Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire


Leahy Ready to Freeze Aid to Egypt, Graham and Granger Call for Caution

February 4th, 2011 by Naureen

On Thursday, Chairman of the Senate State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said that he intends to freeze aid to Egypt until unrest subsides: “The fact of the matter is, there’s not going to be further foreign aid to Egypt until this gets settled.” Speaking to MSNBC on Wednesday, Leahy called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down saying that the aid “pipeline would be turned off” until he does.  A temporary cut-off will occur if the country does not stabilize in the next month, Leahy said;  the current government funding law is set to expire on March 4th. Leahy lauded the role the Egyptian military has played thus far, but warned that if there is any evidence that the military is violating human rights using equipment funded by the U.S., their assistance “would be cut off immediately,” per a U.S. law that Leahy himself drafted. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) cautioned his colleagues on curring aid by asking them to “consider the consequences of such an action. Give the Egyptian people a chance to work this out.” Chairwoman of the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-TX) called for caution when discussing aid to Egypt.


Posted in Congress, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Foreign Aid |

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