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Senate kills Rand Paul attempt to cut Egypt aid
The vote was to table the amendment, meaning a “yea” vote was against Paul’s plan. The vote was 86-13.
The floor debate was virtually everyone versus Paul. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said cutting off aid to Egypt would also hurt Israel, a close ally.
“This is a question of whether the senator from Kentucky knows what’s better for Israel, or if Israel knows what’s better for Israel,” McCain said.
On multiple occasions, when asked to yield for questions – including one from McCain – Paul said “not now” and continued imploring his colleagues to see his side.
Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services committee, said some of Paul’s points are “totally wrong” and said if the U.S. cuts aid to Egypt, the money “vacuum” will quickly be filled by other countries like Russia. Such a series of events could then harm Israel, he said.
“This is coming from a conservative, not a liberal, not a Democrat,” Inhofe said. “If you have any feelings at all for our best friends in the Middle East — that’s Israel — then you can’t consider this amendment. Israel has all the interests at stake.”
Read more: Senate kills Rand Paul attempt to cut Egypt aid - Burgess Everett - POLITICO.com
Why U.S. Aid to Egypt Is Here to Stay
But most Democrats and Republicans continue to believe revoking aid would deprive Washington of what Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez recently called its “leverage” over Egypt’s generals. As my colleague Michael Crowley noted, Washington also sensitive to the aid’s connection to the 1978 Camp David Accords establishing peace between Israel and the Arab world’s most populous state.
U.S. aid also buys valuable cooperation between the Pentagon and SCAF, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Allied Forces, including joint counter-terrorism operations in Egypt’s Sinai desert, a hotbed of Islamic militant activity. It also allows U.S. aircraft overflight privileges in Egyptian airspace, and gives U.S. vessels priority passage through the Suez Canal. In fact, the U.S. is the world’s only nation entitled to “cut the line” at the crowded canal – usually months long – and to sail nuclear-armed and powered vessels through it. (Other nuclear powers must send their Middle East-bound ships around the horn of Africa – a long and costly round trip.)
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/31/why-u-s-aid-to-egypt-is-here-to-stay/#ixzz2adxcs1Uc
The vote was to table the amendment, meaning a “yea” vote was against Paul’s plan. The vote was 86-13.
The floor debate was virtually everyone versus Paul. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said cutting off aid to Egypt would also hurt Israel, a close ally.
“This is a question of whether the senator from Kentucky knows what’s better for Israel, or if Israel knows what’s better for Israel,” McCain said.
On multiple occasions, when asked to yield for questions – including one from McCain – Paul said “not now” and continued imploring his colleagues to see his side.
Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services committee, said some of Paul’s points are “totally wrong” and said if the U.S. cuts aid to Egypt, the money “vacuum” will quickly be filled by other countries like Russia. Such a series of events could then harm Israel, he said.
“This is coming from a conservative, not a liberal, not a Democrat,” Inhofe said. “If you have any feelings at all for our best friends in the Middle East — that’s Israel — then you can’t consider this amendment. Israel has all the interests at stake.”
Read more: Senate kills Rand Paul attempt to cut Egypt aid - Burgess Everett - POLITICO.com
Why U.S. Aid to Egypt Is Here to Stay
But most Democrats and Republicans continue to believe revoking aid would deprive Washington of what Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez recently called its “leverage” over Egypt’s generals. As my colleague Michael Crowley noted, Washington also sensitive to the aid’s connection to the 1978 Camp David Accords establishing peace between Israel and the Arab world’s most populous state.
U.S. aid also buys valuable cooperation between the Pentagon and SCAF, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Allied Forces, including joint counter-terrorism operations in Egypt’s Sinai desert, a hotbed of Islamic militant activity. It also allows U.S. aircraft overflight privileges in Egyptian airspace, and gives U.S. vessels priority passage through the Suez Canal. In fact, the U.S. is the world’s only nation entitled to “cut the line” at the crowded canal – usually months long – and to sail nuclear-armed and powered vessels through it. (Other nuclear powers must send their Middle East-bound ships around the horn of Africa – a long and costly round trip.)
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/31/why-u-s-aid-to-egypt-is-here-to-stay/#ixzz2adxcs1Uc