WASHINGTON, D.C – Following an attempt to introduce an amendment to end foreign aid to Egypt and recoup “bail” funds paid to the Egyptian government to release American pro-democracy workers who are still facing prosecution there, Sen. Rand Paul Tuesday evening issued a letter to President Barack Obama highlighting the State Department’s release of foreign aid funds to Egypt, which Sen. Paul urged against doing in a March 15 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In his letter to President Obama, Sen. Paul strongly urges the President reverse his State Department’s decision to release aid to Egypt, and to hold all aid until such a time as the politically motivated prosecution of U.S. citizens has ended.
Below is the text of that letter:
_______________________________________________________________________________________
April 17, 2012
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama,
On March 15, I wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging your Administration to delay release of U.S. aid to Egypt.
In that letter, I noted that while the Egyptian government had released the pro-democracy American workers who had been held captive for weeks in Egypt, they had not abandoned the prosecution. In fact, they had demanded signed statements saying our citizens would return for the trial.
I also warned that the Egyptian government had not proved either its stability or its commitment to freedom and democracy. It had clearly not yet met the criteria set forth by Congress that would allow the aid to be distributed.
It literally took the threat of losing that aid to get our citizens released in the first place. Why would we then foolishly believe the Egyptians would suddenly behave better after the Administration released billions in aid to its coffers?
Our fears were unfortunately confirmed in recent days, as the Egyptian government has now begun the process of seeking arrest warrants for Americans, some of whom were in Egypt, some of whom were not even recently in Egypt – and all work for pro-democracy non-governmental organizations like Freedom House and the International Republican Institute.
Your State Department is reported to be petitioning Interpol to dismiss the charges and not issue arrest warrants. Obviously, this is the right thing to do, and I support your request. However, this brings up a larger question.
Your State Department is using as its reasoning that the charges from the Egyptian government are “politically motivated.” If that is true, that is a sad statement on our recent decision to release their aid.
Why would a country that is pursuing the “politically motivated” prosecution of American citizens be eligible for every a single dime of U.S. foreign aid, never mind the $2 billion in taxpayer dollars about to be sent.
The Egyptian government has, in the span of a few short months, arrested Americans, seized their property, and held them captive. They have demanded U.S. taxpayer-funded “bail” money to release them. Now they have begun the process of international arrest warrants.
As you know, I am often an opponent of foreign aid. I think it is a poor use of taxpayers’ money, and has often gone to regimes that were either anti-freedom, or anti-American, or just plain corrupt. The situation with Egypt is, unfortunately, an excellent example.
Whether or not you believe foreign aid is a good idea, can’t we all agree that a country that is pursuing international arrest warrants for U.S. citizens for “political purposes” should not get our aid?
The system of foreign aid is broken. Congress placed specific conditions on aid to Egypt, but our State Department simply waived its obligation to hold Egypt to those conditions—an action that was not the intent or preference of Congress. Releasing Egypt’s aid at this point is in defiance of all common sense.
I urge you to reverse the decision to release aid to Egypt, and to hold all aid until such time as the politically motivated prosecution of U.S. citizens had ended.
Sincerely,
Rand Paul, M.D.
United States Senator
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Related posts:
- Senator Paul Re-Introduces Amendment To Eliminate Foreign Aid To Egypt
- Senator Paul to Introduce Amendment Cutting Foreign Aid to Egypt
- Sen. Paul and Rep. Bachmann Issue Letter to Secretary Clinton Urging Delay in Funding to Egypt
- Senator Paul Statement on Obama Administration Waiving Egypt Aid Restrictions
- Senator Paul Statement on Safe Return of Americans Detained in Egypt
