Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman (D.NY) announced yesterday that the Department of Defense no longer will provide U.S. training free of charge to Saudi. Arabian troops. Ms. Holtzman said she received assurance from the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Rep, Otto Passman (D.La.) that all training from now on will be on a reimbursable basis for Saudi trainees.
Under the legislation that had been adopted, $220,000 was available for grants to Saudi Arabia to pay for Saudi military training. Although $38,000 of this amount has already been obligated the remainder will not be spent. Congresswoman Holtzman said: “U.S. training of Saudi Arabian troops is a highly questionable policy. If such training is provided, certainly it is sheer nonsense to provide such assistance free of charge, Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is not an impoverished nation entitled to foreign assistance” at the expense of the American taxpayers.
During the debate on the aid legislation last month, Ms. Holtzman raised the question of free U.S. military training for the Saudians. At her request, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep, George Mahon (D. Texas) agreed to persuade the Administration to work out a more acceptable arrangement. Her assurances from Passman stemmed from that.
The debate on free training of Saudi troops was heated up by the disclosure that the Vinnell Corporation of Los Angeles had obtained a $77 million contract to train the Saudi Arabian national guard to defend oil fields in that country. The contract was from the Defense Department, but the money will be paid by Saudi Arabia.
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