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Some U. S. lawmakers are reassessing relations with Saudi Arabia after a cut in oil production is driving up fuel prices. Ro Khanna of California is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and is spearheading the editing of a House bill to end U. S. gun sales. U. S. to Saudi Arabia for one year. Khanna joined Amna Nawaz to discuss the proposal.
Amna Nawaz:
Rep. Ro Khanna of California is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and is spearheading the edition of this House bill to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia for one year. Now he joins me.
Congressman, welcome back to NewsHour. Thank you for us
You said that the United States will have to prevent these arms sales without delay, without delay.
We note that this has been proposed before and continuously through many other people. Why do you think this moment is different?
Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA):
This is a defining moment.
Like the war powers solution that stopped the refueling of Saudi planes that Senator Sanders and I led after Khashoggi’s murder, there was another moment that outraged others on both sides of Capitol Hill Alley. This is the ingratitude of Saudi Arabia. they with 70% of their weapons.
We defended them when Saddam Hussein was going to invade after Saddam invaded Kuwait, and Saudi planes may literally not be able to fly without American technicians. However, they are scamming the American public, making about $100 billion in 2022. There will have to be consequences.
Amna Nawaz:
We provide them with all those things that you just listed, but they also provide us with critical intelligence, counterterrorism intelligence, in particular, that the United States uses for national security purposes.
Could enforcing consequences in any way jeopardize US national security?
Representative Ro Khanna:
No, it won’t. They much more in us.
In fact, the defense agreements we have, the joint defense initiatives, are broader than almost any other major ally. And all that is a credit to Saoudiens. La production is there. The jobs are there. Then they depend much more on us. And they’re already making those drastic cuts.
And they’re making drastic cuts at a time when they’re getting 70% profit margins on each and every barrel of oil. Why do they do it? They do it to help Putin, because Putin doesn’t have the same profit margins. It sells its oil at a reduction of $35 a barrel to China and other countries. So, to appease Putin, they hurt the American customer at the bomb.
And I probably wouldn’t hold on. And we have much more weight over them than they do over us.
Amna Nawaz:
We also assumed that leverage would force them away from Russia, but that’s a gamble. What if they cut oil production again?
What if they end up going to Russia and China?
Representative Ro Khanna:
Well, they can’t pass any extras to Russia and China anytime soon. It would take them almost 10 years to get the weapons we supply, just because of the interoperability of the weapons and literally the air. Force would be paralyzed if they didn’t have American technicians.
Now it took them years to build with Russia and China, but they just couldn’t do it. In terms of cuts, they have already cut so far. I do not believe that any further cuts are possible. They were talking about a cut of one million barrels. They cut two million barrels. And other parties: OPEC countries, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, would not catch up if they opted for additional cuts. Therefore, they have already taken the most drastic measures.
Amna Nawaz:
What about Iran in all this, Representative Khanna?I mean, none of this happens in a vacuum.
U. S. Foreign Policy The U. S. economy in the region is largely structured around Saudi Arabia. This summer, the U. S. The US approved two major new arms deals with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, particularly to help protect them from Iran.
Relief on Saudi Arabia’s arms sales to Iran?
Representative Ro Khanna:
No, it isn’t. And I opposed those arms sales.
Let’s not say the Saudis are to blame for one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in Yemen. It’s appalling what they did to the children there. The famine they have caused is appalling. It is appalling that they continue to block.
Now the Houthis are also to blame. And the Iranians are also to blame in Yemen. But the Saudis were the main perpetrators of this war. So I don’t think preventing those arms sales would make them vulnerable to Iran.
And I spoke very loudly for the students, for the women protesting in Iran. I think there are other tactics to engage Iran. But we don’t use a Kissinger-style balance of power, where we end up supporting brutal dictators, at the expense of our own public, because of safe checks and balances in the Middle East.
Amna Nawaz:
What do you think President Biden could have done right now?I mean, he went from calling Saudi Arabia a pariah to visiting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in July, the coup was felt around the world.
Do you think there is anything the president or this management has done to avoid this moment?
Representative Ro Khanna:
Yes, I don’t think I deserved to go to Saudi Arabia. Senator Sanders and I went to the newspapers and said I was wrong. I think I deserved to have been transparent with the Saudis that there would be very dramatic consequences, whether they didn’t lift the blockade, which they haven’t done in Yemen yet.
And now they are talking about not respecting the truce in Yemen, but in fact, about the incredibly dramatic consequences if they reduce oil production. So I think he may have been clearer about all those things. Now, I’m glad you’re contemplating action now. And my confidence is that if we are difficult enough, they will oppose the decision.
Amna Nawaz:
He said he contemplated action. We have heard the word consequences, but not details.
In your discussions with the administration, how serious are you about enforcing serious and swift consequences?
Representative Ro Khanna:
I was told that the president was going to act, that the president was reviewing relations with Saudi Arabia, and that such action was imminent.
How can you allow a country that is an “ally,” in quotation marks, to continue to take credit for the American public and make drastic cuts when we’re going through one of the biggest energy crises?Have we noticed in recent decades? Allies don’t treat each other like that.
Amna Nawaz:
More broadly, U. S. officials are more likely to be able to do so. The U. S. allegedly warned Saudi leaders that cutting production would be considered a transparent decision they see with Russia, and the Saudis did it anyway.
What does that tell you about how they understand America right now?
Representative Ro Khanna:
Well, they don’t think there are consequences.
But I think they take the temperature, one, of many young members of Congress, who are not immersed in the same classic appointments with Saudi Arabia, who know fundamentally Saudi Arabia through the prism of the war in Yemen and the humanitarian crisis that they caused. They do not forget that the war powers solution that prevented our help passed through the House and Senate, the only time a war powers solution was passed.
And they deserve to know that there will now be consequences. Not only Senator Blumenthal and I called him, but also Senator Menendez, a highly reputable foreign policy voice who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that calls him. the hill.
Amna Nawaz:
Briefly, if you can, Mr. Representative, the Saudis said it’s economic, their resolve to decrease oil production. Do you think this has anything to do with the timing of the upcoming midterm elections?
Representative Ro Khanna:
I don’t know, but I know it’s not economical when you make more than 70% profit on your barrels of oil.
Look, I’ve criticized Exxon and Chevron, but that pales in comparison to what the Saudis are doing. Oil, so what I do know is that they intentionally chose to harm the Americans at the pump.
Listen, I doubt it: I don’t think the timing is a coincidence, but I have no evidence as to why they made this decision. All I know is that they harm the American public.
Amna Nawaz:
This is Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. and a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Thank you very much for your time.
Representative Ro Khanna:
Thank you.
Amna Nawaz joined PBS NewsHour in April 2018 and is the show’s lead correspondent and lead exchange anchor.
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