Senator urges aid freeze to Egypt amid human rights abuses
Sen. Chris Murphy urged the Biden administration not to bypass US law with this year's military aid package to Cairo.
US Sen. Chris Murphy issued a blistering critique of the Egyptian government’s human rights abuses Wednesday, urging the Biden administration not to waive a congressionally mandated hold on a fraction of annual military aid to Cairo.
“Only China and Iran execute more people every year than Egypt, and many of these executions are for political crimes,” the Connecticut Democrat said on the Senate floor.
“When countries accept our money and continue to thumb their nose at our values, it makes America look like a patsy,” he said.
The United States provides some $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt annually. In 2017 Congress passed legislation that would block the release of $300 million of that aid unless Cairo curtails its human rights abuses and releases political prisoners.
