60 Lawmakers Seek Delay of Billion Dollar Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/29/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-of-billion-dollar-arms-sale-to-saudi/

60 Lawmakers Seek Delay of Billion Dollar Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

BY JOHN HUDSON

AUGUST 29, 2016 

In a sign that frustration is growing in Congress over Saudi Arabia, a bipartisan group of 60 lawmakers have signed a letter seeking to delay the Obama administration’s planned sale of $1.15 billion in arms and military equipment to Riyadh.

The letter, addressed to President Barack Obama, cites the growing number of civilian casualties in Yemen caused by the Saudi-led military coalition, and the Obama administration’s failure to reign in its Arab ally.

“This military campaign has had a deeply troubling impact on civilians,” wrote the lawmakers in a draft obtained by Foreign Policy. “Just in the last several days, a Saudi airstrike on a school in Yemen killed 10 children – some as young as 6-years-old – and a Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital in Yemen killed 11 people.”

The missive is expected to be sent to the White House on Tuesday.http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/29/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-of-billion-dollar-arms-sale-to-saudi/