Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Monday called for the U.S. military to suspend training Saudi military units in the wake of Friday’s deadly shooting at a naval base in Florida of three sailors by a Saudi Air Force lieutenant.
"We should immediately suspend training Saudi military units until we have all the answers on this horrific attack," Paul tweeted. “(Rep. Matt Gaetz) is absolutely right. We need to re-examine our relationship with the kingdom."
The U.S. on Tuesday grounded hundreds of Saudi military aviation students at bases across the country following the shooting. The FBI is working to determine the motive of the attacker, Mohammed Alshamrani, 21. He was in the U.S. for naval aviation training.
Alshamrani was killed by a sheriff’s deputy, but not before he killed three sailors and injured eight others.
Gaetz, along with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., over the weekend called for a review of U.S. military programs for foreign nationals.
"There is no reason we should be providing state-of-the-art military training to people who wish us harm," Scott said. "And most importantly, there is no reason to risk the safety and security of our American men and women in uniform."
"At some point we've got to look at this relationship more broadly and wonder how much from Saudi Arabia are we willing to take?” Gaetz said during an appearance on Fox News.
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