US House passes resolutions blocking Trump administration’s sale of arms to Saudi Arabia News
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US House passes resolutions blocking Trump administration’s sale of arms to Saudi Arabia

The US House of Representatives passed three joint resolutions on Wednesday disapproving of the Trump administration’s planned transfer of precision-guided bombs, other bombs and munitions, and support services to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other members of the Saudi-led coalition.

Joint resolutions 36 and 37 passed the House with 238 votes in their favor and joint resolution 38 passed with 237 votes in its favor. The Trump administration cited an emergency provision in the Arms Export Control Act and the looming conflict with Iran to justify its eight billion dollar sale of arms to the aforementioned nations without Congress’s revision of the deal. Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in his remarks on the floor, said, “the Trump Administration has used a phony emergency to override the authority of Congress and push through eight billion dollars in arms sales.” 

Representative Engel also stated that it was important for the US to stand against human rights atrocities around the world and that supplying these bombs to the Saudi-led coalition to carry out its mission goes against the values America espouses. He asked, “When we look the other way when friendly regimes carry out horrific human rights abuses … [w]hat does it say about the sort of behavior we’ll tolerate?” 

President Trump has vowed to veto the resolutions, which the Senate passed last month.

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