Will the AWACS Deal Fly?

Congress may shoot it down, but Reagan sends ft up

When the Reagan Administration proposed selling some $5 billion worth of air weaponry, including five highly sophisticated Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, to Saudi Arabia last April, there was little doubt that opposition might be strong enough in Congress to veto the deal. Republican Senators Howard Baker of Tennessee and Paul Laxalt of Nevada advised the President to delay official notification of his intent to make the sale until he had enough votes lined up to support the package. Reagan waited, and...

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