UPDATE 3-U.S. Senate Foreign Relations chairman offers human rights bill on Saudi Arabia

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Republican chairman, Senator Jim Risch, introduced legislation seeking to push back on Saudi Arabia over human rights and criticizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but not by stopping weapons sales. The bill, released on Wednesday, is the latest effort in Congress to hold the kingdom accountable for rights abuses, including the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey and a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

"It is the sense of Congress that, since the promotion of Mohammed bin Salman to the position of Crown Prince with significant authorities over foreign and domestic affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the government of Saudi Arabia has demonstrated increasingly erratic and disturbing conduct," the bill's text says. However, the Saudi Arabia Diplomatic Review Act would not block weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, focusing instead on barring travel by some members of the Saudi royal family. Risch had said he wanted to introduce legislation that President Donald Trump would sign.

Although Trump's fellow Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, the chamber last month defied him by voting to block billions of dollars in military sales to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries. A handful of Republicans joined Democrats to pass resolutions to block the sales, rejecting Trump's decision to sidestep Congress' review of such deals by declaring an emergency over threats from Iran.

The Republican-majority Foreign Relations Committee also approved separate legislation, sponsored by ranking Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, that would make it more difficult for Trump to avoid congressional review of arms sales, underscoring lawmakers' anger over his approval of the $8 billion in military deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. At a Foreign Relations hearing on weapons sales on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State Clarke Cooper said the military equipment has not been delivered, even though it has been seven weeks since the emergency declaration in May.

"Delivery is pending," he said, a comment that caused both Republican and Democratic committee members to question the administration's decision to invoke an emergency. VETO THREAT

Trump has promised to veto all 22 of the resolutions of disapproval. The measures did not get enough votes in the Senate to override his veto. Risch's bill calls for a "comprehensive review" of Washington's relationship with Saudi Arabia. It also calls on Trump to deny or revoke visas of Saudi citizens tied to rights abuses, although it allows him to issue waivers if they are in the U.S. national interest.

Risch, who voted against the resolutions of disapproval, told the hearing it was important for the United States to respond to what he described as "clear" threats to the United States and its allies from Iran. "Emergency declarations are useful not just for the tangible military capabilities they transfer to allies and partners, but are equally important for the messages they convey," he said.

Menendez scoffed at the administration's contention that the Saudi and UAE arms deals would address an emergency. "How would sales that will not be delivered for many, many months immediately respond to an emergency?" he asked. An aide to Risch said the senator is "cautiously optimistic" about getting Trump's support for his bill.

The House of Representatives is due to vote on some of the resolutions of disapproval of the weapons sales next week. They are expected to pass the Democratic-controlled chamber, but would need two-thirds majorities there and in the Senate to overcome Trump vetoes. Illustrating the extent of anger over the weapons deals, Republican Senator Ted Cruz joined Democrats in criticizing the State Department's allowing the weapons sales without congressional ' review. Cruz had voted against the resolutions of disapproval because of the threat from Iran.

"The process that the State Department followed in this issue, not to put too fine a point on it, was crap," Cruz said. Risch's bill is co-sponsored by two Democrats, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Coons, and by Republican Senator Marco Rubio.