Roy Blunt: “later today, we will vote on whether to go forward with the arms sales that the administration notified the Congress of…”

“later today, we will vote on whether to go forward with the arms sales that the administration notified the Congress of a few weeks ago. These would be arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, equipment sales. These sales clearly would continue the 20 years of growth in our relationship, working side by side against common concerns and common enemies. This really goes back through three different administrations, going back to 9/11 and beyond, where the UAE has consistently been willing to stand with us in at least six long-term deployments. They come; they stay. They are side by side with us in the field. They have been with us in the air. They are flying what has previously been our best piece of aircraft at a level that we would share it with other countries that are friends of ours. This sale will continue that. It continues to allow even more interoperability between the United States and the UAE and Israel. Israel, by the way, is totally supportive of this sale. The Ambassador from the United Arab Emirates and the Ambassador from Israel earlier this week had a public event where they both talked about the support of Israel for this sale. As you know very well, our law requires a quantitative advantage for Israel when we sell them equipment. We have even a slightly different advantage, but being able to continue this relationship is important.…”