US Senate Votes on Blocking Saudi Arabia Arms Sale

Press Release

By invoking the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN), and Mike Lee (R-UT) forced a vote today in the U.S. Senate on blocking the $1.15 billion U.S. sale of 153 Abrams tanks and associated major defense articles to Saudi Arabia.

Twenty-seven senators voted in support of halting the sale, while seventy-one senators voted to continue providing support to Saudi Arabia.

"Today, a growing coalition of legislators refused to sit idly by while the President inserts America into another war and an escalating arms race in an unstable region without congressional authorization or debate," said Sen. Paul. "As violent jihadists attack the West, the Saudis continue to fund madrassas that preach hatred and violence against the West. The Founders did not entrust the power to initiate war to the legislature lightly. Today does not mark an end, but an important next step in reclaiming Congress' rightful constitutional role in foreign policy."

"Our resolution may not have passed today, but this debate was very important in and of itself. For the first time in recent history, the Senate debated whether continued, unquestioned arms sales to the Saudis serves America's national interest," said Sen. Murphy. "We knew going in that this would be an uphill climb, but we sent a clear message today that Saudi Arabia will take to heart if it values our partnership. And we raised awareness among our colleagues about a war inside Yemen that up until this week has been ignored by Congress. U.S. support for their wars cannot be unconditional, especially when civilians are being killed, and terrorist organizations are growing stronger. Congress is watching, and we will not sit on the sidelines."

"Thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded in the U.S.-backed war in Yemen," said Sen. Franken. "This is a tragedy, and it's not one that we should continue to support. Our resolution would have stopped a $1.15 billion U.S. arms sale to the Saudis, and while it unfortunately was not passed, the very fact that we voted on it sends a strong message to Saudi Arabia: that the United States is not going to turn a blind eye to the indiscriminate killing of men, women, and children."

"Today, the United States Senate squandered a rare and important opportunity to have a substantive and consequential debate about America's ongoing involvement in the Yemeni civil war," said Sen. Lee. This was more than just a missed opportunity -- it was a gross dereliction of duty. Members of Congress in both chambers have a responsibility to the American people to carefully evaluate our interventions abroad, and to participate in the process of defining America's national interests and developing a foreign policy to pursue those interests. Senator Paul's resolution gave us a chance to do our jobs today, and unfortunately, we failed to rise to the occasion."

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