Senators Coons, Murphy release statement on Biden administration’s decision to send aid to Egypt despite failure to meet conditions set by Congress

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS), and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, on Wednesday released the following statement on the Biden administration's decision to send $95 million in U.S. aid to Egypt despite its failure to make clear and consistent progress on releasing political prisoners - a condition that Congress placed on the aid:

"The law is clear: Egypt is required to make 'clear and consistent progress' in releasing political prisoners in order to receive $95 million - a small portion - of its $1.3 billion military aid package this year. The Egyptian government has failed that test. Over the last year, for every single political prisoner Egypt has released, it has jailed two more. That's not clear and consistent progress - it's one step forward and two steps back. And among the thousands and thousands of political prisoners the government has continued to refuse to release are two U.S. legal permanent residents, Hosam Khalaf and Salah Soltan."