House votes to ban aid to Saudi Arabia

Reuters ^ | Jun 22, 2007 | Richard Cowan

[bnelson44]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to prohibit any aid to Saudi Arabia as lawmakers accused the close ally of religious intolerance and bankrolling terrorist organizations.

The prohibition, reflecting persistent tensions with the kingdom after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, was attached to a foreign aid funding bill for next year that has not yet been debated by the Senate.

It also faces a veto threat from the White House because of an unrelated provision.

A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment on the legislation.

In the past three years, Congress has passed bills to stop the relatively small amount of U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia, only to see the Bush administration circumvent the prohibitions.

[PeterFinn]

WTF??? We’ve been sending them AID???? In addition to the BILLIONS they get for their oil? Good Lord.

[montag813]

Why on earth would Saudi Arabia need “aid” from us? Are the Bushies aware of the proven money pipeline between the Saudis and Hamas?

[rovenstinez]

With oil being a premium, it would have made more sense for them to be putting the USA on their bankroll.

[doc1019]

I’m as astonished as you are!!! They should be sending us aid!

[bnelson44]

According to supporters of the legislation, the United States provided $2.5 million to Riyadh in 2005 and 2006.

The money has been used to train Saudis in counter-terrorism and border security and to pay for Saudi military officers to attend U.S. military school.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2219147920070622?feedType=RSS&pageNumber=1

[golfisnr1]

Its payment for military bases, get real people.

[Maynerd]

WTF??? We’ve been sending them AID???? In addition to the BILLIONS they get for their oil? Good Lord.

Prince Bandar and King Abdullah are a couple of regular cow pokes when visiting W at the ranch. Bush Sr. and Jr. are both schmucks when it comes to our good friends, the Saudis. They get their pocket picked every time.

[Nathan Zachary]

Finally, a SANE act of government. It's not enough we give them trillions of dollars for their oil, we need to give them AID on top of that?

\\\it's about time people wake up in this country, and realize we have been paying the "Jizya" tax required of all infidels for quite some time now.

Whatever happened to the proclamation a much smarter past president made- back in time when he put an end to this "Jizya" payments which were made to the Barbary pirates, and gave them relentless artillary shelling until they capitulated instead?

It's time we returned to being a proud, strong, and FREE nation.

[CondorFlight]

A few years ago (don’t know the situation now) the Saudis complained that we were holding Christian religious services in our consulate in Jeddah.
SO WE STOPPED THE SERVICES!
Christians then had to meet at the British consulate.

I thought consulates were considered to be sovereign territory.

But I guess there is no limit to how far the State Dept.will go to placate the Saudis...

[Jet Jaguar]

Not any more.

Our foot print there is less than a speck of advisors.

[Maynerd]

Its payment for military bases, get real people.

The Saudis as well as the Pakis have been double dealing us for a good long time. The Wahabbi brand of Islam (and their petrodollars) is the engine driving islamofacism. The foreign policy establishment, Bush included need to get real.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Prince Bandar and King Abdullah are a couple of regular cow pokes when visiting W at the ranch. Bush Sr. and Jr. are both schmucks when it comes to our good friends, the Saudis. They get their pocket picked every time."

I think there's more going on there than we realize. Bush Jr. always seems to be holding hands- like a school boy in love- whenever that "prince" visits. Was it not that same Saudi prince that wrote some poems about having anal sex with a young boy, which he refered to as a young gazzelle?

[bnelson44]

It is imbedded inside a very elaborate appropriations bill.

H.R.2764
The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)

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PROHIBITION AGAINST ASSISTANCE TO SAUDI ARABIA

SEC. 699N. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available pursuant to this Act—

(1) shall be obligated or expended to finance any assistance to Saudi Arabia; or

(2) shall be used to execute a waiver of section 571 or 614 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2349aa or 2364) with regard to assistance to Saudi Arabia.

SEC. 699O. None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to provide direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, except as otherwise provided by existing law.

This Act may be cited as `The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008’.
Passed the House of Representatives June 22 (legislative day, June 21), 2007.

Attest:

Clerk.

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2764

AN ACT
Making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:2:./temp/~c110ku317m::

[Tunehead54]

Aside from the aid issue I've always wondered why the WTO is not somehow able to prevent OPEC from setting price/pump levels when any other form of subsidies/price supports seems to fall within its jurisdiction. In the US its illegal to collude to set prices ... just wondering ...

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;-(

[bnelson44]

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 542

(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)

      H R 2764      YEA-AND-NAY      22-Jun-2007      12:31 AM
      QUESTION:  On Passage
      BILL TITLE: Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations for FY 2008

	Yeas	Nays	PRES	NV
Democratic	210	14		7
Republican	31	164		6
Independent
TOTALS	241	178		13

 

---- YEAS    241 ---

 

Abercrombie Ackerman Allen Altmire Andrews Arcuri Baca Baird Baldwin Barrow Bean Becerra Berkley Berman Biggert Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Bono Boswell Boucher Boyd (FL) Boyda (KS) Brady (PA) Braley (IA) Brown, Corrine Butterfield Capps Capuano Cardoza Carnahan Carney Carson Castle Castor Chandler Clarke Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conyers Cooper Costa Costello Courtney Crowley Cuellar Cummings Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (IL) Davis, Tom DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dent Dicks Dingell Doggett Donnelly Doyle Edwards Ehlers Ellison Ellsworth Emanuel Engel English (PA) Eshoo Etheridge Farr Fattah Ferguson Filner Fossella Frank (MA) Frelinghuysen Gerlach Giffords

Gilchrest Gillibrand Gonzalez Gordon Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva Gutierrez Hall (NY) Hare Harman Hastings (FL) Herseth Sandlin Higgins Hill Hinchey Hinojosa Hirono Hobson Hodes Holden Holt Honda Hooley Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson Johnson, E. B. Jones (OH) Kagen Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy Kildee Kilpatrick Kind King (NY) Kirk Klein (FL) Lampson Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) LaTourette Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Lipinski LoBiondo Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Lynch Mack Mahoney (FL) Maloney (NY) Markey Matheson Matsui McCarthy (NY) McCollum (MN) McDermott McGovern McHugh McNerney McNulty Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Melancon Michaud Miller (NC) Miller, George Mitchell Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (VA)

Murphy (CT) Murphy, Patrick Murtha Nadler Neal (MA) Oberstar Obey Olver Pallone Pascrell Pastor Payne Pence Perlmutter Pomeroy Porter Price (GA) Price (NC) Pryce (OH) Ramstad Reichert Reyes Rodriguez Ross Rothman Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Salazar Sánchez, Linda T. Sarbanes Saxton Schakowsky Schiff Schwartz Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sestak Shadegg Shays Shea-Porter Sherman Sires Skelton Slaughter Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Souder Space Spratt Sutton Tanner Tauscher Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tierney Towns Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Van Hollen Velázquez Visclosky Walsh (NY) Walz (MN) Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Watt Waxman Welch (VT) Weller Wexler Woolsey Wu Wynn Yarmuth

 

---- NAYS    178 ---

 

Aderholt Akin Alexander Bachmann Bachus Baker Barrett (SC) Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Berry Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehner Boozman Boren Boustany Brady (TX) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Buchanan Burgess Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp (MI) Campbell (CA) Cannon Cantor Capito Carter Chabot Coble Cole (OK) Conaway Crenshaw Culberson Davis (KY) Davis, David Davis, Lincoln Deal (GA) Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Doolittle Drake Dreier Duncan Emerson Everett Fallin Feeney Flake Forbes Fortenberry Foxx Franks (AZ) Gallegly Garrett (NJ)

Gillmor Gingrey Gohmert Goode Goodlatte Granger Graves Hall (TX) Hastings (WA) Hayes Heller Hensarling Herger Hoekstra Hulshof Inglis (SC) Issa Jindal Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Jordan Keller King (IA) Kingston Kline (MN) Knollenberg Kucinich Kuhl (NY) LaHood Lamborn Latham Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Linder Lucas Lungren, Daniel E. Manzullo Marchant Marshall McCarthy (CA) McCaul (TX) McCotter McCrery McHenry McIntyre McKeon McMorris Rodgers Mica Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary Mollohan Moran (KS) Murphy, Tim Musgrave Myrick Neugebauer Nunes Paul

Pearce Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Poe Putnam Radanovich Rahall Regula Rehberg Renzi Reynolds Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ros-Lehtinen Roskam Royce Ryan (WI) Sali Schmidt Sensenbrenner Sessions Shimkus Shuler Shuster Simpson Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Stark Stearns Stupak Tancredo Taylor Terry Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Turner Upton Walberg Walden (OR) Wamp Weldon (FL) Westmoreland Whitfield Wicker Wilson (NM) Wilson (OH) Wilson (SC) Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL)

 

---- NOT VOTING    13 ---

 

Bonner Cramer Cubin Davis, Jo Ann Hastert

Hunter Johnson (GA) Napolitano Ortiz Rangel

Sanchez, Loretta Sullivan Weiner

 

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[claudiustg]

Burn Washington to the ground, flush the ashes out to sea, and start over.

[Fiddlstix]

Ditto That!