The U.S. Senate on Tuesday rejected a resolution banning the proposed sale of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, launchers and other weapons and support to Saudi Arabia.
The House voted 67 to 30 in favor of Republicans Rand Paul and Mike Lee and Independent Bernie Saunders, who’s still in the Democratic caucus.
Although several members of the US Congress have publicly described Saudi Arabia as an important US ally in the Middle East, others strongly criticize Riyadh, especially for its involvement in the war in Yemen, which – according to the UN – causes one of the worst humanitarian tragedies on a global scale.
“Exporting other missiles to Saudi Arabia will do nothing but perpetuate this conflict, throwing even more gasoline into a raging fire,” Mr Saunders said in a speech to the semicircle, calling for a halt to the sale.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
“I completely agree that the leadership of Saudi Arabia needs to be held accountable for a lot (…). “But I also think it’s important for our partners to know that we are living up to our commitments,” said Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The arms package, the sale of which received the green light from the State Department and the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, includes 280 AIM-120C-7 / C-8 (AMRAAM, air-to-air) missiles, 596 LAU-128 launchers, as well as other equipment and support. The missiles and launch systems are manufactured by Raytheon Technologies.
The Biden government made it clear earlier yesterday that it was strongly opposed to the resolution. Its approval would “undermine the president’s commitment to helping our partner strengthen its defenses as missile and UAV attacks on civilians in Saudi Arabia increase,” the Office of Management of Budget (OB) said in a statement. in a press release he published.
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