[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H5935-H5938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED TRANSFER TO THE
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA OF CERTAIN DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERVICES
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution
491, I call up the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 36) providing for
congressional disapproval of the proposed transfer to the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
the Kingdom of Spain, and the Italian Republic of certain defense
articles and services, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 491, the joint
resolution is considered read.
The text of the joint resolution is as follows:
S.J. Res. 36
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
issuance of a manufacturing license, technical assistance
license, or export license with respect to any of the
following proposed agreements or transfers to the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Italian
Republic is prohibited:
(1) The transfer of the following defense articles,
including defense services and technical data, described in
Executive Communication 1427 (EC-1427) submitted to Congress
pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) of section 36 of the Arms
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) and published in the
Congressional Record on June 3, 2019:
(A) Coproduction and manufacture in Saudi Arabia of Paveway
Pre-Amp Circuit Card Assemblies (CCA), Guidance Electronics
Assembly (GEA) CCAs, and Control Actuator System (CAS) CCAs
for all Paveway variants.
(B) Coproduction and manufacture in Saudi Arabia of Paveway
II Guidance Electronics Detector Assemblies (GEDA) and
Computer Control Groups (CCG).
(C) The transfer of up to 64,603 additional kits, partial
kits, and full-up-rounds.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) and
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) each will control 10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
General Leave
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include in the Record extraneous material on the measure under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the three measures the House will now consider are
extraordinary, extraordinary but necessary, because they respond to
what I view as an extraordinary abuse of power by the Trump
administration, using a phony emergency to override the authority of
Congress and push through $8 billion in arms sales.
Each of these resolutions would prohibit a specific license for the
export of precision-guided munitions, or smart bombs, and related
components. We are focusing on these three licenses because the weapons
would be the first ones shipped.
Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that Congress has serious concerns about
the Saudi-led coalition's war in Yemen. The Saudis and their partners
and, for that matter, the United States do have legitimate security
concerns about the
[[Page H5936]]
efforts of Iran and its proxies to destabilize the Gulf region.
But as this war has dragged on, it has become clear that the
coalition has carried out its campaign with little regard for innocent
life: schoolbuses full of children destroyed in a fiery flash, weddings
and funerals incinerated with no warning, civilian buildings and
communities targeted.
Reckless doesn't begin to describe it. It is gruesome. It has
contributed to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
{time} 1315
To make matters worse, many of the weapons used in this carnage were
built in America, sold by American companies to the Saudis and their
partners.
Starting in the last Congress, when the administration told us they
were planning to go ahead with another massive sale of offensive
weapons to the Saudis and Emiratis, Senator Menendez and I used the
tools at our disposal to place informal holds on these transfers. We
hoped that the administration would work with us and dial up pressure
on these nations to start acting responsibly.
Now, the administration has complained that we stopped these sales
from going through for months and months. But, as I said, this was an
informal mechanism. The law--and I emphasize it is the law--says that,
at any point, if an administration wants to go ahead with a weapons
sale, it has to send a formal notification to Congress. That starts a
30-day clock. During that time, Congress can vote to stop a weapons
sale.
Did the administration stop us to try to find a way forward? No.
Did they send a formal notification, starting the process laid out in
the law under which Congress can legislatively block the sale? No.
What did they do? They dug up an obscure provision of the arms export
law and declared an emergency to justify moving ahead with these sales.
What does that mean? It means, they went around Congress. It means,
they went around the law.
Now, the emergency provision exists in law for a good reason. And if
there were a real emergency--if the United States or our citizens or
our allies were in immediate danger--we wouldn't be standing here
today. There would be no objection.
But here is the thing, Mr. Speaker. There is no emergency.
Do you know how I know? I know because nearly 2 months down the line,
not a single weapon has been shipped. Most of the weapons haven't even
been built. In fact, one of the phony emergency declarations lets the
Saudis build new facilities to manufacture weapons in their country,
which I only presume would mean the Americans currently building these
weapons in the United States would be out of a job.
That is right. Donald Trump declared an emergency to move jobs out of
the United States--good manufacturing jobs, the kind Americans fight
for. He abused the law to send them abroad.
What kind of emergency requires weapons that will be built months and
months down the road? Or requires building a new factory on foreign
soil? Especially when the law only gives Congress a 30-day review
period.
The answer is clear, Mr. Speaker: a phony emergency. An emergency
designed to make yet another end run around Congress, to undermine the
separation of powers, to trample on this body's constitutional duties.
I am sick and tired of it, Mr. Speaker.
The State Department sent an assistant secretary up to the Hill to
testify about this fiasco. He told us in the Foreign Affairs Committee
that the administration took this brazen action out of respect for
Congress' oversight role. Mr. Speaker, that is really, really hard to
believe.
The other body passed 22 bipartisan resolutions stopping all these
sales from going forward. The three measures we are considering today
deal with weapons that are already manufactured, sitting in a
warehouse, and, if we don't act, will be loaded onto a ship and sent to
Saudi Arabia and the UAE within the next 2 months.
This resolution would prohibit the use of an emergency declaration to
move ahead with the transfer of 64,000 Paveway precision-guided
munitions, or, as we call them, smart bombs. Sixty-four thousand, Mr.
Speaker, which would be added to the stockpile of 58,000 the Saudis
previously purchased starting in 2015.
What will all these weapons be used for? No one knows.
If the administration wants to sell these weapons, they should follow
the law, not misuse it, and they should come to Congress for its
approval.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this dangerous
resolution. Right now, as I speak, Iran is stretching its tentacles of
terror across the Middle East.
By aiding the Houthis in Yemen, arming Hezbollah and Lebanon, and
supporting the Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, Iran is creating a
Shia Crescent that can dominate the region. Their goal is to build a
strategic land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea. If we allow
them to succeed, terrorism will flourish, instability will reign, and
the security of our allies, like Israel, will be threatened.
One of the ways we can push back against Iran's murderous aggression
is by empowering our partners in the region. Unfortunately, this
irresponsible resolution handcuffs our ability to do so.
Specifically, this legislation would prohibit an export license and
stop the United States from providing our partners with the arms that
they need to defend themselves. This particular license first came
before members of the Foreign Affairs Committee in January of 2018.
When I became the lead Republican in January of 2019, I reviewed this
case and maintained the informal approval granted by my predecessor,
Chairman Royce.
The administration has been criticized for bypassing Congress to push
these sales through. But the Democrats, in fairness, placed informal
holds on the sale for more than 13 months, a total of 407 days, which I
believe abuses the process that we have in place in Congress.
During that time, the State Department continued to pursue this case
with Congress. They also sent forward additional cases to help support
the Saudis, the UAE, and Jordan. And, by the time the State Department
submits such cases to Congress, they have already undergone a thorough
interagency review process.
This important process ensures compliance with the President's
conventional arms transfer policy intended to support our partners and
strengthen our national security. Other critics are worried that these
weapons will increase civilian casualties in Yemen.
However, the precision-guided munitions that we were trying to send
to the Saudis will actually lower the risk of civilian casualties in
Yemen as it counters attacks from Iranian-backed Houthis.
Now is not the time to deny our partners what they need for their
defense. Nor is it time to hold precision-guided munitions that could
minimize the risk to civilians.
Recently, after Iran attacked civilian ships and shot down drones--a
U.S. military asset--the President brought together a bipartisan group
of congressional leaders, including the chairman and myself, to discuss
an appropriate response. He listened to our advice and made a prudent
decision to exercise restraint.
The President has made it explicitly clear the United States is not
looking for war. The decision to move forward with these arms sales is
part of a larger effort to deter Iran. A key part of that effort is to
empower greater burden sharing by enhancing the defense capabilities of
our allies. These sales provide more options for deterring Iran that do
not all depend on U.S. intervention.
I support these sales, even though I do not think that all 22
required emergency certification--this is a point the chairman and I
actually agree on--especially those that will not be ready for delivery
until later this year. I support revising the law with Chairman Engel
to ensure and enhance the role of Congress in future emergency sales.
I thank the chairman for his bipartisan work with me on that
amendment to the NDAA that was passed by a wide margin.
[[Page H5937]]
But I do oppose relitigating prior, lawful sales to partners who face
growing threats to their security, which is what today's resolutions
attempt to do.
Mr. Speaker, we face many dynamic challenges. Iran threatens the
Middle East, it continues to pursue the eradication of Israel, and it
remains the number one state sponsor of terrorism around the world.
That threat is growing, not waning. For that reason, I believe that
Members should oppose today's resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline).
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support S.J. Res. 36 and the other measures
related to arms sales being considered this afternoon, which will
prevent three sets of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE without
undergoing the proper congressional notification process.
We are here today because rather than come and make their case to
Congress, the administration invented a phony emergency to bypass the
legal process for approving arms sales. There is no justification for
this decision, other than the administration knew that these sales
would be met with scrutiny from Congress and didn't want to deal with
it.
Well, they were right. Congress is concerned about these proposed
sales, and we should not sit back and allow the administration to
continue with the charade of claiming an emergency exemption for them.
I am glad that these measures of disapproval have bipartisan support
and have already passed the Republican-led Senate. I urge all of my
colleagues to support them today.
The administration briefed this body on Iran just days before the
supposed emergency was declared and never mentioned an emergency. We
are supposed to believe that, within a matter of days, the situation
escalated so quickly that they were forced to bypass Congress. Most of
the weapons included in the emergency sales are offensive weapons, and
much of the sale will be delivered months or years from now, further
evidence that no emergency exists.
The egregious and legally questionable move to put more weapons into
the hands of regimes who are responsible for perpetrating horrific
civilian casualties in Yemen comes as no surprise from an
administration that has cozied up to the Saudi Crown Prince, even as we
have credible evidence that he and his government are responsible for
the cold-blooded murder of an American resident and journalist.
Just because you don't like the process doesn't mean you get to
ignore it. This action has implications far beyond the current sale. If
Congress doesn't reassert our proper role in the process, we risk
giving up the authority in the arms sale process entirely.
This isn't and shouldn't be a partisan issue. It is our job, as
Congress, to represent the American people in matters of war. If we let
this action go without a strong congressional response, the
repercussions will be wide-ranging and longstanding.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support these resolutions of
disapproval and block these arms sales once and for all.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
West Virginia (Mrs. Miller).
Mrs. MILLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in opposition to S.J.
Res. 36. This legislation is bad policy and it sets a bad precedent.
Today, Congress is attempting to block legal U.S. arms sales to
strategic partners who face increased threats from Iran and terrorist
proxies.
The administration is ensuring that our allies in the Middle East
have the capabilities to defend themselves and protect the hundreds of
thousands of Americans who live and work in the Gulf states. These
allies depend on military equipment from the U.S. to hold the line
against Iran, al-Qaida, ISIS, and other threats. If we don't supply it,
they will buy it elsewhere.
Russian arms dealers are already seeking to exploit the reluctance.
At this point in history, we need to do what we can to decrease Iran's
influence in the region.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against the resolution.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Virginia (Ms. Spanberger).
Ms. SPANBERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S.J. Res. 36, a
joint resolution which I am leading in the House.
The evidence is clear: the Saudi Government continues to disregard
the vital distinction between combatants and innocent civilians in
Yemen.
In February, Congress voted to end U.S. support to the Saudi-led
campaign against the Houthis that have left thousands of civilians dead
and created one of the largest humanitarian crises in modern times.
However, the President not only vetoed a resolution, but the
administration is now ramping up support for Saudi Arabia's offensive
actions in Yemen, while simultaneously escalating tensions with Iran.
As I made clear during Foreign Affairs Committee hearings in May, not
only is the administration trying to sell the Saudis more powerful
weapons, but we are giving them the opportunity to build their own.
With this latest proposal, the administration would be transferring
sensitive technology that would allow Saudi Arabia to manufacture these
high-tech weapons directly.
Congress needs to reassert its authority now as a coequal branch of
government. This resolution, which I have led in the House, would make
sure that blatantly offensive weapons aren't sold to the Saudi military
under the guise of defensive uses without congressional review.
I am proud to work with my colleagues in the Senate to block the sale
of precision-guided munitions, which are responsible for some of the
most horrific examples of targeted attacks against civilians.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand
up against this misguided decision, protect innocent lives, and
reassert the authority of Congress.
{time} 1330
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to go back to when we debated the Yemen
resolution, which I thought was, once again, pro-Iran and pro-Houthi
rebel, and anti-Israel. It is interesting that after that passed this
Chamber, that the Houthi rebels celebrated a victory in the Congress,
thinking that the American people, through the Congress, actually
supported them.
We have to be responsible in our rhetoric on this floor and what we
stand for. Many in this body favor asking our partners around the world
to step up and do more to help protect our shared interests.
The President has called on other nations to take on the burden of
defeating terrorism in the Middle East and has commended our partners
for their contributions to regional security. Sharing this burden of
collective security interest is really vital to ensuring the United
States is not the only one bearing the costs in blood and treasure, for
we have borne way too much in the Middle East.
But these arms sales are where the rubber hits the road for burden
sharing. We cannot ask for partners to take on additional burdens while
withholding from them the tools to do so. We should and do work with
our partners to train them to use U.S.-origin equipment effectively and
responsibly. This is an ongoing process.
My fear is that if we are unwilling to provide our partners with the
means to ensure their own security and to invest the resources to turn
them into responsible users, then the United States will find itself as
a main guarantor of Middle East security. We have borne that burden for
the last several decades. We also need to be wary of our partners
turning to China and Russia for their defense needs.
Mr. Speaker, it was unfortunate how the current law, I believe, was
utilized for these 22 sales. That is where Chairman Engel and I agree.
And that is why we have worked on a bipartisan basis to refine this
process for invoking an emergency moving forward. We have the informal
congressional review process to try to resolve concerns regarding
sales.
But when Members place indefinite holds on sales and place a stop to
our
[[Page H5938]]
ability to share burdens with our partners--for 18 months in some
cases--it undermines our entire security strategy and the important
bilateral partnerships we worked so hard to establish and grow. For
that reason, I oppose the resolution, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York has 1 minute
remaining.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
close debate on this measure.
I will wrap up quickly, as we have two more of these measures to
consider.
It is important that we pass this measure now, along with the two we
will soon consider, because these deal with weapons that could soon be
on their way across the ocean.
I think the Iranian regime is dangerous. I think the Houthis are
dangerous. No one is denying the Saudis the right to go after them.
What we are saying is, don't go after them and kill thousands of
civilians in the process with American weapons.
And also, separation of powers, the President cannot try to get
around Congress with phony emergencies. I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 491, the previous question is ordered on
the joint resolution.
The question is on the third reading of the joint resolution.
The joint resolution was ordered to be read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the joint
resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
____________________