WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican and Democratic senators will introduce legislation as soon as Thursday that would block international sales of American-made drones to countries that are not close U.S. allies, a Senate aide said.
Reuters broke the news in June that President Donald Trump’s administration planned to reinterpret the Missile Technology Control Regime, a Cold Wars arms agreement between 35 nations, with the goal of allowing U.S. defense contractors to sell more drones to an array of nations.
Republican Senator Mike Lee, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, are introducing the measure, the aide said.
U.S. lawmakers have tried before to rein in Trump administration plans for arms sales, particularly to Saudi Arabia for use in the war in Yemen. The measures have passed with bipartisan support, but failed to get enough Republican support to override Trump’s vetoes.
The New York Times first reported the lawmakers’ plan to introduce the bill on Thursday.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
