The US ceased providing both indirect and direct foreign aid to the PA with the exception of some emergency humanitarian assistance. The US said it would withhold $411 million in aid over the next few years and asked for the return of $30 million it had already donated. The CRS Report for Congress wrote on 27 June 2007: "With the suspension of all USAID-managed economic aid to the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the general prohibition on financial transactions by U.S. persons with the PA, the United States has tried to assuage fears that its policies are causing Palestinian suffering."