handling of this case represents both a miscarriage of justice by international standards and a setback for the democratic aspirations of the Egyptian people.''

In Egypt, judges who protested the election have been disciplined. More than 600 pro-democracy activists have been arrested, and members of the foreign and Egyptian press have been harassed and intimidated.

Let me add, Mr. Chairman, it troubles me that last year, Egypt voted with the United States of America on contested votes of importance only 8.9 percent of the time. Let me reiterate that. A country to whom we have given $67 billion since Camp David, voted with us in important votes 8.9 percent of the time.

Thus, today, Mr. Chairman, I believe this amendment gives us a clear choice: We can continue to turn a blind eye to the undemocratic behavior of the Egyptian government, which will receive $1.8 billion in military and economic assistance through this foreign operations bill; or, alternatively, through the adoption of this amendment, we can send a message to our friend that the United States of America does not approve of its undemocratic activities, and, indeed, believes those are inimical to Egypt itself. We expect Egypt to abide by its commitments on democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The Secretary of State's letter has been referred to by the chairman of the subcommittee. I have read that letter, Mr. Chairman. It sets forth many things that Egypt has done which have had a positive effect on stability in the Middle East.

Mr. Chairman, in my opinion, those actions were in Egypt's best interests.

They did not do that for the United States. They did it to create stability in the region in which they live. I congratulate them for that. But they did not do it because we gave them aid, assistance.

The bipartisan amendment that has been offered, quite simply, would cut $100 million, as has been said, in economic assistance for Egypt. Like Mr. Lantos, that would not be my choice, but that is the choice of this amendment. Instead, it increases funding for disaster assistance for refugees in Darfur, one of the crisis regions of the world today. In addition, it increases the President's Global HIV/AIDS Initiative by an additional $50 million

At a time when this Nation has committed itself to promoting democracy throughout the Middle East, we have, it seems to me, a responsibility to expect that the most populous country in the region meets its democratic commitments.

Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this amendment.

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