Begich, Ayotte: No Tax Dollars to Russian Firm That Arms Assad Regime

Press Release

Provision Calls for Halting Purchase of Russian Helicopters

U.S. Senators Mark Begich (D-AK) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) successfully included a provision in the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will limit the U.S. military's ability to contract with a Russian state-owned corporation that is also supplying arms to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Sens. Begich and Ayotte released the following joint statement after successful passage of the FY 2014 NDAA last night:

"We should not be sending our tax dollars to a corporation that is complicit in the brutal murder of Syrian civilians. Doing business with Rosoboronexport is threatening our interests in the Middle East as a result of its ties to the brutal Assad regime, which is why we directly addressed this issue with the President and have been pressing the Pentagon to act swiftly and sever ties with this company."

Last July, Senators Begich and Ayotte sent a letter to the White House calling for immediate action to eliminate funding for a contract with Russian export company Rosoboronexport, which has sold the United States Mi17 helicopters. Rosoboronexport has supplied the Assad regime with a variety of weapons and is now reportedly planning to sell advanced anti-aircraft 300 weapons systems.

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