“It sends the worst possible message to Ukraine as Putin’s forces stand at its doorstep,” Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the...
“It sends the worst possible message to Ukraine as Putin’s forces stand at its doorstep,” Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said of the decision to remove the language from the bill. “So much for Congress, which is reaffirming its role in foreign policy. “
In a separate vote on Tuesday, the Senate rejected a bipartisan attempt by Senators Bernie Sanders, Independent from Vermont, Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, and Mike Lee, Republican from Utah, to block an arms sale of 650 million dollars to Saudi Arabia. The three lawmakers argued that sending the tranche – including 280 air-to-air missiles and nearly 600 missile launchers – would reward the Saudi government for continuing to wage war in Yemen.
The Biden administration presses against the blockade, arguing that the slice was composed only of defensive weapons. In the end, only 30 senators, including Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, voted in favor of the legislation.
In September, the House Armed Services Committee approved his version of the legislation, after more than a dozen moderate Democrats on the panel joined Republicans in approving a larger Pentagon budget. The move infuriated Progressive Democrats, who united arms on Tuesday to oppose the bill.
“I support having by far the most powerful military in the world and the well-paying defense jobs in my district that protect our troops,” said Representative Andy Levin, Democrat of Michigan. “But I cannot support ever increasing military spending in the face of so many human needs across our country.”
The bill still includes several provisions requiring the administration to provide more reports to Congress on Afghanistan, including one calling for regular briefings to assess the surveillance and reconnaissance capability of the United States to conduct operations there. anti-terrorism.
In addition to authorizing the creation of a commission to examine the war in Afghanistan, the measure would bar defense contractors and former cabinet secretaries from sitting on it.
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