[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ARMS SALE RESOLUTION

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, over the last 4 years, we have seen a 
series of encouraging developments in the Middle East--a place where 
there isn't a long trend line of positive developments.
  We have destroyed the ISIS caliphate. We have brought down dangerous 
terrorist leaders like al-Baghdadi and, of course, the head of the 
IRGC, Soleimani, who was personally responsible for American blood on 
his hands, particularly providing explosives that penetrated our armor 
in Iraq.
  Through congressional action and the work of the Trump 
administration, we strengthened bilateral ties with our closest friends 
and allies, including Israel and Jordan. This summer, the 
administration helped forge historic peace deals between Israel and 
Arab nations in the region. The United Arab Emirates became the third 
Arab country and first Gulf State to recognize and normalize relations 
with Israel by the signing of the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement. It 
was only a matter of days until Bahrain followed suit and announced its 
agreement with Israel to open formal diplomatic negotiations.
  These historic breakthroughs represent serious progress in our 
efforts to fight terrorism and establish lasting peace and stability in 
the Middle East. While more work obviously remains, it is great to see 
the mounting pressure against Iran--the region's greatest antagonist 
and largest state sponsor of terrorism.
  Last month, the Trump administration announced that it intended to 
sell arms to our friends in the United Arab Emirates--a move that I 
support. This will help the UAE work with the United States and our 
friends to deter and defend these threats from Iran and other 
hostilities in the region. What it seems to me is that it focused 
everybody's attention on the recognition that Iran represents the 
single biggest destabilizing and dangerous influence in the Middle East 
today, and it is the recognition that they are the common adversary of 
not only the Arab nations in the region but also the United States and 
our ally Israel that has, I think, brought them to the negotiating 
table.
  As Iran grows increasingly belligerent toward the United States and 
our allies, these military assets that we will sell to our friends in 
the UAE will serve as a stabilizing force, a force multiplier, and a 
source of protection for the United States and our security interests. 
We have learned a hard lesson that American boots on the ground is 
something we want to do as a last resort. But if we can work by, with, 
and through our friends and allies to provide that security and 
stability against a common enemy, we should do it.
  The arms sale will allow greater military cooperation between the 
United States, the UAE, and Israel and strengthen a growing coalition 
of aligned forces in the region. It will also make sure the United 
States remains the partner of choice.
  It is not as if the United States is the only one that has a say. 
Obviously, if we don't provide them the military equipment they need, 
they will go looking for other sellers, and that would certainly be 
less desirable for us and for them because we are their partner of 
choice in the region. Russia and particularly China have sought to 
increase their malign influence in the Middle East, and they would be 
more than happy to fill the void left by any refusal on the part of the 
United States to make this sale. So blocking this sale would only 
strengthen the position of China and Russia, while significantly 
weakening our own.
  As we continue to make progress in the decades-long quest for peace 
and stability in the Middle East, I support the administration's 
strategic decision to sell arms to the UAE. This would provide the UAE 
with critical national security assets, such as access to the F-35 
fifth-generation fighter, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other advanced 
munitions to act as a deterrent, and if worse comes to worse, it 
actually gives them a comparative advantage with other countries in the 
region.
  The Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, perhaps 
summed it up best when he said:

       What keeps me up at night is actually not the proposed F-35 
     sale to the Emirates. What keeps me up at night is the idea 
     that somebody would return to the nuclear deal with Iran

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