Franks Stresses Importance of Ongoing Egyptian-Israeli Alliance
February 17, 2011—Speaking during last night's debate of amendments offered to the FY2011 budget, Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) addressed the vital importance of a continued alliance between Egypt and Israel, and the threat potentially posed to the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty by the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
Franks also proposed an amendment stipulating that all future federal funding sent to Egypt be dependent upon Egypt's continuing to allow free navigation within the Suez Canal.
A full transcript of Franks' remarks, as prepared, is included below.
Congressman Franks is serving his fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives and is a member of the Judiciary Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law. He is also a member of the Armed Services Committee, where he serves on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee and the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk, numbered 481 in the Congressional Record.
My amendment calls "on the new Government of Egypt to fulfill its commitment to the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty signed on March 26, 1979, and to freedom of navigation of the Suez Canal."
For over a quarter of a century, Israel and Egypt have chosen to transcend differences to promote their respective national interests. Through hostile times and dramatic regional and international changes, Egypt and Israel have maintained a steadfast commitment to the well-being and existence of one another.
The United States calls upon Egypt to maintain their alliance with the State of Israel during these perilous times. Israel has been a beacon of democracy in the Middle East in the midst of experiencing both foreign state-sponsored and other terrorist attacks. It is surrounded by those who embrace a radical Islamic agenda and a pledge of jihad against the State of Israel. Israel's relationship with many of its neighbors in the Middle East remains contentious and they deal with the risk of terrorist attacks on an omnipresent basis.
For this reason I've introduced Amendment 481. The Continuing Resolution states that "any assistance made available to the Government of Egypt shall be provided with the understanding that Egypt will undertake significant economic and democratic reforms." Mr. Chairman, the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979 is central to maintaining an economic and peacefully democratic relationship between these two critical countries.
I must also express my grave concern about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and their stance against preserving a peaceful relationship with Israel. Mohamed Badi [ba-dee], the Brotherhood's Supreme Guide, recently pledged the Brotherhood would "continue to raise the banner of jihad" against the Jews, and he called Jews the Brotherhood's "first and foremost enemies."
Another top Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Ghanem [gah-nem], said to the Iran’s Al-Alam Arabic-language TV network that he believed Egypt should close the Suez Canal to U.S. warships, and “the people of Egypt should be prepared for war against Israel."
According to its charter, the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to impose Shariah law, restore the Islamic caliphate, and conquer non-Muslim or “infidel” states.
I fear, based on these statements from the Brotherhood's leadership and from their founding charter, that this treaty would be severely threatened if the Muslim Brotherhood were to gain a seat at the table in the new Egyptian Government. The United States should support Egypt's army and secular leaders and ensure no future for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. If Shariah law chains Egypt and oppresses women, Christians, Jews or other minority groups, it would cause a devastating setback for peace in the Middle East. And, furthermore, such a state could renounce the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty or even call for another war with Israel.
A democratic society in Egypt must maintain the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. Israel shares a long and porous border with Egypt and I cannot express how crucial it is for the new Government of Egypt to honor the peace. I call on the U.S. House of Representatives to expect any Government of Egypt to honor the peace.
Due to Clause 2 of Rule 21, a point of order will be raised on my amendment, therefore I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Opening up the dialogue
By Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) - 02/16/11 09:08 AM ET
We are broke.
The American people understand this and they are asking Congress to have an honest conversation about where we stand and how we can ensure that our children and grandchildren have the same opportunities we once had. Unfortunately, the Administration wants to continue business as usual and try to tax and spend its way out of this recession.
It isn’t working.
If we are serious about getting our nation out of debt then we need to have an adult conversation about our entitlement programs and the culture of spending on Capitol Hill. I am deeply disappointed in the President’s FY 2012 budget request. Not only does it ignore the larger issues at hand, it spends more than we have, taxes our hard working families and small businesses and adds more to our skyrocketing national debt. We are building up the federal machine- the bureaucracies and regulators, at the expense of the American free market system.
First and foremost, we need to stop the mentality of spending more than we take in. Nowhere in America could a small business survive if it continued to spend more than it earns. The President’s budget calls for $3.8 trillion in spending this year alone. That equals 25.3 percent of the GDP – the highest percentage since World War II. Furthermore, the President’s budget requires $46 trillion in spending over the decade, $8.7 trillion of which is NEW spending. We simply cannot afford his budget. We must cut spending and start living within our means.
Next, at a time when people in my district are experiencing double digit unemployment, the President’s budget calls for a $1.6 trillion tax hike on families and small businesses. Taxing those that are hurting will not create jobs and it is not going to turn around this faltering economy. When we create new jobs, then we bring in new revenues. Taxing those that are already stretched too thin will not create the economic stability that Main Street is looking for; rather, it threatens to shutter more small businesses and cause even more workers to be laid off.
Finally, this budget does not seriously address the looming threat of our out-of-control debt and deficit. If we implemented this budget as is, the FY 2012 deficit would be nearly $1.65 trillion. We cannot afford this. Thirteen trillion dollars more will be added to our debt in the next decade. Rather than tackling these problems we are leaving them for our future generations to solve. We need to empower our future generations, not burden them with our wasteful spending.
We must wake up and realize that we cannot continue down this path. It is irresponsible. We need to start the discussion of fixing our broken entitlement programs and ending the practice of unfunded mandates. If our families are being forced to slash their budgets, then so should the federal government. I know many tough decisions lie ahead, but we no longer have the time to wait and leave the mess for someone else to resolve. Let’s begin the dialogue with the American people and begin to get our nation back on track.
The people of our nation hold the key to the solutions we are searching for. Who says we can’t fulfill the promises made to our seniors? Who says we can’t dig our way out of this debt? I wasn’t raised in an America that says we can’t. We are a people who believe in American exceptionalism and it is time we stop putting off the discussion that we need to have today. We cannot leave our children and grandchildren with broken promises. We must fix the flaws in our system so that we can continue to be the greatest nation on earth.
Dr. Paul Gosar is serving his first term in Congress as the Representative to Arizona’s First Congressional District. As a healthcare provider and small business owner, Gosar is focused on bringing jobs back to the district, reforming health care, reining in government spending and ensuring that his constituents are involved in the solution process.
Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/144413-opening-up-the-dialogue
Rep. Schweikert Questions Witnesses on the Distortion of Prices Regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
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Congressman Flake Supports Pence Amendment to Prohibit Funds to Planned Parenthood
Flake Will Pursue Further Actions to Strike Funding
Washington, D.C. – Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today voiced his support for amendment #11 to H.R. 1 sponsored by Congressman Mike Pence. The amendment will prohibit funds for any purpose to be directed toward Planned Parenthood.
“It’s long been known that Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of federal family planning funds, despite the fact that federal law specifically prohibits funds to be used for programs that designate abortion as a method of family planning. I strongly support Mike Pence’s effort to prohibit funding for Planned Parenthood, and I will look for opportunities as a member of the Appropriations Committee to strike further funding for Planned Parenthood,” said Flake.
Congressman Flake has been for the past two Congresses a cosponsor of Congressman Pence’s corresponding free-standing bill which would prohibit funding to entities that perform abortions under Title X of the Public Health Service Act, and is currently a cosponsor of the reintroduced bill (H.R. 217) in the 112th Congress.
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Rep. Quayle Statement on the Two-Year “Stimulus” Anniversary
WASHINGTON (D.C.)Congressman Ben Quayle (R-AZ) released the following statement Thursday on the two-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
“The so-called stimulus package was sold to the American public two years ago as an economic cure-all that would save or create at least three million jobs, keep unemployment under 8 percent and get the economy going again. And while we didn’t get the jobs, we certainly got the debt—$1 trillion added to our staggering national debt. The spending, however, didn’t stop there. For two more years, the Administration and Congressional Democrats put forward a glut of ideologically driven legislation that all shared one thing in common: they were unaffordable.
“This week, the House is voting on the largest spending-cutpackage since the 1940’s. While these cuts won’t solve our fiscal problems outright, they are an important first step. In the coming months, House Republicans will release a budget that will include common sense reforms to entitlements—a critical step in any serious debt-reduction effort. We won’t be able to make these changes without the support of fiscally minded Democrats. The American people are counting on us to work together.”
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