WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) released the following statement in reaction to the State Department notification to Congress that it will not withhold military aid to Egypt, despite a long history of persecuting and jailing dissidents:

“Egypt is an important partner of the United States for peace in the Middle East. The U.S. provides Egypt with $1.3 billion annually in military aid and withholds only $95 million pending clear and consistent progress on the release of political prisoners. By any objective measure Egypt has, once again, failed to meet that legal requirement. The Administration should use the leverage Congress provided to defend the fundamental rights of Egyptian prisoners of conscience who are languishing in deplorable conditions. That is what the Egyptian people—and people everywhere—rightly expect of the United States.”

###