Floor Statements

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, I have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 35.

I am a little perplexed by the Parliamentarian's decision that this can move forward because there is a statutory timeframe that says that the resolution needs to be brought forth in order for it to have validity.

My understanding of the Parliamentarian's decision is that even though--if there was passage of this resolution--it would not have validity because it is past the timeframe, it still can be brought. That seems to be a pursuit of the Senate's time in a way that is an extraordinary amount of time on unlimited numbers of discharge resolutions that potentially exist that, having passed the statutory timeframe, can still be brought to the Senate floor even though whatever the vote is has no consequence. I fail to understand that.

Since that is the ruling, let me just say that I appreciate that the Senator from Kentucky has concerns about human rights in Egypt, and I agree that we must absolutely continue to raise concerns in a way that will meaningfully bring about positive change. I believe we should be doing more to prioritize a country's human rights record in the context of our broader relationship.

In fact, last year, with several of my colleagues, I introduced S. 1473, the Safeguarding Human Rights in Arms Exports Act, or what we call the SAFEGUARD Act, to ensure that human rights issues full attention and arms exports decision making are considered.

And I invite all of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support and cosponsor this important legislation.

As I think everyone in this body knows, for years I have led the fight in the Senate against arms sales to countries that commit significant and repeated human rights abuses such as Saudi Arabia.

Last Congress, the Senate approved 23 resolutions of disapproval that I introduced when the Trump administration sought to short circuit our rights to consider these sales according to law.

Joint resolutions of disapproval are just one tool that we have, and we must make sensible distinctions about the types of systems we consider. In this particular debate, as I have argued before, a critical distinction is between arms that are inherently offensive and lethal and those that are not. Some are defensive; some are simply logistical.

Today, we are considering a sale of 12 cargo aircraft, which I believe squarely falls in the category of largely defensive, nonlethal arms. This aircraft is used for transporting military and other cargo, including humanitarian supplies, as well as personnel in-country and internationally. Egypt has earlier model C-130s since the 1980s, but its current fleet is aging and becoming more expensive to maintain.

The United States and Egypt have a long and valuable relationship that goes beyond the security realm. Egypt is also an important security partner for other U.S. allies in the region. This, of course, does not mean that it is above reproach--it is not--or that the nature of that relationship is static. It is not.

Indeed, I supported the Secretary of State's determination made last month not to release $130 million in withheld foreign military financing because Egypt's government has not made, in his view, sufficient progress in human rights, especially with regard to the

treatment of peaceful activists and the continued targeting of independent civil society organizations.

I have used my prerogative as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee in the arms sales process before, and I will continue to do so in the future regarding systems that may consistently relate to these concerns.

But in the end, our relationship with Egypt has to be one of maintaining a balance between the foreign policy and national security concerns of the United States and our partners.

We should, however, continue to raise human rights concerns and press for meaningful reforms. We should continue encouraging the government to uphold its own commitments, but to this end, because these are purely, not only--they are logistical at best, I urge my colleagues to reject this motion to discharge.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to print the following letter in the Record.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, for the Committee on Foreign Relations I report favorably the following nomination lists which were printed in the Records on the dates indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that these nominations lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Madam President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.

Mr. President, section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.