Rep. Joe Walsh (R., Ill.) is calling for the U.S. to ax foreign aid to Egypt in light of a recent election that put in power a new Muslim Brotherhood-backed president who said that he is reassessing the country’s peace treaty with Israel and considering increasing ties to Iran.
"The sole purpose for providing Egypt with over $2 billion dollars a year in U.S taxpayer dollars was to maintain the peace treaty with Israel and promote stability in the region," Walsh said in a statement provided to the Free Beacon. "With the Muslim brotherhood now calling on closer ties to Iran and a redo of the peace treaty with Israel, I see no reason to send one more dollar of U.S aid to Egypt. Every dollar wasted propping up this new government is a dollar wasted that should be going to paying down our debt or providing tax relief to struggling American families."
Egypt should not be rewarded with taxpayer money for threatening to cut ties with Israel, Walsh said. As Americans struggle in a stagnating economy, the U.S. should only be funding those countries that will uphold U.S. values abroad.
"At a time when the United States is racking up record deficits, and American families are struggling with high taxes and difficult economic times, we need to rethink giving aid to a government who is outwardly hostile to the West and to Israel," Walsh said. "Aiding a group that is ‘rethinking’ the Camp David Accords and planning to establish ties with Iran blatantly goes against everything our country stands for."
"With [newly elected president] Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood squarely in control of Egypt following the recent elections, it is time that the United States thinks about ending our foreign aid to Egypt," the statement notes. "Since 1979, U.S. aid to Egypt has averaged about $2 billion annually, which was initially established because Israel and Egypt had established a peace treaty."
Walsh joins fellow Republican Rep. Allen West (Fla.) in a growing chorus of lawmakers who see the election results in Egypt as a danger for the U.S. and its allies in the region.
"I call upon President Barack Obama to cut off American foreign aid to Egypt, denounce the results of this election, repudiate the Muslim Brotherhood, and all radical Islamist political entities," West said in a statement released on his official Facebook page yesterday.