Key Senators to Oppose US-Saudi Arms Deal

When President Donald Trump was recently in the Middle East, he announced a $110 billion deal to sell U.S. weapons to Saudi Arabia. That didn’t sit well with some prominent voices in the Senate, so today opponents are forcing a vote to disapprove of the sale of $510 million in precision guided munitions. The effort is being led by Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Al Franken (D-MN) who argue the munitions will be used in Yemen which will only make the civil war worse amid fears they’ll be employed against civilians.

"We will force this vote for these children in Yemen because we have a chance today to stop the carnage," Paul said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “The question is should we give money or arms to Saudi Arabia at all? What has Saudi Arabia done over the last 30 years? They’ve been the number one exporter of Jihadist philosophy. The number one exporter of ‘Let’s hate America.’”

The effort picked up a surprise sponsor on Monday when the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), tossed his weight behind the effort to derail the sale. "The human rights and humanitarian concerns have been well documented and are important: of equal concern to me is that the Saudi government continues to aid and abet terrorism via its relationship with Wahhabism and the funding of schools that spread extremist propaganda throughout the world," Schumer said in a statement.

Arms sales to foreign nations are subject to a 30-day congressional review period, which allows a small group of senators to force their colleagues to cast an up or down vote on such sales. The effort is expected to pass because Saudi Arabia remains one of America’s closest allies in the region, but proponents say they’ve picked up more support to oppose the sale than they’ve had in the past. The effort is being brought up as a part of the Senate debate on a bill to heft more sanctions on Iran.

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— Matt Laslo

(Photo Credit: Eagleamin / Creative Commons)