I have introduced a privileged resolution (meaning it must receive a floor vote) with @SenatorMenendez and @RandPaul to stop a massive, $23 billion sale of F-35s, Reaper drones, and munitions to the UAE.

This is really important, and I want you to understand why.

1/ A THREAD:
2/ First, a stipulation - the UAE has been a strong ally of the United States. They partner in fighting ISIS and countering malign Iranian influence, and they've been a key player in the détente between Gulf states and Israel, culminating in this fall's recognition accords.
3/ The UAE's recognition of Israel is a big deal. I fully support the Abraham Accords. But there was no invisible ink in that deal that obligated the United States to compromise our own security by selling wildly lethal weapons in the Middle East.
4/ My belief is that we SHOULD be in the security business with UAE, and that's why I've supported past arms sales to UAE.

But this sale is different. Why? a) the UAE's behavior has changed, and b) the scope of this sale is bigger than anything we've ever done in the region.
5/ In Yemen, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have killed thousands of civilians with U.S. made weapons. In Libya, the UAE is in violation of the international arms embargo. And there's evidence the UAE has illegally transferred U.S. military equipment to extremist militias in Yemen.
6/ It begs the question why the U.S. would reward this behavior with a record setting arms sale agreement. At the very least, we should receive clear, unbreakable assurances that the UAE's conduct in Libya and Yemen will change. That hasn't happened.
7/ Next, query whether what the Middle East is missing is highly lethal weaponized Reaper drones? Fueling an arms race in the Middle East is just bad policy - Iran will respond with its own ramp up, and every other Gulf nation will want similar weapons to keep up with the UAE.
8/ Finally, the UAE is unique - they have very close, active defense partnerships with both China and Russia. In the classified briefing, Trump officials could not detail how our most sensitive technology - on the Reapers and our F-35 jets - will not find its way to Russia/China.
9/ There is a level of arms transfer to UAE that could make sense. We SHOULD be a strategic ally of the Emirates. But rushing this sale through in a lame duck Administration is very dangerous. There are giant unanswered questions, and that's why Congress should stop it.

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More from @ChrisMurphyCT

24 Nov
THREAD: Yes @ABlinken and Biden’s national security team have loads of experience, but they are open to new ideas.

That’s key, bc U.S. foreign policy has become dangerously sclerotic, and progressives have offered several productive critiques of the national security consensus.
1/ For instance, it’s time for America to finally shake our hubris of what can be accomplished by military deployments in far off places. Restraint IS a policy. Often our intervention (think Iraq or Libya or Syria) ends up doing much more harm than good.
2/ Secret wars, exempt from public view or oversight, too often go off the rails. For example, our drone program more often kills the wrong target, adding fuel to extremist groups recruitment drives.
Read 11 tweets
20 Nov
Due to Trump's petulant, delusional, democracy-smashing refusal to accept the election results, his Administration is refusing share details with President-elect Biden's team about their vaccination distribution plan .

1/ A short THREAD on why that's going to get people killed.
2/ Vaccinating 300m people would be an enormous undertaking w a single, simple vaccine. But this plan envisions multiple vaccines, with some vaccines requiring ultra-cold storage (which we don't much of) and multiple doses (requiring tracking systems).
cnn.com/2020/11/10/hea…
3/ Trump and his team have screwed up every logistical element of COVID response so far. 80% of nurses say they don't have adequate PPE. Many have to wait in 3 hour lines for a test. Why would Trump's vaccine plan be magically different?
nationalnursesunited.org/press/national…
Read 7 tweets
9 Nov
1/ The disarray of the lame duck Trump White House, especially in the national security space, could be staggering. And our adversaries may try to take advantage.

A short THREAD on what could go wrong in the next 60 days, and how Congress can help fill the void.
2/ Reports suggest Trump's post-defeat rage could lead to the firings of Esper or Haspel. DoD and/or CIA could be leaderless by Thanksgiving. And if Trump refuses to concede, other national security officials could bail to try to save their careers.
thehill.com/policy/defense…
3/ Emerging global powers could try to take advantage of the vacuum. At the top of that list is China. They could finish their crack down in Hong Kong, or they could make a move on the disputed islands with Taiwan.
taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4038660
Read 6 tweets
3 Nov
I want to tell you a story - one I don’t think I’ve ever told publicly before - about the man we have a chance to elect President of the United States today.

1/ A story about the day Joe Biden came to Connecticut - 2 months after Sandy Hook.

I hope you’ll read this.
2/ Biden came to give a speech at a forum on gun violence that we had organized at a state college just outside Newtown.

It was just 60 days after the shooting and the event was intended to help us push for the changes in gun laws we wanted at the federal and state levels.
3/ He stayed after his speech to meet with the Sandy Hook parents. In a somber room off the main hall, he spent about 2 hours with about 10 families. He told stories of his own loss, he explained how he rebuilt his life, he gave a lot hugs.

Then he did something else.
Read 7 tweets
17 Oct
Joe Biden - and all of us - SHOULD be furious that media outlets are spreading what is very likely Russian propaganda.

1/ I’ve seen the intel. The mainstreaming of misinformation is Russia’s 2020 goal. Here’s what we know, and why we can’t take it lying down.
2/ Russia knew it had to play a different game than 2016. So it built an operation to cull virulently pro-Trump Americans as pseudo-assets, so blind in their allegiance to Trump that they’ll willingly launder Kremlin constructed anti-Biden propaganda.

Guiliani was a key target.
3/ Andriy Derkach was a top Russian agent. He was unmasked by the Treasury Dept this summer. Derkach and his team recruited Guiliani and have been feeding him info all year. The White House knew this.
google.com/amp/s/www.wash…
Read 8 tweets
12 Oct
1/ Republicans are suddenly trying to pretend that their rush to confirm Amy Coney Barrett isn't about ACA repeal.

They are lying.

I've put together in one thread the story of their 10 year plan to get rid of the ACA. It all leads to this moment.

Please read the whole thing.
2/ From the start, Republicans were obsessed - I mean OBSESSED - with getting rid of the ACA. Nothing mattered more.

From 2010-2017, they tried to repeal all or part of the ACA 70 times. Their most high profile failure was, of course, in summer 2017.
newsweek.com/gop-health-car…
3/ At first, Republicans' chanted "repeal and replace" - but they NEVER had a plan to replace it.

In 2017, with much fanfare, Paul Ryan unveiled the most serious replacement bill Republicans had ever offered. It ended health care for 23 million Americans.
npr.org/2017/05/24/529…
Read 11 tweets

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