WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the nomination of Herro Mustafa Garg to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt.

“Many of us who have received briefings about the inability to flow humanitarian assistance into Gaza have been disturbed at how hard it has been to convince our ally, Egypt, to do the right thing and allow for aid to flow. This is a country that we obviously spend over a billion dollars on, second only to [Israel] in terms of taxpayer commitment to military support,” said Murphy.

Murphy pushed Garg on her statement that the Egyptian military shares U.S. values: “It does not feel like the Egyptian military is aligned with U.S. values. This is a military that was willing to do a pretty large scale deal with Russia, only undone by vigorous, tactical U.S. diplomacy. This is a military that is used by the regime to try political dissenters in military courts. Reports are that there are upwards of 30, 40, 50,000 people in jail for their political views, and the military is very much a part of that repressive, that campaign of repression.”

“It’s hard for me to imagine that you believe that the Egyptian military is aligned with U.S. values. Everything we see suggests that they are not, and we need an ambassador in Egypt who understands that we are in a fight to try to make sure that our dollars ultimately try to press and enact real reform,” Murphy added.

Last week, Murphy called for swift confirmation of key State Department officials in the Middle East, including Ambassador to Egypt. Earlier this month, Murphy released a statement supporting Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin’s (D-Md.) decision to block foreign military financing to Egypt until the country takes meaningful steps to improve human rights conditions in the country.

A full transcript of Murphy’s exchange with Garg:

MUPRHY: “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me add my thanks to the entire panel for your careers of service and your willingness to continue to serve. None of these are easy places that you are headed to. Wanted to spend a little bit more time on Egypt with you, Ambassador Garg.

“Many of us who have received briefings about the inability to flow humanitarian assistance into Gaza have been disturbed at how hard it has been to convince our ally, our ally, Egypt, to do the right thing and allow for aid to flow. This is a country that we obviously spend over a billion dollars on, second only to [Israel] in terms of taxpayer commitment to military support.

“I was a little concerned about your opening statement in which you said that our security cooperation with Egypt is an investment in ‘self-reliant, capable, and accountable Egyptian Armed Forces aligned with U.S. priorities and values.’

“It does not feel like the Egyptian military is aligned with U.S. values. This is a military that was willing to do a pretty large scale deal with Russia, only undone by vigorous, tactical U.S. diplomacy. This is a military that is used by the regime to try political dissenters in military courts. Reports are that there are upwards of 30, 40, 50,000 people in jail for their political views, and the military is very much a part of that repressive, that campaign of repression.

“So I just wanted to ask you to drill down on that statement. It’s hard for me to imagine that you believe that the Egyptian military is aligned with U.S. values. Everything we see suggests that they are not, and we need an ambassador in Egypt who understands that we are in a fight to try to make sure that our dollars ultimately try to press and enact real reform.”

GARG: “Senator, I agree with you that this is a significant investment. I would say that there's a tremendous range of administration priorities where Egypt does have a significant role, whether it is in Ukraine, whether it's elections in Libya, whether it's the conflict in Sudan, and, of course, what we're seeing in Gaza right now, whether it's counterterrorism in the Sinai, whether it's nonproliferation, and it's hard to imagine a path forward on any of these issues where we bypass Egypt.”

MURPHY: “So that's not what I'm asking. What I'm asking is – I agree, we have a number of important lines of effort with Egypt – my question is do you believe that the Egyptian military shares our values?”

GARG: “We do believe that the on the specific case of what you're talking about in Gaza, the Egyptian government does want to see aid enter and our citizens and other people at risk to leave. Some mechanism is in discussion right now between us, the Egyptians, the Israelis, and other international organizations. But we do believe they have that same goal. It's the mechanism that is still being worked out. The president did have a good conversation with el-Sisi yesterday. We do have the commitment for that to happen.

“On human rights, I share with you, Senator Murphy, the concerns, and this is an issue, as you know, it’s a priority for the administration. It will be a priority for me. Human rights is a part of national security. They're not two separate things. They are together. And I commit to continuing this discussion with the Egyptians so that we do see tangible progress on these very important issues that will strengthen our relationship.”

MURPHY: “So before my time, before my time is up - so maybe it is hard to make a broad statement on whether they share our values or not because as you point out, there are areas in which we hope that they do share our values, like getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“But on the issue of the treatment of political dissent, let me try to narrow it so that we can come to a conclusion. On the issue of treatment of political dissent, do you believe that the Egyptian military shares our values on how we treat political dissent?”

GARG: “Senator, there's no doubt there's room for improvement there. There is no doubt on that issue. And if confirmed, I commit to doing what I can, along with the embassy, to really make progress on that very, very important issue of political dissent.”

MURPHY: “I think you're in a tough spot, you have to be careful about what you say. I appreciate that. I think you're going to do a great job on the ground. Look forward to working with you. I want our diplomats to tell the truth about what is happening in politically repressive countries and maybe that will be a little bit easier in the future. But I appreciate your willingness to go and do a tough job. Look forward to work with you.”

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