Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United States arms transfers to Saudi Arabia.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution calls on the U.S. government to cease all arms transfers to Saudi Arabia until Saudi Arabia takes specified actions, including demonstrating true accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and ending military operations in Yemen. Further, it calls for (1) sanctions against Saudi government officials and certain other individuals, and (2) a cease to nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia until Saudi Arabia guarantees that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only and that the enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel within Saudi territory is prohibited.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 175 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 175

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United 
                 States arms transfers to Saudi Arabia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 2021

   Mr. Trone (for himself and Mr. Connolly) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
 in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United 
                 States arms transfers to Saudi Arabia.

Whereas the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have traditionally had 
        a close partnership based on mutual interests, information sharing, 
        economic development, educational exchange, and other cooperation;
Whereas, on October 2, 2018, Saudi Government officials murdered and dismembered 
        the body of United States resident and Washington Post columnist Jamal 
        Khashoggi when he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey;
Whereas Khashoggi, himself a former Saudi official, had peacefully voiced 
        criticism of recent decisions made by the Saudi Government, in 
        particular those of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman;
Whereas credible news media outlets have reported that the Central Intelligence 
        Agency and other elements of the United States intelligence community 
        have concluded that Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for ordering 
        Khashoggi's assassination;
Whereas, in June 2019, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, 
        Summary or Arbitrary Killings, Agnes Callamard, issued a report 
        concluding that Mr. Khashoggi's murder ``constituted an extrajudicial 
        killing for which the State of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is 
        responsible'' and ``determined that there is credible evidence, 
        warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi Officials' 
        individual liability, including the Crown Prince's'';
Whereas Saudi Arabia has convicted eight unidentified individuals in the 
        Khashoggi murder, five of whom were originally sentenced to death but 
        whose sentences were commuted, and none of whom are Mohammed bin Salman 
        or any other senior official, for their involvement in the murder;
Whereas section 1277 and section 5714 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
        for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92) required the Director of 
        National Intelligence to submit an unclassified report to Congress 
        within 30 days identifying those complicit in or responsible for the 
        death of Jamal Khashoggi, and as of January 2021 no such report has been 
        submitted;
Whereas, in January 2021, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines 
        committed in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on 
        Intelligence to follow the law with regard to requirements of section 
        1277 and section 5714 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92);
Whereas other Saudi plots to allegedly assassinate or kidnap dissidents with an 
        extrajudicial ``Tiger Squad'' have reportedly been uncovered in Canada 
        and Norway, and Mohammed bin Salman's lawyers are seeking immunity for 
        the prince in a related case before the United States judiciary;
Whereas Saudi Arabia's efforts to spy on dissidents and other individuals 
        perceived as threats reportedly extends to the country's use of Twitter 
        employees as spies and the hacking of prominent private individuals' 
        cell phones in attempts to extort them;
Whereas a number of Saudi nationals alleged to have committed crimes in the 
        United States have escaped justice by absconding to Saudi Arabia, 
        reportedly with the help of the Saudi Government;
Whereas the Saudi Government had unjustly detained American citizens Bader al-
        Ibrahim and Salah al-Haidar on political charges before conditionally 
        releasing them pending trial and convicted Walid Fitaihi for supposed 
        crimes such as illegally obtaining United States citizenship before 
        reducing his sentence and conditionally releasing him, subjected them to 
        torture and solitary confinement, and banned their families from leaving 
        the kingdom, including Fitaihi's wife and six children who are United 
        States citizens and Haidar's mother, Aziza al-Yousef, a United States 
        permanent resident and women's rights activist who was conditionally 
        released from unjust detention in 2019;
Whereas Saudi Arabia's Specialized Criminal Court, established in 2008, has been 
        used as a tool of repression to try, convict, and punish journalists, 
        human rights defenders, political activists, writers, religious clerics, 
        and women's rights activists under dubious antiterrorism and allegiance 
        laws;
Whereas activists Loujain al-Hathloul, Nassima al-Sada, Nouf Abdulaziz, Maya'a 
        al-Zahrani, and Samar Badawi were among those unjustly arrested in Saudi 
        Arabia in 2018 after advocating for women's right to drive and an end to 
        the male guardianship system, and some reportedly have been subjected to 
        harassment, assaults, and torture while in prison;
Whereas Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have conducted more than 
        22,000 airstrikes since the start of the conflict in Yemen six years 
        ago, and that conflict has caused the deaths of over 233,000 people from 
        both direct hostilities and indirect causes such as hunger and lack of 
        health services;
Whereas the United Kingdom's House of Commons determined that its country's 
        Ministry of Defense had identified over 500 Saudi-led coalition 
        airstrikes that violated international humanitarian law, including by 
        targeting civilian sites and claiming civilian lives;
Whereas the risk posed by coalition airstrikes to Yemeni civilians will only 
        continue until there is a negotiated settlement to the conflict in 
        Yemen;
Whereas S.J.Res. 38, a joint resolution to block a proposed emergency sale of 
        defense articles to Saudi Arabia and other countries, passed both the 
        House and Senate with bipartisan support in the 116th Congress but was 
        vetoed by the President;
Whereas the nuclear agreement entered into pursuant to section 123 of the Atomic 
        Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) and signed between the United States 
        and the United Arab Emirates in 2009 provides a model for reasonable 
        safeguards on nuclear cooperation with a country in the region, 
        including termination if the United Arab Emirates ``engages in 
        activities within its territory relating to enrichment of uranium or 
        reprocessing of nuclear fuel'';
Whereas the United States and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding 
        concerning peaceful nuclear cooperation in 2008, but since that time, 
        further negotiations have stalled, with no Section 123 Agreement having 
        been presented to Congress; and
Whereas, in May 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated in testimony before 
        the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with regard to Saudi Arabia, that 
        ``we want a gold-standard Section 123 Agreement from them, which would 
        not permit them to enrich'' uranium: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls on the United States Government to cease all arms 
        transfers to Saudi Arabia until Saudi Arabia--
                    (A) demonstrates true accountability for the murder 
                of Jamal Khashoggi, including through an independent, 
                international investigation into Saudi Arabia's 
                involvement that is judged credible by third parties 
                such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on 
                extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, and 
                through remedies and reparations under international 
                law;
                    (B) ends its campaign of extraterritorial 
                surveillance and harassment of individuals;
                    (C) releases prisoners convicted of crimes under 
                the counterterrorism law for activities that constitute 
                political expression, including women's rights 
                advocates, journalists, government critics, and 
                religious minorities; and
                    (D) ends its military operations in Yemen;
            (2) calls on the United States Government to release the 
        classified report produced by the Office of the Director of 
        National Intelligence as required by section 5714 and section 
        1277 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
        2020 (Public Law 116-92) and sanction those identified in the 
        report;
            (3) calls on the United States Government to, until Saudi 
        Arabia signs a 123 Agreement that includes safeguards 
        guaranteeing its program is for civilian purposes only and 
        prohibits enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of spent 
        nuclear fuel within Saudi territory--
                    (A) rescind the seven Part 810 authorizations 
                granted by the Department of Energy with respect to 
                Saudi Arabia in 2017; and
                    (B) cease significant nuclear cooperation with 
                Saudi Arabia and refrain from any transfer of United 
                States-origin nuclear material;
            (4) calls on the United States Government to use targeted 
        sanctions, including those contained in the Global Magnitsky 
        Accountability Act of 2016 and section 7031c of the Fiscal Year 
        2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, against Saudi Government 
        officials for violations of human rights and corruption; and
            (5) urges the Government of Saudi Arabia to prioritize the 
        protection of human rights for its citizens and residents in 
        order to fulfill its international obligations and reach the 
        kingdom's ambitious economic development goals.
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