Rep. Wolf calls on Obama to withhold Egypt aid over NGO raids

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) on Tuesday called on President Obama to see recent raids on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by the Egyptian government as an act that should disqualify Egypt from more than $1 billion in military aid from the United States.

In similar letters to Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Wolf cited news reporters saying that Egypt had raided NGOs such as the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House.

"These recent actions by the Egyptian government are a clear violation of the conditions that Congress laid out and as such should have a direct bearing on aid to Egypt, until the situation is rectified," Wolf wrote. "Further, if similar assaults on civil society and religious freedom occur in the future, aid should be indefinitely halted."

Congress last year approved a 2012 foreign operations appropriations bill that requires the State Department to certify that Egypt is supporting a transition to civilian government before the United States can send any military aid to Egypt. Wolf said the United States now sends Egypt about $1.3 billion.

"Your administration, at every possible level, must actively engage with the Egyptian government and make it abundantly clear that these actions will not be tolerated, that the narrative of the Egyptian government is espousing about the work of these organizations is patently false, and that the U.S. is unapologetic in the promotion of basic liberties around the world, including Egypt," Wolf wrote.