Press Releases
POWELL URGED TO FORGE AHEAD WITH PROPOSED ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, CULTURAL REFORMS AT PLANNED MID EAST SUMMIT
Washington DC – Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn) urged Secretary of State Colin Powell to forge ahead with plans to press Middle East reforms at a summit in June. The United States had planned to do so, but pulled back in the face of Arab and European nation criticism.
In June, President Bush will host a meeting of industrial nations in Sea Island, Georgia. The United States had planned to introduce the Greater Middle East initiative at the meeting, which called for broad economic, political and cultural reforms in the Middle East.
However, Arab and European nations have expressed objections to the initiative, saying that aid, investment and trade should be the means for encouraging reform. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have been particularly vocal.
Today, Rep. Weiner urged Secretary of State Powell to push ahead with the initiative. “To accomplish real change in the Middle East, you need the carrot but you also need the stick,” said Rep. Weiner. “Sending American aid has an appropriate role, but demanding return on our investment needs to be part of the package. If we continue to wait until countries like Saudi Arabia implement reforms from within, the wait will never end. We can’t fold in the face of Saudi and Egyptian pressure.”
Congressman Anthony D. Weiner
