Members press Obama to raise human rights in Saudi Arabia

Julian Pecquet

Mar 25, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama wipes his eye after the closing session of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague March 25, 2014. World leaders called on Tuesday for countries to minimise their stocks of highly enriched nuclear fuel to help prevent al Qaeda-style militants from obtaining atomic bombs, at the end of a two-day summit overshadowed by the crisis in Ukraine. REUTERS/Frank Augstein/Pool (NETHERLANDS - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3IJ79 — US President Barack Obama wipes his eye after the closing session of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, March 25, 2014. Obama is on a weeklong trip to the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Saudi Arabia. — REUTERS/Frank Augstein

An unusual alliance of conservative Christian Republicans and liberal Democrats are putting pressure on President Barack Obama to publicly address human rights violations when he visits Saudi Arabia on Friday, March 28, further complicating the president’s effort to mend bridges with the kingdom.

A total of 70 House members have signed on to a letter to the president being circulated by Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and Jim McGovern, D-Mass..