In the News

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, and Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), a senior Member of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, received a report today regarding their June 2013 bipartisan request from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on U.S. foreign assistance to Egypt. In October 2013, three months after Morsi’s removal, the Obama administration announced that it would hold a cash transfer of $260 million in Economic Support Funding. To date, those funds, and an additional $200 million earmarked for Egypt by the Department of State and USAID, remain unspent. In its report, GAO recommended that State and USAID develop an alternative plan for the funds that possibly includes offsetting future budget requests, while also expressing concern that State has not adequately evaluated the results of billions of dollars in security assistance to Egypt.

Please click here for a link to the report: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-259

“This report uncovers a certain degree of paralysis in our foreign assistance operation in Egypt," said Rep. Connolly. "Identifying and ultimately resolving the dual issues of unspent funds and an incomplete evaluation of U.S. security assistance could help the U.S. accomplish broader goals in Egypt, namely support for democratic governance.”

“Our bilateral relationship with Egypt is important to advance regional objectives, but it’s disappointing that the State Department continues to request more money for Egypt when it has nearly half a billion dollars of unobligated taxpayer funds already in the pipeline and no coordinated strategy for the future," Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said. "This report also illustrates that State has not done its due diligence to evaluate our security assistance programs and as we move forward, we must recognize the precarious security situation surrounding Egypt but also prioritize the need for Cairo to implement substantive economic and democratic reforms to help it achieve stability.”

NOTE: For the first two phases of the request by the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, GAO has issued reports on democracy and governance assistance to Egypt (July 2014); and examining the status of economic and security assistance to Egypt, (February 2015). Under the last phase of work under the request, GAO is addressing the following questions: (1) to what extend has the U.S. government disbursed or committed funds allocated for security-related assistance for Egypt in fiscal years 2009 through 2015?; (2) to what extent has the U.S. government implemented end-use monitoring for equipment transferred to Egyptian security forces in fiscal years 2009 through 2015?; and (3) to what extent has the U.S. government vetted Egyptian recipients of U.S. security-related assistance for human rights concerns in fiscal years 2009 through 2015?