 Good morning. I'm Meredith Broadbent. I run the international business program here at CSIS and I'm very glad to welcome everyone You know, it's a busy morning with a lot of competing events, so we really appreciate your your presence here We're here to hear from Chairman David Dreyer from the House Rules Committee, and he's got some legislation Addressing the prospect of free trade agreement negotiations with Egypt To introduce him is Ambassador Carla Hills who served as United States trade representative in the first Bush administration And I'm going to turn the the program over to her to take over. Thank you Thank you, Meredith. It's a great pleasure always to be at CSIS and Meredith Broadbent has done a terrific job. I hope each one of you have a copy of her report. I read it two days ago and I think it really sets forth the issues and the importance Excuse me of what we're talking about this morning So if you haven't read it you can read it after this event and we are certainly privileged today To have David Dreyer who is one of the greats in our Congress that represents California's 26th congressional district He was elected in 1980 on a platform that supported free markets strong defense and personal liberty and he's remained true to those principles He has voted for every free trade agreement that has been presented and has supported the president's trade promotion authority regardless of whether the president is a Democrat or Republican and as you all know he chairs the powerful House Rules Committee a Committee that he's served on since 1999 Unlike the Senate and maybe all of you know this the House does not have unlimited debate so the bills go through the Rules committee rather than going straight to the floor when they are reported out of a committee and So the House Rules Committee decides What bill will come up and under what circumstances and the leadership relies Incredibly on the rules committee and its chair to determine how each bill is determined and that is Incredibly important for trade bills, but for all bills Chairman Dreyer has been widely applauded for how he's handled his responsibilities He has earned a hundred percent approval rating from the US Chamber of Commerce the National Association of Manufacturers He holds a heroes a taxpayer award for American tax reform the clean air award from the Sierra Club I can go on and on literally hundreds of diverse groups have applauded this man And he's tried to inform the American people of the benefits of trade regularly pointing out to his audiences that open markets generates jobs growth an opportunity But also builds strong partnerships with key nations around the world and Helps us solve transnational issues like environmental degradation or pandemics of national security and Does a great job on development like eliminating or reducing global poverty? last month he introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for a trade Bill with Egypt and he also traveled last month to Egypt with a bipartisan Congressional group to observe the first round of the post Revolution parliamentary elections that took place on November 28th So we are very very fortunate to have chairman Dreyer here to share his views on the future of us Egypt relations and the role of a free trade agreement Negotiation chairman Dreyer the podium is yours Thank you very much madam ambassador as you talked about all these diverse groups that That support me. I'm just reminded. I guess I'm making an attempt to be all things to all people Which I know I will fail that ultimately, but you're very kind Carla has gone through the fact that I'm chairman of the House Rules Committee. I'm pleased to be the chairman of the California Congressional delegation I'm chairman of a group that I'm going to talk about a commission called the House Democracy Partnership But my real claim to fame is that I'm the chairman of the Carla Hills fan club Which is my most important position and I want to say that It's great to be here with Meredith and Thelma her former colleague and so many people who for such a long period of time have understood the Interdependence of economic and political liberalization and the fact that as Carla just mentioned not just the economic benefits but the geopolitical benefits that exist when it comes to the issue of Breaking down tariff and non-tariff barriers around the world. I thought that First of all, let me say to those. I know that Jill Robert was very involved here at CSIS I know that that service is taking place right now as Carla has just reminded me and Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with his family and I said to Carla well She chose to be here that he very much would have wanted her to be here working hard on the goals that CSIS has had and I I just want to say that the work that takes place here is very important I'm privileged to be a member of I'm embarrassed to say I can't tell you exactly what What group I'm on but I'm on one of your one of your boards You worked me very hard on it and obviously I'm engaged in it every single day as you can as you can tell but I'm still privileged to to be part of it and was asked several years ago to do that frankly by David Abshire and and I'm very pleased to to have an association with CSIS and I will say that this study and And other work that you all do really plays as you know a big role in public policy and a role in the decision-making process in the United States Capitol and so I appreciate the the very very Intellectually rigorous arguments that you have put forward. Let me take just a few minutes to to talk about I'm gonna I'm gonna just I Hesitate to give you a travel log of my travels over the last couple of months But I'm I'm gonna touch on some things because they all are interrelated and they come down to what it is that we're here to discuss today in September I Went to Egypt as part of the House Democracy Partnership Which is a commission that my Democratic colleague David Price and I established seven years ago this coming March and the goal of the House Democracy Partnership is to look at new and reemerging democracies around the world and engage in Institution buildings specifically the legislative branch And we know so often that that leaders members of Congress have a tendency to go into countries And I'll meet with the president of the prime minister and a couple of other ministers and then they have a tendency to leave and It's it's important to realize that One of the key things for us to do is to make sure that we develop strong independent legislative bodies in countries so that they can have an opportunity for oversight of the executive and Since legislative bodies are in most every instance the direct tie to the people It's a very important part of representative democracy and so We in the 1990s had a commission that I was part of that was focused on eastern and central Europe following the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union and We went in and we spent you know these parliaments in Warsaw and Hungary and Poland In Poland and Hungary and other countries in eastern and southern Europe. I do know that Warsaw is not a country by the way I'm sorry. I just said but but I I will say that that as we as we look at the The the countries in eastern central Europe they had Parliaments that were simply a rubber stamp for the Soviet Union So the idea of things that we saw as common sense being developed is what we took on back in the early 1990s the Commission lasted about four or five years and But it was successful at helping you build the parliament so after September 11th We thought that the idea of Recognizing that the development of institutions is going to be critical to dealing with the the challenge that existed in this decade We needed to do what we could to look at countries where we have new and re-emerging democracies and we're partnered with 16 countries around the world going from Mongolia Indonesia East Timor Haiti Peru Columbia Liberia Kenya Lebanon Kosovo Macedonia Ukraine and Georgia and Afghanistan Pakistan and we just established a program with the Council of Representatives in Iraq we're looking now at at South Sudan and Several other countries, but obviously the Arab Spring has been an exciting new potential Opportunity for us and so the House Democracy Partnership made this visit in September to Tunisia and Egypt and When I was there, I said to my staff members who are here with me today Said you know what we need to do is is we need to introduce a resolution and begin moving towards US Egypt Free Trade Agreement and it was received very enthusiastically that the American Chamber of Commerce has been very supportive And we appreciate the the great work of the amcham and support of that But I'm happy to say that throughout the country. I mean regardless of where people stood there was an enthusiastic response to the idea of our embarking on a trade agreement with Egypt and so it went extraordinarily well and we obviously were looking at the wake of the the revolution and the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and the prospect of of the elections when I was there in September and I was asked by our great ambassador and Patterson to come back for the elections and we did and I I will say that there's another trip that I that I took that is Very closely Intertwined with this and I was in Latin America And I visited six countries in Latin America as we were looking at at the work of the House Democracy Partnership and I went to El Salvador and we all know about the the challenging relationship in El Salvador The difficulties went through in the 80s for those who were old enough the 80s and and the 90s and a message that that I found in El Salvador was that In in that country we saw we see today the FMLN the Farah Bundel Martí National Liberation Front governing the president and the speaker of the Parliament in El Salvador and the reason I say that is that they were the absolute adversary of the United States and the idea of Seeing them embrace democracy and the rule of law is a very important thing and one of the statements made to me by a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador was that El Salvador Salvadorans have Varied views about the nation's past, but they all share the same vision for the future and when I shared that statement with Secretary Jeff Feldman who is the Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East in North Africa He said to me and talking about this trade agreement He said the interesting thing is if you look at El Salvador and you look at Egypt he said the thing is is that Egyptians have 50 or 60 different visions for their future and the idea of a free trade agreement Will create an opportunity to allow Egyptians to rally around a common goal regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum and so that lesson the lessons from Eastern and Central Europe and the lessons from This hemisphere can play a role in doing exactly what needs to be done here now I will say that I was very pleased Having been part having led this International Republican Institute the IRI election observer team to see How well the election went? I mean it was extremely inspiring and I and I you know I can share with you these things we have a tendency to take elections for granted and I'm on the board of the International Republican Institute and so have been able to participate leading election observer teams around the world I've never been more inspired than I was in Egypt This was and there have been lots of inspiring opportunities to see this around the world But this is the first time in 7,000 years Basically world history and I know people point to the 48 and 52 elections But they're nothing but based on what I heard from people who were around there They're nothing like the election that we have seen and by the way I mean in two hours the second round Will be closing because this is the second round of the election that's taking place today in Egypt But for me when I was there talking to people who had just I mean one man said to me a 50 year old man said This is the single most important day of my life and I said the most important day of your life Said yeah, because this is the first time that I've ever been able to take any step to do anything That plays a role in determining the future of my country that I love so much I saw 90 year old women climbing four or five flights of stairs at schools So that they could have the chance to vote One judge and the voting boxes in Egypt had They had these these boxes But they covered them because they extended the election to a second day It went to 28th and the 29th and they had gauze over them and they would use wax and seal the The gauze on top of the of the Opening for the for the box And at the end of the voting I was there for the closing as the last voter came in at one of the voting stations And this judge was there and he was Had his seal his little tiny seal that was on his key ring and What he did was is the wax was put onto the gauze as they were doing it and he Kept putting it down and he licked it every time he was uh stamping it onto this and I said Judge tell me what what does this taste like and he looked at me and he said This time it tastes like democracy And so these anecdotes are are so important in looking at at the hopes and aspirations of the egyptian people now They were projections that the muslim brotherhood would have As low as a 10 support one very very prominent journalist In kairou told me when I was there in september that the muslim brotherhood would not see their vote exceed 10 percent I'm not going to say his name because obviously he was very very wrong The polling indicated that the muslim brotherhood the freedom and justice party would have a vote that ranged between 20 and 40 percent And we all know that if you combined the vote of the freedom and justice party and the newer party the salafist it's basically two thirds and I just uh just before coming here I was telling ambassador hills and her colleagues here that I I just had a half an hour conversation with the chief of staff for field marshal tentawi in egypt generalis are and he was constantly reaffirming the commitment to democracy and how this has to be done and um recognition of whoever wins we have to make sure that we work with them The point that I like to make is is that democracy is not simply about elections One election a democracy does not make democracy is about the rule of law political pluralism the development of democratic institutions recognition of women's rights and human rights and the Message of this election that we need to make very clear is That regardless of how people voted because I talked with people of all ages and they said That they were voting for the salafists They were voting for the muslim brotherhood Based on one thing They wanted jobs and the economy to grow they weren't campaigning on an issue of abrogating agreements treaties with israel they weren't campaigning on an anti west platform They weren't campaigning on a platform of denying alcohol or women's rights or any of that They were campaigning on one thing and one thing only and that is they Made a commitment that they would get the economy growing now. We know the devastation that's taken place since february 11th when hazni mubarak left office and Two million jobs have been lost two million jobs have been lost since that time and There is understandable frustration. This is due to a lack of foreign direct investment and due because of uncertainty and due to the lack of tourism That exists in egypt and so steps need to be taken right now to ensure that we can proceed with So that we can proceed with addressing that need that exists there there are some things that can down the important point that meredith has made and a step that I believe we need to take as soon as possible is to take the very very outdated bilateral investment treaty and We need to do what we can to update that and proceed with with our work on that and Obviously the idea of a free trade agreement is not going to happen overnight Carl and I were just talking about the fact that we'd worked on the panama Columbia and korea deals for many many many years and we all know it took over five years since the signing Of those agreements to have them pass the united states congress now That's not thank god what it takes for most agreements, but they all take a while And so it's going to be a while before we get to this and that's why a so-called fta light It seems to me is a very important thing that we should be doing and that we should work on And so I hope that we will be able to do that I also think that There needs to be recognition that egypt is an exciting country with a tremendous potential Tremendous potential and I learned a lot of this when I was meeting with the american chamber of commerce and I happened to like to drink coke zero and I find coke zero in foreign countries more than I do in the united states I just happen to like it. I mean allows me to eat six mrs. Field chocolate chip cookies if I drink a coke zero but To see how coca cola is used in Cairo as the launching pad for basically the entire continent Is an important thing and there are other businesses There are other businesses that will have I believe great potential To use this country of 85 million people as a base For trade within the middle east and throughout the continent of africa and what we need to do is we need to to Create this tie with the united states And our economy and the egyptian economy and I think that that will play a big role in helping with the overall Shared goal of global economic growth Especially in the region so Engagement is now more important than ever and I mean and I made a commitment to do that I'm going to be going back to egypt my plan is to go back To be a witness for the presidential election, which I was just told by general asar this morning that the election is is scheduled for around june 20th and They've indicated of course that they want to turn over The power as as soon as possible in fact when september when I met with field marshal ten towey when I asked him Specifically when he wanted to turn over power. He said yesterday. He said i'm he said i'm a general I said I don't want to run this country and I know there are lots of questions that have been raised about this Whether they really want to run the country or not, but I do believe that we need to recognize that There is going to be a presidential election a constitution is going to be put in place following these parliamentary elections and our active involvement and working with and developing A relationship with those who are elected is critical to dealing with the shared concerns that we have and the work that csis Is doing is playing a big role in that and I appreciate the fact that this report and other things that you're going to do Will be continuing to strengthen us with that. So thank you all very much and it's a great honor to be here I look forward to taking some questions I'd love to take some questions Let me start with one you focused a lot on the What needs to be done in egypt and my question is how do we sell it at home? We're in a fragile fiscal circumstance and we've been In the past giving egypt a lot of money But as I read the report Uh, the united states would gain hugely in terms of getting on the stage with respect to Opening the egyptian market, which is strategically located economically How talk a little bit about the benefits to the united states in terms of its growth Its security in the middle east north africa Its opportunities to Reduce its development budget by doing things that don't take money You've been there and you've seen it firsthand You know, you would think that carla hills was the one who has to stand before the voters not me In in throwing that out there. You're absolutely right We need to underscore the fact that this is a win-win What is it that Can be done to let the american people know well for starters as we know egypt Is the recipient of the second largest foreign assistance package $1.3 billion in the world that we provide and I think that Personally the idea I always like to throw this out. This is in making this appeal trade Not aid I prefer trade to aid and the notion of You know economic growth in egypt when they're dealing with so many problems today Is something that can appeal and I always say when we've got 85 million consumers And if you if you think about the fact and we were I was talking with ambassador paterson about this What would be the immediate benefit? in Egypt right now if we were to proceed with an fta Well the automobile industry in the united states would be an immediate beneficiary of this because right now europe Is exporting greatly into egypt and for us to have an opportunity to compete Uh with that would be a great job creator for organized labor here in the united states And this is I mean I look at thelma and with meredith here This has always been such a point of very very the great frustration for so many of us and of course and pastor hills and that is the fact that Organized labor doesn't recognize that that rank and file union members are the greatest beneficiaries of these market opening opportunities for us And I think that uh that industry alone. I talked about coca-cola. There are other tech country, you know tech companies are frankly I mean under mubarak I was I was in uh, I was in egypt in 05 and um And met with uh and met with with uh president mubarak then of course and actually I encouraged him to have election observers coming in just before the 05 election Uh, he didn't respond to positively to me then but um, but I met with uh with prime minister nazif who I know is now In uh in prison Unfortunately, but he took very very bold steps Towards economic liberalization within egypt then and I visited him in the smart village Which is where microsoft and other tech? companies have Great operations there the idea of of expanding what is our comparative advantage in those fields I mean whether it's the tech area Other areas where we have a comparative advantage I think can can go a long way towards boosting it and this is something that that we all find those of us who travel Internationally around the world people want to have access to us goods and services consumers stop me On the streets and say we would love to have more american products here I mean i got that in mexico when we were debating the north american free trade agreement I find it all over the world and in egypt i found the same thing Uh when i've been there recently they want to have access to it and they love the idea of having a tie to us So what it says is they want to have access to it. What does it mean? It means they want to be able to purchase U.S. Manufactured goods and our services and so that's the argument that we need to to put forward is it's a great new market for us that Does not exist today as well as it could And we're losing out because europe has an arrangement. So let's go to the floor I don't want to I saw a lot of hands go up. Well phelma you get first crack Focus on uh the difficult part the how long it takes How difficult it is in congress how difficult the implementation process by the way It's gotten a lot harder since you left phelma. I just want you to know that no no But I think we lose sight of the fact in my view anyway, the most important things about fta's is the process of negotiation because Countries do things unilaterally while they're in that process The fta's generally have a multilateral context. They get countries to see what their broader obligations might be And so um, I think the process just getting into the negotiations and working toward ticking off each Uh, kind of part of the agreement Is almost as important as is reaching the conclusion in five years after difficult fights in congress So what do you see is the best way to kind of jump start that beginning and focus on the benefits of the process Rather than the Disadvantages that you might face later as you focus on The implementation process and the concluding elements of it NAFTA was a good example And I think all these fta's most countries undertake those obligations Through various other avenues Gsp, et cetera during the process of the negotiation Well, I mean, it's a it's a it's a great point thelma and you're right I mean, I I would argue that uh, you know this first of all this idea has been thrown out in past years And I got my colleague congressman gregory meeks to join with me As who's a great free trader and he's a co-sponsor of this I should say that uh, that my colleague john carry was just there This past week and i'm hoping very much i'm going to talk to him about the idea of making this a bicameral bipartisan Effort in in and so in light of that I think that just the idea of talking on about this and I found this with introducing other fta's In other I have a u.s. Georgia free trade agreement and as you we know about the challenges that exist there And we talk about the geopolitical ramifications of it along along with the economic benefits And so those just the step of introducing it has had a salutary effect on on many areas And I think that again as secretary feltman said to me since there is such Diversity of the vision that egyptians have the idea of being able to rally around this can go a long way towards helping it And the other thing is meritless work I mean her work product focusing on the bit and any other incremental steps that we can take in this process of getting Ultimately to an fta Will uh, we'll we'll bring again immediate benefits And I'd like to think that we've been able to just by introduction of this been able to have a positive impact because again I will tell you that I met with a wide range of political parties uh people with very diverse views when I was in egypt and I always talked about the fta And that and no one said oh, we can't do that. No one told me that they were opposed to it I mean people were enthusiastic about it. And so I think just the idea of Frankly just talking about it and pursuing it saying that the united state There there are people in the united states who want To to pursue this and then gsp and other things and the bit, you know updating those kinds of things I think can take place, you know in the process itself Of course to ultimately do this we got to get trade promotion authority back too, which is another big battle Yes, please State your name and uh affiliation Thank you. I'm brian riley from the heritage foundation And uh congressman, thank you for your leadership not just on this issue. Uh, but on free trade issues generally I'm looking at page seven of meritless, uh study in particular What's the question? Uh, I notice the question About half of our imports if i'm reading it correctly from egypt are uh textiles cottons textiles and apparel And my question is, um Free trade agreement is a great idea There's no reason the us couldn't just get rid of our tariffs on textiles or shoes or products like that I think many of us in this room including at that table would probably Agree that that would be a good idea in our interest. Um, my question specifically Is things have changed a lot since you're elected in 1980, uh, congressionally among your colleagues Would there be any chance of the united states moving in that direction? Thank you. Well, I mean, I would say that the changes Since 1980 have been positive Uh, they've been positive in that There is a recognition of Shifts that that that take place. I mean professor michael porter at harvard has done this great study in which he In which he looked at You know throughout history movements not not only taking place within the united states but globally And so these there is recognition of these shifts. So You know my colleagues in the congress Who represent what has been over the last several decades? I mean the textile industry was obviously in new england for but I mean over the last several decades the textile industry has been based In the southeast and now with bmw plants opening in south carolina And and all with with with all due respect to my great friend roger millican the arguments that have been put forward in opposition to uh, this notion of Trade, uh, you know, I think that that we've really well and I just point to the votes that we had on our FTAs the the korea panama and the columbia fta's And I'll give you a little insight and i'm not going to name any members in particular, but When I've worked on this issue back, you know with carla and meredith and thelma and others for years We would have a block of members Republican members who just did not even want to hear anything of of this trade thing because Textiles was a big part of it Of the new there are 89 new republican members who who were elected and Very about seven or eight new democratic members. I've spent a lot of time with with The new members talking about the issue of trade and I've been very encouraged To see some members who I assumed would Just put up a block to any effort to do this coming to be saying we understand and know that this is the right thing to do I want to figure out how I can work with my Constituents to get there and guess what? Most of these members of these newer members most of these newer members were supportive and I think that they would be They're going to be concerns and we all recognize that some displacement takes place Even though we argue that trade is not a zero sum game and it's a win-win We know that overall We recognize that there are some problems But the fact that we have our members wanting to work through this thing, brian is I think a very positive thing And I'm encouraged by that Yes over here Jim Thank you. Jim burger from Washington trade daily. Uh, mr. Dreyer. You talked about What a good idea this uh, egypt fta is The egyptians people egyptian political parties u.s. Chamber Uh supports it, but the last hills you call it. Yeah, well But the last time I talked to us trade representative a couple weeks ago Uh, he said ain't going to happen anytime soon Would you bring this resolution to the floor from your committee or well Jim, let me just tell you that um, I've talked to the u.s. Trade representative about this as well I mean I talked to him just this this past week. I told him what what we have done and um And actually ambassador hills, uh, when we were in the green room just before we were coming out Recognize that in a In an election year. It's it's uh, challenging to do this um We have just gone through three and you know very very, uh challenging trade votes In the house. I mean our votes that we had for our three trade agreements and, uh In light of that I I'm I'm not going to tell you that we're going to report this out because frankly we have You know, there are concerns that exist there And so I can't tell you that this is on the schedule jim But I will I will assure you that I'm going to continue to Uh work with closely and I'm I'm I consider uh, ambassador kirke and and I've talked with president obama about this as well And uh, recently as last week I talked to the president about just the overall trade agenda and how we need to continue to focus on this and I think that Success that we're going to have with the three trade agreements that have passed. I think can go away towards Towards helping us with things like a u.s. Egypt free trade agreement and at least laying the groundwork for it But I can't give you a schedule as to when we're going to bring this up Yes Good morning. Uh, my name is ibrahim hussein. I am an egyptian american who lives here in washington dc Uh, I really personally and I am a member of the alliance of egyptian americans Who are egyptian americans living here and active in egyptian american relationship Did you vote in the election by the way? I did not register to vote before during mubarak's election because I felt It's a waste of time right but I registered for id card and I hopefully get to vote for the presidential election any future election. Good, but that's a very good question I'd like to ask About I just wanted to get another anecdote. I mean since I got him from so many words there I wanted an anecdote from somebody in the united states who'd voted I I just want to say I really admire what you had to say and Fully agree and it's beautiful to hear a congressman Uh, who is have such a good insight of what's going on there? And I really love meredith. I look at your hand out here the the word hesitant policy US hesitant policy toward egypt and I think it's a very good description. So, uh, I hope that Obama administration will stop being so hesitant Uh My question is as an egyptian-american Living here, what can we do as an individual organization to help Move the issues that you discussed both here and in Egypt Well, the first thing that you can do is is come to and participate in csis programs, uh, which you obviously Have done and I want to express my appreciation for that first. Uh, thank you. Thank you for your very kind words And uh, I'm I'm flattered by that and I appreciate it and it bullies me to continue With the work that we're doing I mean talk about this To people in the united states whatever groups you have talk about the benefits of this Get as much information that you can from your fellow egyptians And I would I would do everything that you can to get as much insight And I I think that, uh You know Doing the things that are natural. I mean go online and communicate with people Write letters to the editor about the benefits of this kind of idea. I mean just the kinds of of You share this this view. You're in a very unique position You're in a much better position than I with some constituencies to talk about this As someone in this country and so I mean if you have organizations here in the united states We'd be happy to do anything we can to help facilitate or get information you have merit us Great study. So that's um something that you can use as a basis for it. So Over uh, yes, please A microphone is coming Salah always tells me university And i'm an engineering consultant in the energy storage area. I have two points here and still They're not clear to me right now A few weeks ago the minister of international cooperation Faiza bonnaga the egyptian She was here and one of the points on her agenda is asking the us administration to stop The us aid to egypt and the administration declined That's number one It's unclear Everybody's talking about the aid to egypt and billions and that stuff Here is an official comes and asking for stopping this aid and the administration declines The other point which still very unclear to me What would be the relationship or the impact of The quiz on the free trade agreement And how would be the relationship between the two? Thank you so much Well, the the issue of the qiz was discussed at our breakfast at the at the chamber of commerce and i I believe that the qiz the qualified industrial zones is basically the Really the basis from which we can build on an ultimate free trade agreement to thelma's point every single thing that we do On the issue of eliminating any barriers is a step in our quest For the complete elimination of of those barriers, which is what a free trade agreement ultimately brings about As far as the the issue of aid, I know that they're Working with the the uh the supreme council the armed forces the staff and uh and others in egypt There is a lot of talk and the need because of the economic challenges that exist there for continued assistance and There are varied views On exactly where that assistance should go and I I mean i'm the first to admit it having spoken with Um a broad range of egyptians. There are lots of views as to how it should be handled And I was to be very honest I will say that I I am and to get to carla's original Point somewhat troubled that there's some people in egypt who see the 1.3 billion dollar assistance as an entitlement and that we in the united states have no right whatsoever and To scrutinize this or to look carefully at exactly how our taxpayer dollars are expended and To let carla know that I do have her message about The uh the imperative of watching our tax dollars carefully. I have always said in my meetings with Uh with field marshal ten taui with general assar and the conversation I had just before coming over here I reminded him of the economic challenges that we have in the united states and I reminded him how precious Every taxpayer dollar is because I mean I have friends in los angeles the area that I represent Who've lost their homes who've lost their businesses who've lost their jobs And are suffering and so The responsibility that I have as a member of congress to oversee how Foreign assistance dollars are expended is a very very it's an important one that I take seriously And so we are going to continue to scrutinize it now having said that I do believe that That egypt is an extraordinarily important ally They are the leader when it comes to the the arab awakening the arab spring And uh, I think that um, we will be um again It would be a mistake for us to turn our backs which I think some people And even some of my colleagues have uh have advocated and I'm going to do everything that I can to ensure that that doesn't happen Yes, please Thank you, ambassador hills. I'm bob castro And I'm an independent consultant on my way to live in cairo and uh and work for the next few years And his wife is a very important foreign service officer. Thank you. I used to be a government official with these folks But I kind of handed over those rains It's clear that there's not just the economic benefit both ways But there's the strategic benefit and the potential strategic loss out if the u.s Doesn't act sooner And meredith brought that to light uh last month with a great form with our european counterparts and the assistant us tr But i'm also concerned about china and other potentially street strategic adversaries if you want to call them that How much does that resonate with? Constituencies that you represent congressman drier with other members that it's not just about the economic benefit we gain now But every minute we wait Potentially allows china or other foreign investors to gain greater influence in that region Well bob, it's it's a very powerful one and um not to uh get too off topic, but I mean yesterday I was uh managing the debate on the on the house floor for our so-called tax extenders bill For the rule on that uh leading up to to my friend dav camp the chairman of the ways and means committee managing that and um The issue is the keystone pipeline keystone excel pipeline, which everyone sees in the news and uh I'm a strong proponent of our proceeding with that Obviously, and china comes into the equation here. We have a very important alliance with canada I mean massive training partner and and all and understandably the canadians are looking for a market And if we're not going to provide that they are going to uh to be doing that similarly We need to take the same approach I believe um With egypt I I don't fault any country that looks to Find a market or uh find a producer for a product that they want I don't fault any country in the world for trying to do that But as carlo said when it comes to automobiles and the agreement that egypt has in europe and the potential for us with an FTA to immediately see our vehicles have a market in egypt We need to get into the game You know, I've always subscribed to that view if we don't shape the global economy We will be shaped by it now having said that bob I'm always sensitive and the the economist coined the the great term We want to be careful about the made in america stamp on the arab awakening the arab spring We want to be careful about that So that's why what I always say is we want to share our experience We want to create an opportunity for those who are going through this this great change and I Like to say also we don't have all the answers. We just have 222 years of experience is what we want to share I think we have time for one more question. All right there right there young lady Good morning. I'm don hushall. I'm the egypt desk officer at usa id Thank you. Got a great program going over there. Thank you. Thanks I have a question about I understand that we're we're having an internal dialogue on the hill and within the administration About what we can do to advance the trade agenda in egypt I'm I'm wondering what specific given in that it's a transition government And we've had several different ministers of trade that we've been have served as our counterparts What specific measures or what specific signals can we Look for to indicate that the egyptians are ready to begin negotiations Well, I I will see even negotiations on the trade issue. Oh, I mean I I believe Let me just say that I mean from the staff to political party leaders There is a great interest and an enthusiasm For this in fact, I mean at the at the meeting that I had With the staff Just a couple of weeks ago I had already introduced this and They brought this up and they said I made a commitment to field marshal 10 taui in september that I would do this So they're enthused about so I think that they are ready to go. I just have not found opposition Actually, I shouldn't say that I found no opposition because I found a little bit of opposition concern Actually, I had an intern from alexandria who was working in my office and she I'm still going through the education process with her on the benefits of trade but but but But people in governmental positions I I I found and and business people and all certainly a very high level This is so I think they're raring to go It's it's up to us to I think move this as quickly as we can So I I think you'll all agree with me that we have been Very very well served by having a chairman dryer accept our invitation and Keep in mind that this free trade agreement that he's been talking about Is not only important for the united states in a strategic sense with egypt sitting right there with the suez canal And the largest the largest population center For development for our own benefit in terms of trade and opportunity And let's do everything we can to help him move his bipartisan agenda forward So we congratulate you on all you've done and all you're doing And we're terribly grateful that you took the time out so off And you can all see why i'm the chairman of the carla hills fan club too, so thank you very much