“House appropriators, like their Senate colleagues, are increasingly concerned with the trajectory of Egypt, its harsh crackdown on any and all opposition and its impact on US national security interests.”

“[The U.S. governmeent designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization would] politicize the designation process, which would undercut the strength of actual designations against terrorist groups.”

“Do you think that pursuing [the Muslim Brotherhood] is so important that you are willing to risk pulling resources from groups that have not just the intent and capacity to strike the United States but also a demonstrated track record?”

“[Given al-Sisi’s] penchant for labeling all of his critics as Muslim Brotherhood members, [a terrorist designation] would help delegitimize his opponents domestically and on the international scene.”

“In both Tunisia and in Morocco, Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated parties are represented in the parliaments and they’re major players… [I]t would become impossible for the U.S. government to have diplomatic relations with them.”