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House, Senate clash over aid to Egypt

The Senate’s spending bill keeps human rights restrictions in place despite resistance from the House.
A protester holds up his hands, which are chained together, as journalists and members of the April 6 movement protest against the restriction of press freedom and demand the release of detained journalists in front of the Press Syndicate in Cairo June 10, 2015. Egyptian security forces have arrested dozens of activists ahead of a general strike planned for Thursday, activists and security sources say, part of what the activists describe as an unrelenting crackdown on dissent. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany -

The US Senate wants to keep in place restrictions on military aid to Egypt, setting up a clash with Cairo’s backers in the House.

The Senate foreign aid bill would require Secretary of State John Kerry to certify Egypt’s progress on several human rights and democracy metrics before releasing $1.3 billion in annual military aid, a provision that is missing from the House bill. The Senate bill, unlike the House version, also continues to withhold part of the yearly $150,000 in economic assistance to Egypt in order to pay for the legal bills of workers of nongovernmental organizations sentenced in connection with US-backed efforts to promote democracy in the country.

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