Rubio bill would boost military aid for Jordan in ISIS fight

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a 2016 presidential contender, on Thursday introduced legislation that would ease weapon transfers to Jordan to aid in its fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The bill would allow the U.S. to expedite congressional review of proposed weapon sales, as it does with NATO allies.

“A stronger relationship with our friends in Jordan is essential to preventing ISIL from gaining more territory and massacring tens of thousands of additional innocent people and key to our efforts to defeat this group,” said Rubio, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, using another name for the terror group. 

{mosads}“Given the president’s failure to put together a strategy to fight ISIL, Congress must step in to bolster our allies in the region, such as Jordan, against this threat to global stability and safety,” he added. 

The bill, dubbed the “U.S.-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2015,” would also boost support to help Jordan handle the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian civil war and increase military ties between Washington and country’s central government.

The bill would authorize Secretary of State John Kerry to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Jordan to increase military cooperation, including joint military exercises, personnel exchanges and dialogue.

It would also include Jordan for three years among the countries eligible for certain streamlined defense sales, licensing agreements and technical assistance under the Arms Export Control Act, according to a statement from Rubio’s office.  

It would also “express the sense of Congress” that speedy consideration of sales of military equipment and services is “fully consistent with U.S. security and foreign policy interests and the objectives of world piece and security.”  That military support would be subject to the availability of federal funds. 

Since January, the U.S. has provided $467 million to Jordan to help with the 621,937 registered Syrian refugees in the country, the legislation noted. In February, Kerry signed a memo pledging to increase U.S. assistance from $660 million to $1 billion per year through 2017. 

A companion bill was passed in the House last week by unanimous consent.