Forum on the Arms Trade
  • Home
  • Experts
    • View all - by location
    • View by issue expertise >
      • View all
      • US Policy and Practice >
        • Arms sales
        • Security assistance
        • Export control
        • Defense industry
      • International Instruments >
        • Arms Trade Treaty
        • CCW
        • Other instruments
      • Weapons >
        • small arms/light weapons
        • drones
        • landmines/cluster munitions
        • killer robots
        • cyber
        • explosive weapons
        • F-35
      • International Trade >
        • Global trade data/trends
        • Strategic trade control
        • Africa
        • Latin America
        • Middle East
        • Europe
        • Asia
      • Implications >
        • Harm to civilians
        • Gender
        • Child soldiers
        • Arms trafficking
        • Corruption
        • Environment
    • A to B >
      • Rasha Abdul Rahim
      • Jeff Abramson
      • Ray Acheson
      • Katherine Aguirre Tobón
      • Linda Åkerström
      • Waleed Alhariri
      • Radhya al-Mutawakel
      • Alma Taslidzan Al-Osta
      • Philip Alpers
      • Habbouba Aoun
      • Peter Asaro
      • David Atwood
      • Kathi Lynn Austin
      • Natalia Báez Zamudio
      • Deepayan Basu Ray
      • Seth Binder
      • Subindra Bogati
      • Laura Boillot
      • Matthew Breay Bolton
      • Mark Bromley
      • Martin Butcher
    • C to G >
      • Brian Castner
      • Thompson Chengeta
      • Helen Close
      • Jordan Cohen
      • Magda Coss Nogueda
      • Verity Coyle
      • Anna Crowe
      • Maria Pia Devoto
      • Lode Dewaegheneire
      • Bonnie Docherty
      • Gugu Dube
      • Geoffrey L. Duke
      • Nils Duquet
      • Cindy Ebbs
      • Jennifer L. Erickson
      • Andrew Feinstein
      • Aude Fleurant
      • Denise Garcia
      • Dan Gettinger
      • Natalie Goldring
      • Colby Goodman
      • Hector Guerra
    • H to L >
      • William Hartung
      • Lisa Haugaard
      • Alexandra Hiniker
      • Erin Hunt
      • Adam Isacson
      • Roy Isbister
      • Cesar Jaramillo
      • Raed Jarrar
      • N.R. Jenzen-Jones
      • Raza Shah Khan
      • Daryl G. Kimball
      • Adele Kirsten
      • Kate Kizer
      • Michael Klare
      • Matt Korda
      • Alexandra Kuimova
      • William Kullman
      • Guy Lamb
      • Bruno Langeani
      • Edward J. Laurance
      • John Lindsay-Poland
    • M to R >
      • Daniel Mack
      • Daniel Mahanty
      • Ara Marcen Naval
      • Ivan Marques
      • Jesus Martínez
      • Montserrat Martínez Téllez
      • Nicholas Marsh
      • Shana Marshall
      • Stephen Miles
      • Elizabeth Minor
      • Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan
      • Robert Muggah
      • Wanda Muñoz
      • Folade Mutota
      • Jasmin Nario-Galace
      • Afrah Nasser
      • Amy Nelson
      • Linnet L. Wairimu Ng'ayu
      • Diana Ohlbaum
      • Nancy Okail
      • Iain Overton
      • Scott Paul
      • Carlos Pérez Ricart
      • Samuel Perlo-Freeman
      • Michael Picard
      • Natália Pollachi
      • Allison Pytlak
      • Josh Ruebner
    • S to Z >
      • Wilder Alejandro Sanchez
      • Stephen Semler
      • Camilo Serna
      • Annie Shiel
      • Shobha Pradhan Shrestha
      • Stephen Mwachofi Singo
      • Frank Slijper
      • Nate Smith
      • Ayman Sorour
      • Emma Soubrier
      • Jen Spindel
      • Alexandra Stark
      • Anna Stavrianakis
      • Rachel Stohl
      • Avihai Stollar
      • Ari Tolany
      • A. Trevor Thrall
      • Sahar Vardi
      • Andrea Edoardo Varisco
      • Francesco Vignarca
      • Jodi Vittori
      • Leah Wawro
      • Eugenio Weigend Vargas
      • Doug Weir
      • Anne-Charlotte Merrell Wetterwik
      • Sarah Leah Whitson
      • Patrick Wilcken
      • Cristian Wittmann
      • Sarah Yager
      • Katherine Young
      • Elias Yousif
      • Wim Zwijnenburg
  • Emerging Experts
  • Arms Transfers to Ukraine
  • Major Arms Sales Notifications Tracker
  • Events
  • Biden Admin's Controversial Arms Sales
  • U.S.-Saudi Arms Sales
  • U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan
  • Biden Arms Sales To Israel
  • U.S. Arms Sales to India
  • U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy
  • U.S. Landmine Policy
  • Resource Page - Under Threshold Arms Sales
  • Resource Page - USML Cat I-III to Commerce
  • Journalists
  • Get on the list
  • About
  • Archives
    • All archives
    • Expert Publications
    • Blog
    • Newsletter
Home | All Candidates | Arms Trade Treaty | Arms Sales to Saudi Coalition | Firearms Export Oversight | Mine Ban Treaty

Michael Bennet

Born in 1964, Michael Bennet received a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1987 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1993. He worked briefly in a number of positions during the Clinton administration, including Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs and counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. He later moved to Denver, Colorado, and worked in the staff of Governor John Hickenlooper before becoming superintendent of the Denver public school system from 2005 to 2009. In 2009 Bennet was appointed U.S. Senator from Colorado, and elected to the position in 2010. He still holds the position today.


Campaign Website
Picture

Arms Trade Treaty

Bennet's position on this issue is unknown.  In 2013 and 2015, he opposed Senate resolutions aimed at prohibiting the U.S. from entering the treaty or expending resources implementing it. He has stated that international humanitarian law and human rights should be considered in arms trade decisions. However, in the Amnesty International questionnaire that explicitly discussed the treaty, his response did not mention it.
​Response to Amnesty International questionnaire, June 2019
​Question: 
  • Arms sales: In 2019, the United States announced it would revoke its signature of the Arms Trade Treaty, a landmark instrument that ensures arms transfers are not used to fuel conflicts, atrocities, and abuses. Two of the United States’ largest weapons importers are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have used weapons to commit human rights violations against Yemeni children and civilians and to blockade ports of entry to restrict aid from entering Yemen, thereby placing 11 million Yemenis at risk of famine. Nonetheless, the U.S. continues to build the military capacity of the Saudi-Emirati coalition, making the U.S. complicit in creating the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
  • What can the U.S. do to ensure U.S. arms are not used to perpetuate human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law?
“Michael believes that human rights and international humanitarian law should be taken into consideration when the U.S. sells arms to other nations.”

Arms Sales to Saudi Coalition

Bennet explicitly supports ending arms sales and military support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.​ He voted (see also S.J. Res. 36, 38) June 20, 2019 to prevent arms sales and in favor of S.J. Res. 7, the War Powers Resolution, aimed at stopping military support (see resource page).
Response to Amnesty International questionnaire, June 2019
“Michael has voted against the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia multiple times due, in part, to human rights concerns in the war in Yemen. Michael also voted to limit U.S. military support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.”

Firearms Export Oversight

Bennet’s position on this issue is unknown. He supports banning assault-style weapons domestically, but has not directly addressed broader export oversight rules.
Response to question on whether he would support an assault weapons ban, CNN Town Hall, May 30, 2019
"I would support that."

US Landmine Policy

Bennet's position on this issue is unknown. In 2010, he signed a letter with 67 other Senators encouraging the President to find a way to remove any obstacles to joining the Mine Ban Treaty, but no statement on the treaty has been identified in this election cycle.
Proudly powered by Weebly