Political Quotes

“I want to speak about a matter in Egypt, a longtime ally of the United States, a country with a rich history and culture, but whose people have suffered for years due to corrupt, repressive governments and an anemic economy that stagnates under excessive statist control. This is the situation despite more than $75 billion in U.S. economic and military aid for Egypt over the past 50 years. Today, more than 5 years after public protests led to the resignation of President Mubarak, followed by the election of the Muslim Brotherhood, the military-supported coup that forcibly removed and imprisoned President Morsi and thousands of his followers, and the election that brought President al-Sisi, a former army general, to power, the United States and Egypt are struggling to preserve a long history of security cooperation. That cooperation is important to the Middle East region as a whole, but U.S.-Egypt relations face increasing challenges as President al- Sisi tightens his grip on power by persecuting political opponents, silencing members of the media, including deporting American and other foreign journalists who criticize his policies and imprisoning representatives of civil society.…”