A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers presented legislation Thursday to prevent the Biden administration from finalizing an arms sale to Saudi Arabia in response to the kingdom's role in the Yemen civil war.
The sale is anticipated to cost $650 billion and comprises 280 air-to-air missiles and 596 missile launchers, as well as containers and support hardware, spare parts, contractor engineering and technical support.
Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) submitted a joint resolution against the Middle Eastern country's proposed arms deal.
While many U.S. senators view Saudi Arabia as a critical Middle East ally, they have criticized the country for its involvement in Yemen's civil war, which is widely regarded as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.U
U.S. senators have refused to approve many weapons sales to the kingdom without assurances that American military equipment would not be used to murder people.
According to activists, Saudi Arabia has actively opposed extending the mandate of United Nations investigators who have documented suspected war crimes in Yemen committed by both the Riyadh-led coalition and the Houthi movement.
Paul said in a statement that "this deal could exacerbate the Middle East arms race and compromise the security of our military technologies."
"As long as the Saudi government continues its destructive war in Yemen and oppresses its own people, we should refrain from rewarding them with additional arms sales," Sanders said in the joint statement.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) submitted her own joint resolution last week aimed at prohibiting the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia based on the same rationale.
"Selling arms to Saudi Arabia is simply abhorrent when they continue to slaughter innocent people and starving millions in Yemen, assassinate and torture dissidents, and promote modern-day slavery," Omar said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department approved the $650 million weapons sale earlier this month, marking the first significant arms deal with Saudi Arabia during Biden's presidency.
While Biden ended U.S. backing for Saudi-led operations in Yemen's civil war, he has been chastised by Democrats and activists for failing to do more to punish the kingdom's human rights crimes, particularly the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journaliast Jamal Khashoggi.
Yemen has been at war since March 2015, when the internationally recognized and Saudi-backed government launched an offensive against Houthi rebels.
According to the United Nations, the situation is the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with around 21 million people in need of aid, including over 11 million children.
