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Congressmen want Saudi Accountability Act
The Saudi Arabia Accountability Act was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate and is currently in committee. The bill seeks to place sanctions against the kingdom for not cooperating with the United States in the war on terror.

"The reality is the kingdom is in a daily battle against terrorism and has cooperated fully with the United States in combating terrorism," says the Saudi-American Forum.

Saudi Arabia has been praised for its efforts from President Bush and numerous high-ranking officials. This accountability bill only seeks to damage the U.S.-Saudi relationship and to impair the U.S.’s ability to effectively work with its allies, maintains the Forum in a press release.

Weakening our partnership in the war on terror will make Americans less safe, says the Forum, which asks that voters, "Please tell your Member of Congress and Senators your opinion on the continued effort to castigate a critical partner in America’s war on terrorism."

On Nov. 18, 2003, Sen. Arlen Specter. R-Pa., introduced the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act of 2003. The bill was later introduced in the House on Nov. 21, 2003, by Rep. Anthony D. Weiner, D-N.Y.

This bill, says the Forum, seeks to place sanctions on Saudi Arabia unless the president makes a certification that Saudi Arabia is making maximum effort to fight terrorism. If a certification is not made, according to the bill, the president should take the following actions:

# Prohibit export to Saudi Arabia of any defense articles or services listed on the Arms Export Control Act.

# Prohibit export to Saudi Arabia of any items listed on the Commerce Control List (these are materials that have both economic and military uses).

# Restrict travel of Saudi diplomats to a 25-mile radius of the city in which their offices are located. (This would apply to the Saudi Embassy in D.C., the Saudi U.N. mission in New York, and the Saudi Consulates in Houston and Los Angeles).

The Saudi-American Forum believes these types of hostile legislative initiatives damage the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Dan Darling 2003-12-28
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=23437