Paul-Murphy resolution to block Saudi arms sales is defeated (71-27)

[jct74]

Senate backs selling weapons to Saudis

By JOEL GEHRKE
9/21/16

A broad majority of Senate lawmakers on Wednesday voted down a resolution aimed at canceling the sale of U.S. military weapons to Saudi Arabia, over fears that the country is undermining one of the United States' critical alliances in the Middle East.

Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., offered a resolution disapproving the sale, but opponents made a motion to table it, and the motion passed easily.

"We can't ask our Middle East allies to fight harder and do more and not provide them with the weaponry to do it," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday. "I think Saudi Arabia is a valuable partner in the war on terror. If you want to lose Saudi Arabia as an ally, be careful what you wish for."

Paul and Murphy argued that helping the Saudis fight a civil war in Yemen had implicated the United States in attacks on civilians and strengthened terrorist groups in the country. Other senators, however, countered that the Saudis were helping to prevent Iran from dominating Yemen, and that withdrawing support for the fight would cause the Saudis to see the United States as an unreliable partner in the region.

...

read more:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/senate-backs-selling-weapons-to-saudis/article/2602467

[jct74]

roll call:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=2&vote=00145


YEAs ---71
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Brown (D-OH)
Burr (R-NC)
Capito (R-WV)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Coons (D-DE)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Enzi (R-WY)
Ernst (R-IA)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Gardner (R-CO)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (R-WI)
King (I-ME)
Lankford (R-OK)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Perdue (R-GA)
Peters (D-MI)
Portman (R-OH)
Reed (D-RI)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Schumer (D-NY)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Tillis (R-NC)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wicker (R-MS)


NAYs ---27
Baldwin (D-WI)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Booker (D-NJ)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Durbin (D-IL)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Heller (R-NV)
Hirono (D-HI)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Lee (R-UT)
Markey (D-MA)
Murphy (D-CT)
Murray (D-WA)
Paul (R-KY)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-NM)
Warren (D-MA)
Wyden (D-OR)


Not Voting - 2
Kaine (D-VA)
Thune (R-SD)

[jct74]

Senate Rejects Resolution Blocking Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
Backers say vote still puts kingdom on notice about its conduct

by Rachel Oswald
Sep 21, 2016

The Senate on Wednesday voted down a rare attempt to block an arms sale to Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. counterterrorism partner but one that has fallen into disfavor with a number of lawmakers due to the kingdom's involvement in the war in Yemen and lingering suspicions about its role in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Though senators voted 71-27 to table a resolution that would block the sale, the measure's bipartisan backers, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., portrayed it as a partial success. They argued the vote sends a strong signal to Riyadh and to the Obama administration that a significant portion of Congress is unhappy with Saudi Arabia’s apparent negligence in preventing civilian casualties in its 18-month bombing campaign in Yemen, as well as its broader role in the fight against terrorism.

“The very fact that we are voting on it today sends a very important message to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia that we are watching your actions closely and that the United States is not going to turn a blind eye to the indiscriminate killing of men, women and children,” resolution co-sponsor Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said on the Senate floor.

The proposed $1.15 billion weapons sale includes 153 Abrams tanks, 20 armored vehicles, over 400 machine guns and more than 6,600 rounds of ammunition. Many of the tanks in the arms deal are to replace ones lost by Saudi Arabia in fighting along its border with Yemen. Under the Obama administration, the United States has sold roughly $100 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia,

...

read more:
http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/senate-rejects-resolution-blocking-arms-sale-saudi-arabia

[phill4paul]

A lot of Dem support on that bill.

[wizardwatson]

I guess Kaine thinks not voting makes his allegiance a mystery or something. :rolleyes:

[juleswin]

A lot of Dem support on that bill.

They probably knew it was going to pass anyway, so this is just their way of pretending that they care about the issue.

[spudea]

cruz the back stabber again. No friend to the pauls.

[jct74]

778798802237067264

[Brian4Liberty]

cruz the back stabber again. No friend to the pauls.

Teocon.

[John F Kennedy III]

Wow Franken is still a senator.

[r3volution 3.0]

cruz the back stabber again. No friend to the pauls.

I'm glad he let his true colors shine through, makes our job easier in 2020.

[eleganz]

I'm glad he let his true colors shine through, makes our job easier in 2020.


Just the thought of having to suffer through another Ted Cruz primary, OMG.......

I don't think his chances are good be as good as this year, he went all in on trying to cheat the liberty movement, he won't have the chance to build a coalition with us anymore.