Rep. Ellison: US Should Follow Law, Stop Funding Egypt Coup

The United States should pull back on aid to Egypt until the bloodshed stops and the strife-torn country returns to a path toward democracy, Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, said Sunday.

"I would cut off aid," Ellison said on ABC's "This Week." "In my mind, there's no way to say that this was not a coup. It is. We should say so. And then we should follow our own law, which says we cannot fund the coup leaders."

He said the administration needs to engage in "intense diplomacy" with Egypt, and Congress needs to "suspend aid" to the country until its leaders establish a set of Democratic protocols and stop the violence.

He said Congress needs to state loud and clear, "We will not fund this coup and this bloodshed. If you get your act together, we can re-establish the relationship. It's not like it's a done deal. It is an iterative process, which I hope results in the cessation of this violence."