[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 910 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 910

  To prohibit the use of funds to provide for in-flight refueling of 
 Saudi or Saudi-led coalition aircraft conducting missions as part of 
              the ongoing coalition intervention in Yemen.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 30, 2019

Mr. Ted Lieu of California (for himself, Mr. Yoho, and Mr. Malinowski) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the use of funds to provide for in-flight refueling of 
 Saudi or Saudi-led coalition aircraft conducting missions as part of 
              the ongoing coalition intervention in Yemen.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Yemen Refueling Prohibition Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) From April 2015 to November 2018 the United States 
        provided in-flight refueling to the militaries of the Saudi-led 
        coalition in support of the coalition's air strikes in Yemen.
            (2) A 2018 report by the United Nations-convened Group of 
        International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen found that 
        during this timeframe, most of the 6,600 civilians deaths and 
        10,563 civilian injuries officially reported in Yemen were due 
        to Saudi-led coalition airstrikes. The report indicated that 
        the real numbers were likely significantly higher.
            (3) Due to the repeated failures of the Saudi-led coalition 
        to avoid civilian casualties, the Obama administration 
        suspended the sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi 
        Arabia in December 2016.
            (4) In May 2017, then-Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir 
        sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson 
        outlining the steps the Saudi military was taking to change its 
        operational conduct, mitigate civilian harm and avoid civilian 
        casualties in Yemen.
            (5) In June 2017, the Trump administration announced its 
        intention to resume the sale of precision-guided munitions to 
        Saudi Arabia.
            (6) Despite the Saudi Foreign Minister's assurances, from 
        June 2017 to November 2018, airstrike-caused civilian deaths 
        continued, including--
                    (A) over a 10-day period in December 2017, the 
                United Nations recorded at least 109 civilians killed 
                by airstrikes, including 54 civilians killed at a 
                market in Taiz province and 14 members of one family 
                killed in Hudaydah province;
                    (B) in April 2018, more than 20 civilians were 
                killed at a wedding party in Hajjah province; and
                    (C) in August 2018, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike 
                hit a school bus in a market in Dahyan, killing 51 
                people, 40 of whom were children.
            (7) On November 9, 2018, the United States announced its 
        decision to halt all refueling assistance to the Saudi-led 
        coalition.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON IN-FLIGHT REFUELING OF SAUDI OR SAUDI-LED 
              COALITION AIRCRAFT OPERATING IN YEMEN.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be 
obligated or expended to provide for in-flight refueling of Saudi or 
Saudi-led coalition aircraft conducting missions as part of the ongoing 
coalition intervention in Yemen.
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