US Senators Come Close to Stopping Saudi Arms Sale
Local Editor
US Senators, angered by the Saudi-led coalition's conduct in Yemen's war, came within striking distance Tuesday of blocking the sale of roughly $510 million in precision-guided weapons to the kingdom.
The sale will be allowed to proceed with 53 senators -- almost all of them Republicans -- voting against a measure sponsored by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Al Franken, D-Minn.
But with 47 votes, opponents of the sale witnessed their ranks swell and after the vote critics of the arms deal predicted they had reached a tipping point.
"I hope the Saudis heard this message loud and clear," Murphy said on a conference call. "This is a trend line that will continue."
Last year, opponents of a $1.15 billion sale of tanks and machine guns to Saudi Arabia could muster only 27 votes in the Senate, with a similar core group making similar arguments.
Since the last vote, the United Nations estimated in March that 17 million people in Yemen face severe food insecurity. Saudi bombs are believed to have killed more than 4,000 civilians in a fruitless effort since 2015 to reinstall ousted leader Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Other parts of a $110 billion arms deal struck by President Donald Trump with the Saudis in May have yet to be presented to Congress.
Senators have a right to force votes on each of the packages under the Arms Export Control Act.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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