David Obey: “I thank the gentleman. Someone on the other side just said ``What will the headline be tomorrow?''; that it will be that…”

“I thank the gentleman. Someone on the other side just said ``What will the headline be tomorrow?''; that it will be that there is a slap in the face of the government. That is the point. That is the point. Our long-term security is tied not just to Mr. Mubarak, but whoever comes after him. And what we are trying to do is to send a message to all levels in Egyptian society that we stand for what we say we stand for, which is a modicum of decency in dealing with your political opponents, absent other trappings of democracy. And it is important that a lot of people in Egypt besides Mr. Mubarak understand that we are serious about our democratic values, that we are serious about assuming that the country that is more identified with us than any other Arab country, that it is important that they reflect certain norms of decency with respect to the way they treat their population and treat their political opponents. And it is in the interest of the United States to make sure that every citizen of Egypt understands that, because otherwise, we allow other groups, like the Muslim Brotherhood, to paint caricatures of the United States, which will do us no good in the long run. I thank the gentleman for the time.”