POMED Notes: Anne Patterson Nomination Hearing

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a nomination hearing for five ambassadors to the Middle East and Central Asia. The first of the hearing’s two panels featured the Honorable Anne W. Patterson, to be Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt. The second panel featured Michael H. Corbin, to be Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Matthew H. Tueller, to be Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Susan L. Ziadeh, to be Ambassador to the State of Qatar and Kenneth J. Fairfax, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Kazakhstan. The hearing was presided over by Chairman John Kerry, and subsequently by Ranking Member Richard Lugar and Sen. Benjamin Corbin. Other committee members in attendance included Sen. Christopher Coons, Sen. Tom Udall, Sen. Robert Casey, Jr., Sen. Bob Corker and Sen. Robert Menendez.

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Sen. Kerry offered opening remarks before leaving for the Senate floor to introduce new legislation on Libya with Sen. John McCain. Having worked with Patterson in the past namely during her tour as Ambassador to Pakistan, Kerry expressed his admiration for the nominee’s work. His remarks highlighted the importance of Egypt in Middle Eastern affairs, calling it “an incubator of ideas in the region.” He added that it is uniquely situated to advance politically because of its relatively low social divisions and a historically vibrant civil society, even under authoritarian rule.

Though briefly mentioning concerns about election preparations and the possibility of a “redux to Tahrir,” as well as the role of religion and politics, Sen. Kerry focused most of his time on private sector development. In speaking about recent loan and aid packages offered by the U.S., World Bank and International Monetary Fund, he emphasized that “policies must aid all Egyptians” and “expand the public space.” As part of the efforts to attract foreign investment to Egypt, Kerry announced that he will shortly travel to Egypt with Sen. McCain, and executives from General Electric and other companies. He concluded that “consolidating economic political advances will takes a generation,” but noted that a recent poll shows that Egyptians are optimistic about their country’s direction.

After briefly yielding to Sen. Corker so that he may express his respect for Ambassador Patterson’s past service, Sen. Lugar observed that Americans were moved by the demonstrations. He then briefly described the less direct paths and more violent results in Yemen, Libya, Syria and Bahrain. Though he added, “the diversity of the region does not mean shying away from…values we hold dear.” He recommended promoting economic transparency and trade, as well as leveraging U.S. universities and cultural institutions.

Patterson reflected that the hardship posts that she has been assigned have been the highlights of her career. She observed that while political transitions are difficult and long, she is heartened by the historical examples of Latin America and Eastern Europe who were able to democratic and economic prosperity. The Arab countries, she said, are no different.

She proceeded to lay out the administration’s “strategy” for her as Ambassador to Egypt. The first priority is support for a free and fair election process. To this end she said the U.S. supports those civil society organizations that wish to enhance their skills; welcomes the repeal of the emergency law; expresses concern over extrajudicial arrests and trials and attacks on religious groups; and calls for the prosecution of those who committed “some particularly disgusting abuses against women demonstrators.”

The second priority is strengthening the private sector. To underscore the importance of this priority, she highlighted the need to create 750,000 jobs per year to keep pace with new entrants to the workforce, the impossibility of turning back to a public sector-based economy, the lack of investment due to the uncertain climate; but also a recent International Republican Institute poll which shows Egyptians are optimistic about their economy.

“All Americans should be proud of what U.S. assistance has achieved in Egypt over the past thirty years,” including building Cairo’s sewage system, Patterson said. However, “We are now refocusing our assistance on projects that are directly linked with private sector growth and sustainable jobs.” To this end, she pointed to the President’s May 19^th speech where he detailed how the U.S. is “leading the effort in the international community to provide short-term stabilization for Egypt’s economy.” In addition to measures highlighted by the President, Patterson cited legislation introduced by Chairman Kerry to create an enterprise fund for Egypt.

The third priority is “that Egypt plays a strong and positive role in the region and that our interests continue to align.” In this regard, she highlighted Egypt’s role in the Middle East peace process, in fighting terrorism, reintegrating Iraq into the region and providing assistance to Libya’s refugees. Emphasizing the first issue, she added, “Egyptian officials have said repeatedly that they will abide by the peace treaty with Israel.”

With a tone of deferral to the democratic will of the Egyptian people, Patterson said, “During Egypt’s transition we will hear many voices that are not to our liking… If confirmed, I will do everything I can to support the aspirations of the Egyptian people…” She concluded by emphasizing the importance of a “successful, democratic transition in Egypt,” as it “matters to the United States strategically; it matters to our allies; and it will serve as a model for the rest of the Arab world.”

Ranking Member Lugar opened the questioning by raising concerns about the progress of party formation in Egypt, citing a June 19^th Washington Post piece on the issue. Specifically, he registered his concern over the continued absence of party representative of the youth protest movement, and over the prospect of Muslim Brotherhood dominance in the next election. On the second point he added that the results bear a relation to Egypt’s democracy and U.S. relations. Patterson responded saying she that she was “heartened by the work” of groups like “IRI, NDI and IFES.” She noted that $40 million has been invested in their projects in “the past several weeks,” as well as 35 MEPI grants since the revolution. She added that the elections themselves are a multi-faceted issue. Lugar followed up asking about Egyptian concerns over U.S. involvement and the misappropriation of U.S. assistance. Patterson argued that such assistance is not “an affront to Egyptian sovereignty,” citing analogous programs in numerous countries. She also cited MEPI’s strong auditing practices.

Sen. Udall, citing the implications of high unemployment for social unrest, asked how Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is reprogramming funds for Egypt, given scarce allocations. Patterson drew from the example of Latin America to argue that the youth bulge in Egypt may yield a work force with fewer dependents. She explained that $100 million was taken out of the pipeline for Egypt and directed toward job creation programs. These include short-term programs like cash-for-work, programs for infrastructure that will increase trade, and loan programs mentioned in the President’s speech. In answering Sen. Udall’s follow-ups, Patterson conceded that cash-for-work is not sustainable in the long-term and assured that programs will also address water efficiency issues.

Patterson allayed fears raised by Sen. Coons, Sen. Corbin and Sen. Menendez over Egypt’s commitment to its peace treaty with Israel by citing repeated statements by Egyptian officials. In response to a question by Sen. Corbin on “bolder aid,” Patterson noted that Egypt’s youth bulge can pay political dividends in promoting human rights. She also said the U.S. is engaging nascent political partners in Sudan in response to a question by Coons. Senator Menendez also registered his concern over the treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt.