In what seems to have become an annual tradition, Rep. Matt Gaetz has filed legislation to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the 2019 murders of three U.S. Navy sailors by a Saudi national.
Gaetz announced the revival of his measure in an email to constituents on Friday. Wednesday was the fourth anniversary of the slayings at the Pensacola Naval Air Station.
In the email, the Fort Walton Beach Republican noted that Ensign Joshua Watson, Airman Mohammed Haitham, and Airman Apprentice Cameron Walters were killed in a terrorist attack by Mohammed Alshamrani.
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Alshamrani, who was shot dead by sheriff’s deputies responding to the attack, was a Saudi military officer who was at Pensacola NAS for training.
“Prior to his enrollment in the program, the Saudi government was negligent in properly screening Alshamrani and derelict in monitoring and reporting his radicalization,” Gaetz said. “The Saudi government also failed on its promise to compensate the victims of Alshamrani’s attack.”
“That’s why on Wednesday, the fourth anniversary of the attack, I reintroduced the ‘Saudi Arabia December 6, 2019, Anti-Terror and Accountability Act.’ The legislation, if enacted, would hold the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia accountable for aiding and abetting the terrorist attack at NAS Pensacola and provide financial support to the victims.”
Gaetz had first introduced the bill last year.
His legislation calls for:
- Ending U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen.
- Stopping any military officer-exchange programs with Saudi Arabia.
- Banning the export of U.S. weapons and munitions to Saudi Arabia.
- Authorizing the victims of the Pensacola NAS terrorist attack to seek damages from the Saudi Arabian government through a federal fund that compensates victims of state-sponsored international terrorism.
- Shifting $1 billion in U.S. military aid from Ukraine for a deposit in the Justice for United States Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund to compensate victims of the Pensacola NAS attack.
- Making available any unused funds to all victims of state-sponsored terror to include 9/11 victims.
Gaetz also noted that he had sent a letter to President Joe Biden in November seeking to declare Dec. 6 a National Day of Remembrance for the attack. Doing so would commemorate the victims by having flags at federal facilities nationwide to be flown at half-staff.
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In the letter, Gaetz wrote, “This would provide recognition and support to the victims of an Al Qaeda-inspired attack that took the lives of Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, and Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham and wounded many others at NASP.”
“(M)y constituents, the military community, and everyone impacted by acts of terrorism perpetrated on U.S. soil and abroad would greatly appreciate a National Day of Remembrance.”
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