Foreign Military Sales: A Growing Concern. Departments of State and Defense

Over the past decade, increased congressional and public attention has been focused on the rather dramatic increases in the volume of the U.S. foreign military sales FMS program--from 1 billion in fiscal year 1967 to almost 10 billion in 1975. This rapid growth, due partly to a reduction in military assistance, has sparked considerable controversy over the programs operation and direction. Although the executive branch has continuously given the Congress details of the programs operation and explanations of its growth, concern and dissatisfaction over many issues continue. Moral and political arguments appear to dominate the debate over the U.S. role in international arms trade. Members of Congress are concerned that rapid growth of U.S. arms transfers abroad has taken place without adequate consideration being given to the potentially destabilizing effects of such transfers. Among these expressed concerns are the potential effects on the stimulation of regional arms races encouragement of certain countries tendencies to place too much emphasis on military considerations at the expense of social-humanitarian concerns and identification of the United States with regimes which, for one reason or another, appear to adopt extreme repressive practices.