Weiner Urges Bush Not To Waive Congress Ban On Aid To Saudi Arabia
by john toscano

“The Saudis bankroll the terrorist organizations that have attacked both the United States and Israel,” Weiner charged. “They provide more than 50 percent of funding to the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, as well as financial support to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.”

Continuing his offensive against U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia, Congressmember Anthony Weiner has appealed again to President George W. Bush not to bypass congressional restrictions banning such aid.

Weiner has also expressed concern that American Universities such as Harvard and Georgetown are accepting gifts from the Saudi royal family, which has a record of giving financial support to terrorist organizations in the Middle East.

Weiner (D–Queens/Brooklyn) said in a release that the connection between the Saudis, the richest oil exporter in the world, and terrorist activity around the world is well documented.

“The Saudis bankroll the terrorist organizations that have attacked both the United States and Israel,” Weiner charged. “They provide more than 50 percent of funding to the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, as well as financial support to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.”

In his letters to Bush relating to the president’s support of the Saudis, Weiner documented Saudi aid to terrorist organizations, despite a provision in this year’s foreign appropriations bill prohibiting the United States from providing any aid to the Saudis. The bill allows the president to waive the prohibition if he certifies that the Saudis have been cooperative in the war on terror, which Bush has done.

Weiner cited a new report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that stated that the U.S. has been unable to control terrorist funding due to a lack of leadership and resources. A report completed last year by the Council on Foreign Relations, Weiner also noted, said that if the U.S. cannot cut off direct funding to terrorists, the U.S. government should eliminate aid to individual countries, such as Saudi Arabia, that are known to support terrorist groups.

In May, Weiner pointed out, a Washington Post report identified 70 percent of suicide bombers on Islamic extremist Web sites and 61 percent of Arab martyrs in Iraq as Saudi.

Weiner also cited sworn testimony by Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Daniel L. Glaser before the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 8. Glaser indicated that Saudi-based international organizations such as the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), which has ties to the royal family, Wahhabism, Hamas and Al Qaeda, can send money abroad without restrictions, possibly aiding terrorist organizations.

He quoted Glaser: “We remain deeply concerned about this issue. On counterterrorist financing, the Saudis need to do more.”

In his letter to Bush, which was signed by nine other members of Congress, including Joseph Crowley and Carolyn Maloney, Weiner wrote: “Saudi support for terrorist groups from Hamas to Al Qaeda directly contradicts your assertion that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with the war on terror. We request that you hold the Saudis accountable for the danger they pose to the American people and pledge not to sign another waiver that would send taxpayer dollars to Saudi coffers.”

Regarding gifts to Harvard and Georgetown Universities by the Royal Saudi family, Weiner said both had accepted $20 million.

Again citing Saudi aid to terrorist groups, Weiner said in a letter to both schools: “August institutions like Harvard University and Georgetown University should not accept funding from a family that bankrolls terrorist organizations. Harvard and Georgetown stand at the forefront of American academia. Their hands should be clean of any relationship with individuals associated with terrorism.”

Last year, Weiner led an effort to fire a faculty member at Columbia University who was spreading anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views on campus.