WASHINGTON, July 16 (AFP) - The US House of Representatives overwhemingly defeated a measure aimed at punishing Egypt for tolerating anti-Semitism in television programming and for restricting its anti-terrorist cooperation with the United States.
The measure, an amendment to the foreign aid bill for fiscal 2005, would have reclassified 570 million dollars in aid to Egypt from military to economic.
Proposed by Democratic Representative for California Tom Lantos, the amendment was rejected Wednesday by a 287 to 131 vote, according to congressional records.
The measure had been strongly opposed by the White House, The Washington Post said Friday.
The amendment would have authorized the "transfer of 570 million dollars in military assistance for Egypt to economic aid for Egypt," according to an account of Wednesday's congressional proceedings.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, said the Post, wrote Congress saying the amendment would weaken balanced military aid to Egypt and Israel, adding that US credibility "depends to a great degree upon being a reliable provider of assistance to the Egyptian military."
Powell and senior lawmakers from both parties also stressed that cutting military aid to Egypt would send the wrong signal at a time when Egypt has begun working closely with Israel to assure a smooth transition as Israel plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, which has a border with Egypt, the daily added.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice also lobbyed lawmakers by telephone, and arms manufacturers warned congressmen that the change in aid could lead to more unemployment in their home districts, the Post said.
"It was a full-court press," Lantos was quoted as saying.
The 19.4 billion dollar foreign aid bill for fiscal 2005 -- beginning October 1 -- was later
passed by a 365 to 41 vote.
The State Department indicated that Powell "sent a letter dated July 14 to the Honorable Jim Kolbe, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related programs of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
"The letter focused on the importance of our annual military assistance budget to Egypt by outlining Egypt's crucial role in our efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East and its contribution to regional stability," spokesman Richard Boucher added.