Congress blocked Kerry from offering more aid to Egypt. Good or Bad?

Question

Congress Blocked Mullah Kerry From Offering More Aid To Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt
 
Saturday, March 9, 2013 13:49

(Before It's News) 
Excerpted from THE HILL: Secretary of State John Kerry had hoped to offer considerably more aid to Egypt than the $250 million he announced during his trip to Cairo but was blocked by Congress, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said.
 
“This is not the aid package that the administration wanted to announce,” Royce told The Hill. The administration wanted to release a “larger sum,” but bowed to the wishes of Royce’s committee as well as congressional appropriators, he said.
 
Royce wouldn’t say how much Kerry had hoped to announce, but the State Department has been pressing Congress to greenlight $450 million in direct aid since last fall.
 
“Our approach is not the full-throttle administration approach of delivering all the aid that they wanted to deliver, but rather a measured approach of tying tranches to results as it pertains to the peace treaty with Israel, to cooperation with respect to smuggling [into Gaza] and with respect to economic reforms to guarantee civil rights and the rule of law within Egypt,” he said. “That’s the pressure that we’re applying.”
 
Kerry announced the new aid package last Sunday during a stop in Cairo as part of his first trip overseas. The money includes $190 million in budgetary support that’s part of the $1 billion in debt relief President Obama pledged in 2011, along with $60 million for an enterprise fund.
 The aid, Kerry said, was a “good-faith effort to spur reform and help the Egyptian people at this difficult time.”
 
The $190 million comes from the $450 million cash transfer the administration proposed last year to give to Egypt to shore up an economy hammered by the Arab Spring. That money would be culled from funds left over from past Egypt appropriations going back to 2006 (the country gets $1.3 billion in military aid and another $250 million in economic aid every year under the terms of the 1978 Camp David accords leading to peace with Israel).
 
The forme chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), and the chairwoman of the appropriations subpanel on foreign aid, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), placed a hold on the money out of concern over the Muslim Brotherhood government’s democratic credentials and pro-U.S. stance. A Granger staffer said the chairwoman has been in continuous contact with the State Department over the funds and acquiesced to lifting her hold on the $190 million slice that Kerry announced.
 
Ros-Lehtinen lost her ability to hold the money when Royce succeeded her as chairman in January. She bristled when asked about Kerry’s trip this past week.
 
“I’m glad he’s wrapping up this trip,” she told The Hill, “because every stop he makes he makes more of a promise of financial aid to our so-called allies. And if he doesn’t wrap up this tour soon, we’ll be further bankrupt.”
 
At the time he offered the aid, Kerry hinted that more money could be coming if Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s government can win Congress over.
 “The United States can and wants to do more,” he said. “When Egypt takes the difficult steps to strengthen its economy and build political unity and justice, we will work with our Congress at home on additional support.”
 

2013-03-09 13:47:21

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I would say that the recent discovery of the way the State Dept. has squandered funds in Iraq is enough to put their spending on hold till they can face a full accounting . $ 250 million is a mere pittance compared to what they have given away to the second most corrupt government on the planet , Afghanistan .
The corruption seems to follow the US wherever it goes .  The only money we should be giving away should be for direct food and medical aid and it should be run  by the Red Cross .  The State Dept. and the U.N. cannot be trusted .
 I do hope that come the 2016 election cycle that the history of the State Dept.corruption  under Hillary Clinton's control is not buried by the media puppets .

? · Answer

This is awesome as with our economy in its curent state and many unemployed and losing their homes and dreams, we dont need to be wasting good moiney on Nations that despise us thus keeping our mony home for our people. Egypt and others will just have to survive on their own for awhile like we are trying to do. Maybe they should sell their oil to us for a cheaper price so we buy more and our gas prices go down. Theres always a way

whiteflame55 · Answer

I really don't understand the perspective that says "we shouldn't help them because they're the Muslim Brotherhood." There's two problems I see there. One, the Muslim Brotherhood is still one of the most moderate Islamic groups in the Middle East, and ostracizing and demonizing them only makes them more hardline. Two, they're in charge, and whether we like it or not, they're in charge from a popular democratic vote. We should be encouraging democracy, whether it fits with our ideals of who we think should be in charge or not.

amrit · Answer

i've got maximum of solutions here yet i will basically point out some: one million- why is it purely Egypt it is asked to help them? Are we the richest Arabs? Are we greater greater effective of than KSA or Jordan the different wealthy Gulf united states of america ? 2-while Egypt kindly oppened the borders to palestinians countless months in the past, do you already know what got here approximately? thay invaded sinai in super numbers, shoot egyptian squaddies, got here with fake forex (faux money), & ruined each and everything. 3- maximum Palestinians do no longer even like Egyptians, so why might we be that style with them. 4- even nevertheless Egypt is a adverse united states of america, we helped palestine in many events, in case you do no longer think of so, ask Hamas & Fath leaders what are they doing in Sharm El-Sheikh or they're basically playing seashores? i'm no longer kidding, i actually think of they're here to entertain themselves somewhat than fixing their united states of america's issues. 5- Palestinians could have listened to Al-Sadat 35 years in the past while he asked them to connect the negotiations with Israel, somewhat than crying now & requesting help.

Anonymous · Answer

Good.  

It's not the responsibility of the United States to subsidize anyone except the United States.

Anonymous · Answer

foreign aid only in emergencies, like humanitarian disasters. no good comes from foreign aid. let the UN give vaccinations and stuff like that. Doctors without Borders, Red Cross, and so on.
US aid ends up enriching parties and dictators, and doesn't benefit common people.

who WAS #1? · Answer

We should stop feeding our enemies.  And what the heck is USA doing giving "foreign aid" anyway when we have to borrow the money to do it with?

Ryan · Answer

Yea lets people who burn the American flag but not fund the people who live under that flag

Anonymous · Answer

try doin that to Israel....

you'll hear Cryin Clear Across The Pond.....!

Plus, they would try sinking some more of our ships like the USS Liberty.....!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC4nFpWEzNg

? · Answer

This tells the Middle East that America is broke.
Great move when you are trying to bribe them.

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Congress blocked Kerry from offering more aid to Egypt. Good or Bad?

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