The Hill reports, “The Senate on Tuesday night rejected a bipartisan effort to block President Biden‘s $650 billion arms sale to the Saudi government.

Senators voted 30-67 on the resolution from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) falling short of the simple majority needed to overcome the procedural hurdle.

Supporters of the resolution pushed to block the arms sale, which includes 280 air-to-air missiles made by Raytheon Technologies, due to Saudi Arabia’s role in Yemen’s civil war, including an air and naval blockade of Yemen.

‘The U.S. should end all arms sales to the Saudis until they end their blockade of Yemen. President Biden said he would change the Trump policy of supporting Saudi’s war in Yemen, but it’s not at all that apparent that policy has changed,’ Paul said ahead of the vote.”

HOW DID YOUR SENATOR VOTE?

Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs —30

Baldwin (D-WI)

Booker (D-NJ)

Brown (D-OH)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Casey (D-PA)

Duckworth (D-IL)

Durbin (D-IL)

Gillibrand (D-NY)

Heinrich (D-NM)

Hirono (D-HI)

Kaine (D-VA)

Lee (R-UT)

Lujan (D-NM)

Markey (D-MA)

Merkley (D-OR)

Murray (D-WA)

Ossoff (D-GA)

Padilla (D-CA)

Paul (R-KY)

Peters (D-MI)

Sanders (I-VT)

Schatz (D-HI)

Schumer (D-NY)

Smith (D-MN)

Stabenow (D-MI)

Tester (D-MT)

Van Hollen (D-MD)

Warnock (D-GA)

Warren (D-MA)

Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs —67

Barrasso (R-WY)

Bennet (D-CO)

Blackburn (R-TN)

Blumenthal (D-CT)

Blunt (R-MO)

Boozman (R-AR)

Braun (R-IN)

Burr (R-NC)

Capito (R-WV)

Cardin (D-MD)

Carper (D-DE)

Cassidy (R-LA)

Collins (R-ME)

Coons (D-DE)

Cornyn (R-TX)

Cortez Masto (D-NV)

Cramer (R-ND)

Crapo (R-ID)

Cruz (R-TX)

Daines (R-MT)

Ernst (R-IA)

Feinstein (D-CA)

Fischer (R-NE)

Graham (R-SC)

Grassley (R-IA)

Hagerty (R-TN)

Hassan (D-NH)

Hawley (R-MO)

Hickenlooper (D-CO)

Hoeven (R-ND)

Hyde-Smith (R-MS)

Inhofe (R-OK)

Johnson (R-WI)

Kelly (D-AZ)

Kennedy (R-LA)

King (I-ME)

Klobuchar (D-MN)

Lummis (R-WY)

Manchin (D-WV)

Marshall (R-KS)

McConnell (R-KY)

Menendez (D-NJ)

Moran (R-KS)

Murkowski (R-AK)

Murphy (D-CT)

Portman (R-OH)

Reed (D-RI)

Risch (R-ID)

Romney (R-UT)

Rosen (D-NV)

Rounds (R-SD)

Rubio (R-FL)

Sasse (R-NE)

Scott (R-FL)

Scott (R-SC)

Shaheen (D-NH)

Shelby (R-AL)

Sinema (D-AZ)

Sullivan (R-AK)

Thune (R-SD)

Tillis (R-NC)

Toomey (R-PA)

Tuberville (R-AL)

Warner (D-VA)

Whitehouse (D-RI)

Wicker (R-MS)

Young (R-IN)

Not Voting – 3

Cotton (R-AR)

Lankford (R-OK)

Leahy (D-VT)

The post How did your senator vote on selling U.S. weapons to Saudi Arabia? appeared first on Liberty Tree.

My new column at The American Conservative: “Saudi Arabia’s air and naval blockade of Yemen is an abomination. For years now, ships that would otherwise carry food, fuel, and medicine to the country have been turned away by the Saudi-led coalition, depriving the Yemeni people of the necessities to sustain civilization. Saudi Arabia’s intervention in the Yemeni civil war is a chilling example of the cruelty of warfare by starvation. According to the United Nations, five million people are one step away from succumbing to famine and disease, and ten million more are right behind them.

NEW: “I am leading a bipartisan effort to end America’s complicity in Saudi Arabia’s war on the Yemeni people. This week, I will force a vote on a bipartisan disapproval resolution that proposes to cancel the arms sale,” writes @RandPaul. https://t.co/7POgqlxwu7

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) December 7, 2021

But, this week, the Senate can start the process of ending this crisis by passing my legislation to cancel an American arms sale to Saudi Arabia that aids and abets the subjugation of the Yemeni people.

The children of Yemen who survive Saudi Arabia’s barbaric blockade will inevitably tell their sons and daughters of the horrors of their youth. And those sons and daughters will tell their sons and daughters. Through oral tradition, a thousand generations of Yemenis will know of the crown prince’s ruthlessness. And they will also know that it was the Americans that sold him the weapons to wage his murderous campaign.”

Read the entire column.

The post America must stop enabling the Saudi war in Yemen appeared first on Liberty Tree.

The American Conservative’s Geoff Lamear writes, “In response to the proposed sale of U.S. missiles to Saudi Arabia, Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders are leading a bipartisan effort to oppose the sale. This is still a fight of David and Goliath, as Congress has never successfully stopped an arms sale.

It’s time for that to change.

Amen! Next week I will force a vote to stop funding the Saudi starvation blockade of Yemen.

Senate Skeptics are Right: End Missile Sales to Saudi Arabia – The American Conservative https://t.co/eYttOaPB6z

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 2, 2021

While President Biden has pledged to end support for ‘offensive operations,’ U.S. support for Saudi Arabia has continued under the guise of defense…

While attention on Saudi Arabia is warranted, many have failed to notice that the U.S. quietly allowed the UAE to continue receiving $23 billion in U.S. arms. A U.S. official also confirmed last week that the UAE is slated to receive advanced F-35 fighter jets despite the UAE’s continued involvement and possible war crimes in Yemen. Amid reports that the UAE allowed the construction of Chinese military facilities, the U.S. needs to stop its blank-check support for a government that doesn’t reciprocate. Just as with Saudi Arabia, neutrality would better insulate the U.S. from conflicts that don’t threaten Americans.”

Read the entire column.

The post End U.S. missile sales to Saudi Arabia appeared first on Liberty Tree.

The Washington Examiner reports, “Last week, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul decided to take a stand against Saudi Arabia. He was joined by Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Mike Lee of Utah. Together, they issued a joint resolution of disapproval to block proposed U.S. arms sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

According to the press release, this weapons sale to Saudi Arabia included 280 air-to-air missiles and 596 missile launchers. Other sophisticated weapons were included, as well as associated training and support. The entire cost was estimated to be approximately $650 billion.

The three senators were not pleased at all, not in the slightest.

‘As the Saudi government continues to wage its devastating war in Yemen and repress its own people, we should not be rewarding them with more arms sales,’ Sen. Sanders said in the press release.

A message needs to be sent to Saudi Arabia that we don’t approve of their war with Yemen… https://t.co/i8MAe6RmaN

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) November 26, 2021

‘The war in Yemen is a humanitarian tragedy, and U.S. participation in this war remains undeclared by Congress. The administration’s proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia contradicts the President’s own stated policy. I am proud to once again stand with my colleagues and push back on unconstitutional support of this war,’ said Sen. Lee.

Sen. Rand Paul had an especially scathing rebuke of the deal.

‘A message needs to be sent to Saudi Arabia that we don’t approve of their war with Yemen,’ Sen. Paul said. ‘By participating in this sale, we would not only be rewarding reprehensible behavior, but also exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Yemen. I urge Congress and the Biden Administration to consider the possible consequences of this sale that could accelerate an arms race in the Middle East and jeopardize the security of our military technologies.”

Read the entire story.

The post Saudi Arabia needs to know the U.S. doesn’t approve of their war with Yemen appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Responsible Statecraft’s Kelley Beaucar Vlahos writes, “Rand Paul’s office told RS today that the Republican senator is readying a joint resolution of disapproval to stop the Biden Administration’s expected sale of $650 million worth of ‘defensive’ air-to-air missiles or AMRAAMs, as well as 596 missile launches to Saudi Arabia, as announced on Nov. 4.

‘A message needs to be sent to Saudi Arabia that we don’t approve of their war in Yemen,’ Paul said in a statement to Responsible Statecraft.

.@RandPaul is readying a joint resolution of disapproval to stop the Biden Administration’s expected sale of $650 million worth of “defensive” air-to-air missiles or AMRAAMs—as well as 596 missile launchers—to Saudi Arabia. https://t.co/rGm7naQDMQ

— Quincy Institute (@QuincyInst) November 17, 2021

The news was also confirmed in an Intercept report this afternoon in which Paul said he aims to file a privileged motion to stop the export, which would guarantee an immediate floor vote on whether to disapprove the sale. That vote could occur within the next two weeks, according to the Intercept’s Sara Sirota.

Interestingly, the article centered around Paul’s interest in generating support from his Democratic colleagues, particularly those who have typically been on the same page when it comes to U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its Gulf state neighbor, UAE. But as the report suggests, Biden’s fellow Dems aren’t hopping on the bandwagon right away, at least not yet.

Sen. Bernie Sanders did not show outright skepticism. He told the Intercept that he has yet to see the details, but he’s ‘not unsympathetic’ to what Paul is trying to do.”

Read the entire column.

The post Rand Paul wants to kill $650M missile sale to Saudi Arabia appeared first on Liberty Tree.