Bush invokes AECA emergency authority to rush $2.2 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia four days after Iraq invades Kuwait

President George H.W. Bush invokes the Arms Export Control Act's emergency certification authority on August 6, 1990, approving an emergency $2.2 billion arms package to Saudi Arabia four days after Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2. Bush certifies to Congress that an "emergency exists which requires the immediate sale of such articles or services in the national security interests of the United States," bypassing the standard 30-day notification period under Section 36(b). The sale includes M1A1 Abrams tanks, artillery, ammunition, and air defense equipment. The invocation sets an important precedent for using Section 36(c) emergency authority for large-scale wartime arms transfers — the same authority Secretary of State Rubio uses 36 years later.