Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark) on Thursday sent a letter to the White House criticizing the Biden administration for withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel as it continues to battle Hamas in Gaza. The Senator requested a complete list of all weapons and ammunition Israel has requested, as well as explanations for the delays.
Sen. Cotton wrote: “Your administration is engaged in bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to withhold this crucial aid to Israel during a shooting war. As you are aware, the Arms Export Control Act requires the administration to notify Congress before sending weapons to a foreign country. Your administration has manipulated this requirement by withholding this formal notification to Congress of approved weapons sales, including F-15s, tactical vehicles, 120-mm mortars, 120-mm tank rounds, joint direct attack munitions, and small-diameter bombs. Your administration can then claim that the weapons are ‘in process’ while never delivering them.”
Here is a transcript of the Cotton letter, the original of which can be found here.
Dear President Biden:
I write regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public statement this week that your administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel and hampering its war effort against Hamas—a serious accusation from a trusted U.S. ally.
Your administration responded by claiming that aid is flowing normally, with one official asserting, “We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about.” You claim that the only hold or delay is on the 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs you refused to deliver earlier this year. But you’re deliberately misleading the American people and insulting a key ally.
Your administration is engaged in bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to withhold this crucial aid to Israel during a shooting war. As you are aware, the Arms Export Control Act requires the administration to notify Congress before sending weapons to a foreign country. Your administration has manipulated this requirement by withholding this formal notification to Congress of approved weapons sales, including F-15s, tactical vehicles, 120-mm mortars, 120-mm tank rounds, joint direct attack munitions, and small-diameter bombs. Your administration can then claim that the weapons are “in process” while never delivering them.
But the law also includes an exception for “when emergencies exist,” which allows you to waive the requirement for congressional review and expedite weapons sales. Your administration is obviously aware of this exception since you invoked it just last year. Yet, it appears that you stopped acknowledging the emergency in Israel after receiving a letter from nearly twenty congressional Democrats in January, urging you to end expedited weapons sales to Israel. Though your administration reportedly released a ship carrying at least some of these arms on Wednesday, that modest step doesn’t cure the damage done by the delay.
You’re playing politics with the nation’s honor and our ally’s security. Worse still, your administration lacks the honesty to communicate its true policy to the American people, instead preferring to hide behind weasel words and bureaucratic process.
Any delays to military support to Israel blatantly disregard Congress’s bipartisan mandate to supply Israel with all it needs to defeat the Hamas terrorists and other Iranian-backed groups. Our ally is under sustained threat, and we must use all available resources to expedite military aid. Please provide the following information no later than July 1, 2024:
What weapons and ammunition are being withheld from Israel? Include any weapons or ammunition delayed more than two weeks beyond their original delivery date.
Provide a list of all foreign military and direct commercial sales requested by Israel and the status of each request. Provide an explanation for any delays.
Provide a list of any weapons or ammunition Israel has requested be expedited, the status of each request, and an explanation for that status.
What issues are hampering you from expediting the delivery of weapons and ammunition to Israel? What, if any, legislative relief is required to address those issues?
How much of the recent supplemental funding passed by Congress has your administration expended to deliver weapons and ammunition to Israel?
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Tom Cotton
United States Senator
In 2013, Cotton faced criticism for a column in The Harvard Crimson addressing race relations in America. He referred to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as “race-hustling charlatans” and suggested that deemphasizing race in public discourse could improve race relations.
Following George Floyd’s death in 2020, Cotton disputed claims of systemic racism in the American criminal justice system. He advocated for strong support of law enforcement and took a hard stance against those he characterized as “insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters.”
Regarding foreign policy, Cotton expressed concerns about President Trump’s withdrawal of American troops from Syria in 2018. He was one of six senators who signed a letter arguing that the move could embolden various adversaries and threaten U.S. security. In 2019, Cotton was among 11 Republican senators who voted to advance legislation aimed at preventing the lifting of sanctions on certain Russian companies.
The man could write for The Jewish Press if he didn’t already have a steady day job.
