[Peace] Sat. 2:30pm: CU Residents Challenge Durbin to Oppose Saudi Arms Deal at CU Pride Parade

[Robert Naiman]

*MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: *Saturday, September 10, 2016

*CONTACT: *Robert Naiman: 202-448-2898 x1; naiman at justforeignpolicy.org


*Saturday at 2:30pm: CU Residents Challenge Durbin to Oppose Saudi Arms
Deal at CU Pride Parade*


*Champaign, IL — *On Saturday, September 10, Champaign-Urbana residents
will challenge Illinois Senator Dick Durbin at the CU Pride Parade in
downtown Champaign to co-sponsor the recently introduced
Murphy-Paul-Franken-Lee
resolution
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/39>
to disapprove the Administration's proposed arms deal with Saudi Arabia.


As the *News-Gazette* reported Friday
<http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-09-09/durbin-lead-cu-pride-parade.html>,
Durbin will be the Grand Marshal of the parade. The parade begins at 3pm;
CU residents urging Durbin to oppose the Saudi arms deal will meet at 2:30
pm in the parade staging area
<http://www.unitingpride.org/2016-pride-parade->. A Facebook event for the
protest is here <https://www.facebook.com/events/1780669032216699/>.

On September 1, Urbana resident Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy
delivered 1100 Illinois signatures on MoveOn petitions to Durbin at an
event in Champaign urging him to co-sponsor the bill. Durbin promised
Naiman that he would consider doing so. But when the bill was introduced on
Thursday, Durbin's name wasn't on it
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/39/cosponsors>.


The MoveOn petitions are online here
<http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-block-transfer?r_by=1135580> and
here
<http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/senatordurbin-repduckworth?r_by=1135580>,
with 686 and 414 Illinois signers as of September 1, respectively.


The Saudi arms deal is also opposed by Oxfam America, Amnesty
International, and Human Rights Watch, on the grounds that the weapons are
likely to be used to target civilians in Yemen in violation of the Arms
Control Export Act and international humanitarian law.


Just Foreign Policy recently supported a bipartisan letter
<https://www.yahoo.com/news/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-billion-211716904.html> led
by Rep. Ted Lieu [D-CA], Rep. Ted Yoho [R-FL], Rep. John Conyers [D-MI],
and Mick Mulvaney [R-SC], calling for the Saudi arms deal to be postponed
so Congress could fully consider it. 64 Members of the House signed the
letter
<https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-lieu-leads-bipartisan-effort-postpone-arms-sale-saudi-arabia>
.


On Friday, the House voted unanimously
<http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/295157-house-unanimously-passes-bill-to-allow-9-11-lawsuits-against-saudi>
- as the Senate had before it - to remove the immunity of Saudi Arabia from
lawsuits brought by family members of victims of the 9/11 attacks.


Naiman said: "Senator Durbin should apply the same principles of the
unanimous Congressional votes to lift Saudi immunity from 9/11 lawsuits to
the Saudi arms deal. Saudi Arabia should no longer be exempt from U.S. laws
such as the protections against the targeting of civilians in the Arms
Control Export Act."

*WHAT: Protest urging Senator Durbin to co-sponsor the
**Murphy-Paul-Franken-Lee
resolution
<https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/39>
to block the Saudi arms deal.*


*WHERE:* Parade Staging Area
<http://www.unitingpride.org/2016-pride-parade->, CU Pride Parade, Downtown
Champaign.


*WHEN:* Saturday, September 10, 2:30 p.m.


*For more information about this action, please contact Robert Naiman
at 202-448-2898 x1 or naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
<naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>.*

===

Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1
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