Schumer will vote to block Trump's arms sale to Saudi Arabia

The Hill ^ | June 12, 2017 | Jordain Carney

[jazusamo]

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is throwing his support behind a push to block part of President Trump's $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

“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.

The Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution of disapproval from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) that would block a small part of the deal signed by Trump during his recent visit to Riyadh.

Schumer's backing is a boon for supporters of the new resolution. He previously voted to set aside a similar resolution in 2016.

The senators want to block the sale because they believe selling weapons to Saudi Arabia will worsen the civil war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition supporting the ousted government.

Under a frequently overlooked provision in the Arms Export Control Act, lawmakers can force a vote on a deal after 10 calendar days.

The resolution is expected to fail, but Murphy told reporters late last month that they would have "significantly more support" than the 2016 resolution.

"The war inside Yemen is a national security nightmare for the United States," he told reporters at the time. "[These weapons] will be used to increase the humanitarian catastrophe that exists on the ground in Yemen."

[edie1960]

Wise words and you make all valid points.
Just would be an utter shame to nullify President Trump’s crowning achievement of his maiden overseas trip. He literally invested so much in trying to unite certain Muslim nations in this effort.
Personally, I wish President Trump could strategically strike some targets in the Muslim word a la President Truman did in Japan and, once and for all, put an end to this relentless terrorism. Perhaps, I am a little naive and I realize we are not dealing with an enemy easily identified by a common uniform. We are at the mercy of randomly scattered radical forces within virtually every country.
Taking them down and out is likely mission impossible at this point. Valuable time has been lost. Most importantly, we are blessed to have thee ONLY bona fide strong leader who fully appreciates what must be done.
If this plan with Saudi Arabia is so unacceptable and reckless, one wonders exactly what would be the wisest course of action to take???

[nhbob1]

Or when Obama and Hillary got Americans killed in Libya buying arms to send to ISIS in Syria

[Kickass Conservative]

The Saudi’s are the enemy of a Nuclear Iran, period.

Chuckie had no problem giving Iran Billons of Dollars including paying Ransom for Americans that they had jailed, all the while with the Obama Administration lying about it.

I think it’s hilarious that Chuck the Schmuck is picking this Hill to die on.

I guess Chuckie wants his buddy Putin to get the Arms Business and the Money that goes along with it. Better to make Saudi Arabia a satellite State of Russia right Chuckie?

Oh that’s right, the Russians are the bad guys, unless they aren’t.

These Democrats with their Reset Buttons and their “flexibility” in reducing OUR Nuclear Arsenal after the 2012 Election don’t jive with their latest and greatest Trump Russian collusion Wet Dreams.

[Garvin]

So what?

[Thibodeaux]

those that practice malicious obstruction of governance must be shot

[pfony1]

Why shouldn’t we use Saudi pilots to end the Civil War in Yemen?

And why shouldn’t we embarrass the Iranian mullahs so thoroughly that Iran’s angry citizens “dump” that corrupt so-called “theocracy”, and truly end Iran’s not-so-secret crash program to build nuclear bombs?

My anonymous sources tell me that Schumer, Murphy and Franken get really nice “presents” from Iran. Time for an FBI investigation?