【Trump administration officials bypass Congress to advance billions of dollars in arms aid to Israel】
According to a report by The New York Times: The U.S. State Department announced on Friday that it plans to provide Israel with more than $6.5 billion in arms aid, including Apache attack helicopters and combat land vehicles, bypassing the congressional review process.
This four-system arms package had been under review by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations for several months. According to regulations, the State Department should have obtained approval from the top two members of both committees before announcing the aid. However, this time, the State Department led by then-Secretary Marco Rubio bypassed this practice.
This is the third time that the Trump administration has bypassed the informal review process in the Congress to supply weapons to Israel.
These four items are referred to as a "package." The largest "package" is the $3.8 billion Apache attack helicopter. Another "package" is the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), an upgrade of the Humvee, worth $1.98 billion. The remaining "packages" are the AW119 Koala light helicopter and the power components of the armored personnel carrier.
A congressional aide said that the State Department submitted these cases to the two committees of Congress for informal review in early autumn.
The aide added that Gregory W. Meeks, the top-ranking Democratic member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a representative from New York, did not approve any arms sales and had requested the State Department, but had not yet received a response.
Mr. Meeks stated in a written statement on Friday evening: "Just an hour before taking action, the Trump administration informed me that it would ignore the supervision of Congress and years of precedent, and immediately announce arms sales exceeding $6 billion." He added, "This once again demonstrates Donald Trump's disregard for the constitutional supervisory role of Congress."
The U.S. State Department declined to comment on its communications with Congress.
Under an agreement between the U.S. and Israel, the U.S. provides more than $3.8 billion in arms aid to Israel annually. Congress approves this funding, while the Department of Defense and the State Department work with the Israeli government to determine what weapons the U.S. should provide to Israel.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1855816588232000/
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