A bipartisan trio of Senators—Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT)—has introduced legislation to end U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen that has driven the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Because this war has never been authorized by Congress, the War Powers Resolution guarantees that this bill will get a vote on the Senate floor within weeks.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 28, 2018
Kate Gould
kate@fcnl.org
202-547-6000
FCNL’s Legislative Director on Middle East Policy Kate Gould has issued the following statement:
“By invoking the War Powers Resolution to end the illegal U.S. war in Yemen, this bipartisan trio of senators has made history, taking a step toward restoring congressional authority over decisions about war as required by the Constitution. The bill will force the first-ever vote in the Senate to withdraw U.S. armed forces from an unauthorized war.
This March, with senators set to vote on whether to end the illegal U.S. war in Yemen, millions of lives hang in the balance. Nowhere in the world does Washington have more leverage to stop millions of people from starvation than in Yemen, where more than 8 million people are on the verge of starving to death.
March also marks the third anniversary of this devastating war, enabled by Washington at every major juncture. U.S. pilots are refueling U.S.-made bombers as they drop U.S.-made bombs on Yemeni men, women, and children, and the hospitals, water sanitation facilities and other civilian infrastructure that they depend on. As the coalition continues to bomb Yemeni hospitals, schools, and neighborhoods, it is also blocking food, fuel, and other essential imports from getting into Yemen. Under this legislation, no longer would U.S. pilots serve as gas station attendants in the sky to refuel Saudi and UAE bombers that rein down terror on Yemeni men, women, and children.
Our nationwide network will be urging members of Congress to continue to press the Trump administration, the Saudi government, and the world to end the war and secure a peaceful settlement to the crisis in Yemen. As a faith community, we categorically reject the Saudi strategy of starving civilians to gain leverage at the negotiating table, and urge every senator to vote to end U.S. complicity in the Saudi-led war and starvation-blockade of Yemen.”
The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is a nonpartisan Quaker lobby in the public interest. FCNL works with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people of many different faiths from every state in the U.S. to advocate for social and economic justice, peace, and good government.