Resolutions Introduced in House and Senate to Disapprove of Reagan’s Proposed Arms Sale to Saudi Ara

Resolutions were introduced in the House and Senate Wednesday to disapprove of President Reagan’s proposed sale of $354 million in sophisticated missiles to Saudi Arabia.

Sen. Alan Cranston (D. Calif.) and Rep. Mel Levine (D. Calif.), who introduced the resolutions in their respective chambers, said at a press conference in the capital that the resolutions were signed by 61 Senators and 153 Representatives. Both said that they expected to get a two-thirds majority of their respective bodies to vote in favor of the resolutions, which would be needed to over-ride a Presidential veto.

Both Houses of Congress must adopt the resolutions to reject the sale by May 8 or it automatically goes through.

Cranston rejected the suggestion that the decision by the Government of Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) not to fight actively against the sale, despite their opposition to it, would hurt the effort to defeat it. Cranston noted that many Senators had signed his resolution after the announcements by Israel and AIPAC.

Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D. Ohio) said that while he was somewhat “perplexed” by the AIPAC decision, he and other members of Congress do not vote based on what Israel or AIPAC wants. Rep. Vin Weber (R. Minn.) said that all members of AIPAC are against the sale but the organization had made a decision on tactical grounds not to fight against it.

FED UP WITH DICTATORS AND POTENTATES

Cranston, in opposing the missile sale, said, “We are fed up with Third World dictators and potentates who thwart vital American national interests and then expect unhampered delivery of our most advanced military weapons.”

He said that the Saudis were not providing oil “as a favor to us, but to make money,” and they were interested in stopping the advancement of Communism “in their own interest, no less than ours.”

But Cranston said that he was particularly concerned about Saudi support for terrorism including its backing of Libya’s Muammar Quaddafi, its bank-rolling of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Syria — as well as the Saudis having “thwarted every effort by Jordan to join in the peace process.”

Cranston and others at the press conference expressed particular concern about the proposal to sell the Saudis 200 Stinger shoulder-fired ground-to-air missile systems plus 600 replacement missiles. Cranston noted that the Stinger is a highly portable weapon and has been called “the ideal terrorist weapon.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the proposed Saudi Sale April 17. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has not yet set a date for its hearing but is expected to schedule one within the next two weeks.