Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama, Senator Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut, and Senator John Hoeven from North Dakota.

"We had scheduled this visit prior to the recent increase in tensions related to the non-governmental organizations. So our goal in coming here is not to attempt to negotiate this very important and delicate matter. We leave that to the Government of Egypt, the U.S. Embassy, and the Embassies of other countries involved.

"Instead, we traveled here to meet with newly elected members of the Parliament from across the political spectrum, with members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces - and to participate in a conference with Egyptian and American businesses that seek to increase prosperity and development in both of our peoples. With all of these different groups, we have reaffirmed the support of the United States, and the Congress in particular, for the sovereignty and aspirations of the Egyptian people - and conveyed our strong desire to cooperate, as partners and friends, with the new democratic government.

"Of course, the issue of the NGOs came up in all of our meetings. And we are confident that people of good faith - in this country, our country, and many others - can and will find an acceptable resolution to the present situation.

"As we follow the debate here in Egypt, we hear it said that these NGOs are violating Egyptian sovereignty and meddling in this country's internal affairs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the majority of the people who work for these organizations here in Egypt are not foreigners, but Egyptians. And their work - which is done at the request of Egyptian democracy and civil society groups - seeks to support these Egyptian partners in pushing for the rule of law, free elections, a free media, respect for the human rights of all people, and other core principles of a democratic society. This assistance has been all the more important because of certain laws that have limited the freedom of Egyptian non-governmental organizations to work on behalf of their own civil society and democratic aspirations, both during the Mubarak era and still today.

"That is the real issue in question. Ultimately, this matter of the NGOs is not about America, despite the efforts of some to make it about America. It is about Egypt. It is about Egyptian democratic and civil society groups, the inherent rights they possess, and whether those rights are respected and protected by the government. It was the previous government's restriction and oppression of Egyptian civil society that motivated Egyptians to raise their voices last year in protest for human rights and human dignity. The success of the Egyptian revolution inspired Egypt's neighbors. It inspired America. And it continues to inspire the world.

"Now Egyptians have the chance to turn the page from the Mubarak era and write a new chapter in the great history of their sovereign nation. That is for Egyptians, and they alone, to do. And as Egyptians continue in their journey of democratic development, America will continue to stand with you, as a partner and as a friend."

United States Department of State (Washington, DC)