michele dunne and ambassador daniel kurtzer for being here today. we look forward to their effective on the situation in egypt and the ramifications for egypt and the united states. the situation in egypt has tremendous implications for the united states. our response must be carefully calibrated. at the same time, support u.s. national security interest in the region. these two goals are, in my view, not at odds with one another. they do require a complex policy response that allows us to advocate for much-needed democratic reforms while also ensuring our own security needs. at the end of the day, our policy and our laws must be nuanced enough to allow for a response that reflects our interests. it is my view that terminating u.s. assistance at this time could provoke a further crisis in egypt that would not be to our benefit. having said that, the future of our relationship with egypt will be determined by our actions in the coming weeks. whether we will have a stable and willing partner in crucial matters of security, combating terrorism, traffic

michele dunne and ambassador daniel kurtzer for being here today. we look forward to their effective on the situation in egypt and the ramifications for egypt and the united states. the situation in egypt has tremendous implications for the united states. our response must be carefully calibrated. at the same time, support u.s. national security interest in the region. these two goals are, in my

michele dunne and ambassador daniel kurtzer for being here today.d to their effective on the situation in egypt and the ramifications for egypt and the united states. the situation in egypt has tremendous implications for the united states. our response must be carefully calibrated. at the same time, support u.s. national security interest in the region. these two goals are, in my view, not at odds with one another. they do require a complex policy response that allows us to advocate for much-needed democratic reforms while also ensuring our own security needs. at the end of the day, our policy and our laws must be nuanced enough to allow for a response that reflects our interests. it is my view that terminating u.s. assistance at this time could provoke a further crisis in egypt that would not be to our benefit. having said that, the future of our relationship with egypt will be determined by our ctions in the coming weeks. whether we will have a stable and willing partner in crucial matters of security, combating terrorism, trafficking of weapons

kurtzer,sador daniel professor in middle east policies and studies.ervicen the foreign for almost three decades and retired in 2005 and has been an ambassador in both israel and egypt. thank you all for being here. your full statement will be entered into the record without objection. we ask you to summarize your statement in about five minutes or so so we can have a dialogue with you. with that, ambassador ross, if you will start. >> thank you. last time i was here, i was here to talk about serious and the civil war there. it is no question that both our morals and strategic interests are engaged there. the response is very different, the stakes are very high. i find myself in agreement with what you are saying in your statement. when we look at egypt, we know that egypt is perhaps the most important arab country. it is always one that affects the rest of the region. politically, culturally it has been a trendsetter. when we look at the events of the arab awakening, they might have begun in tunisia but it was the events of tahrir square which capture