Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas) recently announced they are taking legislative steps to strengthen the current prohibition on U.S. defense contracts with a Russian arms dealer.
DeLauro and Granger are offering an amendment to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act to ensure no funds are used by the Defense Department to purchase equipment from the Russian state arms dealer Rosoboronexport, a dealer that also supplies arms to the Syrian regime.
“Russia’s weapons shipments to Syria are enabling the mass murder being perpetrated by the Assad regime,” DeLauro said. “Yet the Pentagon is subsidizing Russia’s arms dealer, Rosoboronexport, through no-bid contracts for new Mi-17 helicopters for the Afghan National Security Forces. Congress has made clear that the Department of Defense should no longer use taxpayer dollars to purchase equipment from Rosoboronexport, yet the Pentagon is skirting that law. This amendment will strengthen current law; I urge my colleagues to support it.”
The current prohibition on contracts with Rosoboronexport was included in last year’s NDAA. Reports surfaced in March that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was purchasing 30 additional helicopters for the Afghan National Security Forces with funds that had already been authorized. A similar amendment to the one being offered by DeLauro and Granger was also included with DOD’s funding bill that passed the House Appropriations Committee yesterday.
“It is unconscionable that the Department of Defense purchases helicopters from Russia, the very country which continues to arm Assad’s regime,” Granger said. “Russia is indirectly subsidizing the grave humanitarian crisis in Syria. Not only is the Assad regime murdering innocent Syrians, it is also a threat to our allies, including Israel and Jordan, and jeopardizes the entire region’s stability. We cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to go to any country that is complicit in atrocities like those being carried out by Assad.”