Today, Representatives Ro Khanna (CA-17) and Adam Smith (WA-09) announced that they will soon be introducing legislation to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen which has plunged it into the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
If passed, this legislation would end the U.S. war in Yemen, which has never been authorized by Congress.
Khanna and Smith haven’t yet formally introduced legislation, but they have already announced that other representatives supporting this initiative will include: Jim McGovern (MA-02), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Adriano Espillat (NY-13), Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02), Michael Capuano (MA-07), Ted Lieu (CA-33) and Barbara Lee (CA-13).
This effort comes just before tomorrow’s United Nations peace talks. Next week, a State Department report is due on whether the Saudi-led coalition is meeting the conditions Congress set for continuing U.S. refueling support for its bombers. As Huffington Post reports:
The United Nations on Friday hopes to convene the first talks between the warring sides in two years, and the Trump administration faces a congressionally-mandated Sept. 12 deadline to certify that the Saudis, Emiratis and allied Yemenis deserve American support because they are truly trying to end the fighting.
Last year, Khanna led a similar and bipartisan effort to end the illegal war in Yemen. House leadership blocked the legislation despite the War Powers Act of 1973 requiring that such legislation get a vote on the House floor.
This time, House leadership may again block this legislation from getting a vote. This is why it’s so important that your representative hears from you that it’s time to end the illegal U.S. war in Yemen.
When similar legislation was voted on in the Senate earlier this year, 44 senators voted in support of ending all U.S. military support for the war. This was the first-ever Senate floor vote on ending an unauthorized U.S. war. The House of Representatives, on the other hand, is governed by a different set of rules, that allows House leadership to quash such efforts.
Urge your representatives to end all U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. And find out about the Senate votes we are expecting soon on ending U.S. bomb sales to the Saudi-led coalition for this horrific war.