Sixty Members of Congress Sign Letter Opposing Saudi Arms Sale

Sixty members of Congress have signed a letter to President Obama calling on the administration to delay the recently announced $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. According to Foreign Policy, which has obtained a copy of the letter but didn’t publish it, the document cites the growing number of civilian casualties in Yemen caused by the Saudi-led military coalition, and the Obama administration’s failure to rein in the Saudi air campaign.

“This military campaign has had a deeply troubling impact on civilians,” the letter says, citing several instances of civilian casualties, including the bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital. “Any decision to sell more arms to Saudi Arabia should be given adequate time for full deliberation by Congress,” wrote the lawmakers. “We are concerned, however, that the timing of this notification during the August congressional recess could be interpreted to mean that Congress has little time to consider the arms deal when it returns from recess within the 30 day window established by law.”

FP doesn’t list all of the signers of the letter, but does name six of them as indicative of the bipartisan nature of the list: Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) (Rep. Lieu’s office issued a Dear Colleague letter last week, listing 52 Members who had already signed the letter, and indicated a deadline of Aug. 26 for new signers). Lieu’s letter named a long list of human rights groups that support the actions to cut off the arms sales to the Saudis, including Amnesty International, Oxfam, Physicians for Human Rights, the American Friends Services Committee, Just Foreign Policy, and Jubilee Committee USA.