Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — U.S. House and Senate leaders have signaled that they would not call for the implementation of the Foreign Assistance Act, which could end the annual $1.5 billion in U.S. aid to Egypt.

The leaders said neither Congress nor the administration of President Barack Obama wanted to punish the Egyptian military, deemed the only stabilizing force in the Arab country.

“The Egyptian military has long been a key partner of the United States and a stabilizing force in the region, and is perhaps the only trusted national institution in Egypt today,” House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor said.

Several congressional leaders have warned that a cutoff of the $1.3 billion allocation to the Egyptian military could result in a backlash. They cited the possible closure of Egypt’s Suez Canal to U.S. military ships that supply troops and equipment to the NATO war in Afghanistan.

“In determining the future of U.S. assistance, the administration should look at the regional picture with our national security interests in mind,” Sen. Robert Corker. a Tennessee Republican, said. “Our long-standing cooperation with Egypt, which is essential for stability in the region, should remain a priority.”

In contrast, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on foreign aid, determined that the Egyptian coup violated U.S. law. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said the administration must act quickly.

“Our law is clear: U.S. aid is cut off when a democratically elected government is deposed by military coup or decree,” Leahy said.

Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, agreed. McCain said U.S. military aid to Egypt must be suspended until at least the scheduling of elections.

“We cannot repeat the same mistakes we made at other times in our
history by supporting the removal of freely elected governments,” McCain
said. “So I believe that the aid has to be suspended, that the Egyptian
military has to set a timetable for elections and new constitution, and then
we should evaluate whether to continue the aid or not.”

On July 8, administration officials said the State Department was
reviewing the legal case on Egypt to determine whether Morsi’s ouster
violated U.S. law. Earlier, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke to his
Egyptian counterpart, Abdul Fatah Sisi, their fourth conversation in three
days.

“They [conversations] were lengthy and very candid,” Pentagon spokesman
George Little said.

Under Section 508 of the act, passed in 2011, Washington must end aid to
any country that underwent a coup. So far, Obama, who announced a review of
U.S. aid to Egypt, has refused to deem the ouster of Egyptian
President Mohammed Morsi as a coup.

“I’m not in the know about exactly what they’re [Egyptian military]
going to do,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said. “My conversations with them have been principally about — I wanted to
hear, get their assurance that they would protect our U.S. citizens and they
will. I wanted to encourage them to protect all the Egyptian people, not to
take sides in any particular issue, and to ensure that they were a part of
the resolution of this, but in their proper role as a military which is to
ensure stability, but not try to influence the outcome.”

  Chuck Hagel, Rep. Eric Cantor, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Robert Corker, Suez Canal, U.S. viewing Egypt’s military as ‘stabilizing force’, won’t cut aid