National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014

Floor Speech

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1960) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014 for military activities of the Department of Defense and for military construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes:

Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Chair, I am pleased to offer this simple bipartisan amendment with Reps. Wolf and Schneider to expand an existing report required by Section 1242 of the bill. The amendment clarifies that the report ought to include information on how the Egyptian military is supporting the rights of individuals involved in civil society and democratic promotion efforts through non-governmental organizations or NG0s.

This a timely issue, given the guilty verdict rendered by an Egyptian court June 4th against 43 NGO workers--including 17 Americans--because of their involvement with pro-democracy groups. The guilty verdict renews concerns about Egypt's commitment to democratic principles. In fact, I am circulating a bipartisan letter with my Virginia colleague, Rep. Wolf, urging Egyptian President Morsi to immediately reconsider this action and permit the NGOs to continue their important.work. So far, more than 50 Members of Congress have signed our bipartisan letter, including Rep. Schneider, who also cosponsored this amendment.

The United States supports the aspirations of the Egyptian people to become a free and fair society, in which all NG0s--regardless of their nation of origin--are allowed to operate freely. I hope that Egyptian officials will come to this same realization and return property confiscated from the NGOs 18 months ago, remove their staff from the no-fly list, and permit them to continue their work supporting a fair and open election process and helping to improve the lives of all Egyptians.

If the U.S. government and the American people are to have any confidence that the Egyptian government is undertaking a genuine transition to a democratic state, under civilian control, where the freedoms of assembly, association, religion, and expression are guaranteed and the rule of law is upheld, then we must see a swift and satisfactory resolution to this case.

As my colleagues will recall, this ordeal began a year and a half ago, when Egyptian forces raided both American and non-American NGO offices. During the raids, Egyptian forces seized records, computers, other electronic equipment, and hard currency. At every turn Egyptian authorities assured the NGOs and U.S. authorities that the situation would be appropriately resolved, only to renege on their word. For example, three days after the raids, U.S. NGOs were waiting for the return of their confiscated property as promised by Field Marshal Tantawi while simultaneously, another Egyptian official--Fayza Abou Naga, the government minister in charge of coordinating foreign aid--was holding a press conference saying the property would not be returned. Abou Naga also accused the NGOs of illicitly funneling money to the April 6th Youth Movement.

When I traveled to Egypt in March of last year, my colleagues and I raised the issue of the NGOs with General Tantawi. During that trip, we also met with the Egyptian staffers who were facing charges. They were in a precarious position, and their situation has only worsened with the June 4th verdict.

We cannot in good conscience ignore the results of the recent trial, which comes on the heels of a draft law that further restricts NGOs, fails to meet Egypt's international commitments with respect to freedom of association, and lends credence to the opinion that there is an ongoing war against civil society in Egypt.

U.S. law with regard to this issue is clear in the restrictions placed on the $1.3 billion in military aid for Egypt:

Prior to the obligation of funds appropriated by this Act under the heading `Foreign Military Financing Program,' the Secretary of State shall certify to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of Egypt is supporting the transition to civilian government including holding free and fair elections; implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.

With the current state of affairs in Egypt, any such certification that Egypt is, in fact, implementing policies to guarantee the pillars of a free society would be met with skepticism. That is why news reports of Sec. Kerry's recent action to waive the restrictions on that military aid are of particular concern. It is not too late to include these important NGO issues in a larger discussion about releasing (or withholding) other tranches of money to Egypt.

Our amendment would further support the transition to democracy by requiring the Pentagon report on how Egyptian military activities contribute to an atmosphere where pro-democracy NGOs can operate freely. I encourage my colleagues to support the Connolly/Wolf/Schneider amendment and to sign the related letter to President Morsi of Egypt.

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