President Reagan warned Tuesday that if Congress does not allow his proposed sale of missiles to Saudi Arabia to go through it will harm United States relations with the entire Arab world.
Reagan’s remarks were made at his weekly meeting with Republican Congressional leaders as he noted that the Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on his veto of the Congressional resolution rejecting the sale.
“I want all of you to understand that this vote will have a profound effect upon our relations with the Arab world, not just with Saudi Arabia,” the President told the GOP leaders. “If the veto isn’t sustained, it
REAGAN TO TELEPHONE SENATORS
White House spokesperson Edward Djerejian said later that Reagan is expected to
In his veto message May 21, Reagan sent an accompanying letter to Congress that he was eliminating 800 Stinger shoulder-fired ground-to-air missiles from the $354 million arms package. The Stinger was the most controversial item in the sale because
The proposed sale now includes 1,666 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and 100 Harpoon air-to-sea missiles at a cost of about $267 million. Djerejian also said Tuesday that failure to
He said a Presidential defeat would “provide the Soviets with opportunities” in the Mideast. He noted that several years ago when the Administration had to withhold a plan to sell Jordan missiles because of Congressional action, Jordan for the
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