Washington—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, this evening made the following statement:

“The President’s veto sends a grim message that America’s foreign policy is no longer rooted in our core values—namely a respect for human rights—and that he views Congress not as a coequal branch of government, but an irritant to be avoided or ignored. Worse still, this veto is going to cost innocent lives. These weapons are going to continue fueling a reckless and brutal campaign of violence and exacerbating the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Whatever our security concerns in the region, there’s no ‘emergency,’ as the Administration claimed, that justifies this end run around Congress. I condemn the President’s decision and I’ll continue using every tool at my disposal to bring accountability to his foreign policy, including closing the loopholes that led to this arms sale fiasco in the first place.”

# # #