I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3725

To prohibit United States military assistance for Egypt and to express the 

sense of Congress that the amount of military assistance that would 

have been provided for Egypt for a fiscal year should be provided in 

the form of economic support fund assistance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 21, 2004

Mr. WEINER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To prohibit United States military assistance for Egypt and 

to express the sense of Congress that the amount of 

military assistance that would have been provided for 

Egypt for a fiscal year should be provided in the form 

of economic support fund assistance.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Egyptian 

5 Counterterrorism and Political Reform Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) Egypt is not a reliable ally in the war on 

2 terrorism. 

3 (2) The Middle East Media Research Institute 

4 (MEMRI) reports that only two weeks before the 

5 September 11, 2001, attacks, the Egyptian Govern6 ment daily newspaper Al-Akhbar published a column 

7 that stated: ‘‘The Statue of Liberty, in New York 

8 Harbor, must be destroyed because of following the 

9 idiotic American policy that goes from disgrace to 

10 disgrace in the swamp of bias and blind fanati11 cism.’’. 

12 (3) According to the Middle East Media Re13 search Institute, the Egyptian Government weekly 

14 newspaper Al-Ahram Al-Arabi published on Sep15 tember 22, 2001, an op-ed article that stated: ‘‘For 

16 many long years, America made many peoples in the 

17 world cry. It was always [America] that carried out 

18 the acts; now, acts are being carried out [against] it. 

19 A cook who concocts poison must one day also taste 

20 that poison!’’. 

21 (4) In the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt 

22 and Israel, signed after the Camp David Accords, 

23 each party agreed ‘‘to ensure that acts or threats of 

24 belligerency, hostility or violence do not originate 

25 from and are not committed from within its territory 
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1 . . . against the population, citizens, or property of 

2 the other party.’’. 

3 (5) The Israeli Defense Forces have repeatedly 

4 found arms smuggling tunnels between Egypt and 

5 the Gaza Strip. More than 40 tunnels were discov6 ered in 2003. Some of these tunnels originate in 

7 Egyptian army and police outposts. 

8 (6) Egyptian President Mubarak publicly stated 

9 that Hezbollah had a ‘‘right’’ to attack Israelis in 

10 Southern Lebanon. 

11 (7) The Middle East Media Research Institute 

12 reports that Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, recently ap13 pointed by the Egyptian Government to be the Mufti 

14 of Egypt, told a conference at the University of 

15 Cairo in March 2003 that ‘‘martyrdom operations, 

16 in which the Palestinians blow up targets of the 

17 Israeli occupation, are actions that are 100 percent 

18 permitted according to Islamic religious law, and it 

19 is forbidden to facilitate attack of a Muslim country 

20 . . . Any attempt to invade Iraq is forbidden by Is21 lamic religious law and by morality, and Islam for22 bids it, and even commands its believers to resist at23 tempts at invasion and occupation.’’. 

24 (8) According to the Middle East Media Re25 search Institute, on August 17, 2001, the Egyptian 
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1 Government daily newspaper Al-Akhbar contained 

2 an editorial that stated: ‘‘All that we have left to say 

3 to the sons of Palestine . . . Kill your enemies wher4 ever you may find them. This is a life and death 

5 conflict between you and them and it will not be 

6 over through calming attempts. The only thing that 

7 will force your enemy to surrender and to accept 

8 your demands is force, whatever the sacrifices may 

9 be.’’. 

10 (9) On May 9, 2003, President Bush stated: 

11 ‘‘Over time, the expansion of liberty throughout the 

12 world is the best guarantee of security throughout 

13 the world. Freedom is the way to peace. . . . We’re 

14 determined to help build a Middle East that grows 

15 in hope, instead of resentment. Because of the ideals 

16 and resolve of this Nation, you and I will not live 

17 in an age of terror. We will live in an age of lib18 erty.’’. 

19 (10) In November 2003 President Bush stated: 

20 ‘‘The great and proud nation Egypt . . . should show 

21 the way toward democracy in the Middle East.’’. 

22 (11) The United States Government’s Middle 

23 East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) ‘‘champions an 

24 expanded public space where democratic voices can 
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1 be heard in the political process, and the people have 

2 a choice in governance’’. 

3 (12) Egypt is a dictatorship. The due process 

4 and separation of powers key to any functioning de5 mocracy have been stifled in Egypt since Hosni Mu6 barak assumed the presidency more than 22 years 

7 ago. The so-called emergency powers he renews 

8 every three years allow him to arrest political oppo9 nents, their family and friends. Some experts believe 

10 that President Mubarak’s refusal to name a suc11 cessor or vice president suggests his intention to 

12 have his son, Gamal Mubarak, succeed him. 

13 (13) Egypt regularly tortures its citizens. Ac14 cording to the Egyptian Organization for Human 

15 Rights approximately 13,000 to 16,000 people are 

16 detained without charge on suspicion of security or 

17 political offenses in Egypt each year. Amnesty Inter18 national published a report last year stating that 

19 ‘‘everyone taken into detention in Egypt is at risk of 

20 torture’’. 

21 (14) The Washington Post reported on January 

22 6, 2004, that 14 people have been allegedly tortured 

23 and killed in Egyptian jails over the course of the 

24 past 2 years. 
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1 (15) The Coptic Christian minority of between 

2 6 and 10 million in Egypt is victimized regularly, 

3 and remains without protection. The Government of 

4 Egypt has never taken responsibility for the arrest 

5 and torture of more than 1,200 Copts in late 1998 

6 in the wake of sectarian violence. 

7 (16) In the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt 

8 and Israel, each party agreed ‘‘that the normal rela9 tionship between them will include full recognition, 

10 diplomatic, economic and cultural relations, termi11 nation of economic boycotts, and discriminatory bar12 riers to the free movement of people and good, and 

13 will guarantee the mutual enjoyment by citizens of 

14 the due process of law’’. 

15 (17) As a member of the Arab League, which 

16 maintains a boycott against Israel, Egypt recalled its 

17 ambassador to Israel in November of 2000, putting 

18 immense strain on the diplomatic relations estab19 lished between the two countries 25 years ago at 

20 Camp David. 

21 (18) In the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt 

22 and Israel, each party agreed that ‘‘the Parties shall 

23 seek to foster mutual understanding and tolerance 

24 and will, accordingly, abstain from hostile propa25 ganda against each other’’. 
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1 (19) The American Jewish Committee reported 

2 that the government controlled newspaper, Al3 Ahkbar, published two award-winning columns enti4 tled, ‘‘Thanks to Hitler’’. The Middle East Media 

5 Research Institute reported that another government 

6 controlled paper, Al-Ahram, suggested that ‘‘respon7 sibility for [the August bombing in the Iraqi city of 

8 Najaf] is Western responsibility—and more specifi9 cally, American’’. 

10 (20) The television series ‘‘Knight Without a 

11 Horse’’ was broadcast on Egypt’s state-run tele12 vision during Ramadan 2002. The television pro13 gram was based on the Protocols of the Elders of 

14 Zion, an anti-Semitic document that suggests that 

15 Jews are planning to take over the world. 

16 (21) On March 23, 2003, The Washington Post 

17 reported: ‘‘The most popular singer in Egypt is 

18 Shaaban Abdel-Rahim, an illiterate man whose tape 

19 ‘I hate Israel’ has sold more than 5 million copies. 

20 One of the most successful plays, ‘Mama America’, 

21 a virulently anti-American piece by well-known artist 

22 Mohammed Sobhi, has been running for months.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES MILITARY AS2 SISTANCE FOR EGYPT. 

3 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, for fiscal year 2005 and subsequent fiscal 

5 years, United States military assistance may not be pro6 vided for Egypt. 

7 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica8 tion of subsection (a) for a fiscal year if the President 

9 determines and certifies to Congress that it is in the na10 tional security interests of the United States to do so. 

11 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that—

13 (1) the amount of United States military assist14 ance that would have been provided for Egypt for a 

15 fiscal year but for the application of section 3(a) 

16 should be provided for Egypt for such fiscal year in 

17 the form of economic support fund assistance under 

18 chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act 

19 of 1961 and further that such assistance should be 

20 in addition to economic support fund assistance al21 ready proposed to be provided for Egypt for such 

22 fiscal year; 

23 (2) funds for economic support fund assistance 

24 for Egypt should not be used by the armed forces 

25 of Egypt; 
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1 (3) 30 days prior to the initial obligation of 

2 funds for economic support fund assistance for 

3 Egypt for a fiscal year, the President should certify 

4 to Congress that procedures have been established to 

5 ensure that the Comptroller General will have access 

6 to appropriate United States financial information in 

7 order to review the uses of such funds; and 

8 (4) the agreement among the United States, 

9 Egypt, and Israel to decrease the overall amount of 

10 United States foreign assistance for both countries 

11 should continue. 

12 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

13 In this Act, the term ‘‘United States military assist14 ance’’ means—

15 (1) assistance for nonproliferation, anti-ter16 rorism, demining and related programs and activi17 ties, including assistance under chapter 8 of part II 

18 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to 

19 anti-terrorism assistance) and assistance under 

20 chapter 9 of part II of such Act, section 504 of the 

21 FREEDOM Support Act, section 23 of the Arms 

22 Export Control Act, or the Foreign Assistance Act 

23 of 1961 for demining activities, the clearance of 

24 unexploded ordnance, the destruction of small arms, 

25 and related activities; 
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1 (2) assistance under section 541 of the Foreign 

2 Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to international 

3 military education and training); and 

4 (3) assistance under section 23 of the Arms Ex5 port Control Act (relating to the ‘‘Foreign Military 

6 Finance’’ program).

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