[House Document 118-99]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress, 2d Session----------------------HOUSE DOCUMENT 118-99

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     REPORT INFORMING CONGRESS OF U.S. FORCES' PARTICIPATION 
              IN A MULTINATIONAL OPERATION IN YEMEN

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                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                     THEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES

                              transmitting

 A REPORT ON STRIKES AGAINST FACILITIES TO DETER, DEGRADE, AND DISRUPT 
THE ABILITY OF THE HOUTHI MILITANTS TO CARRY OUT FUTURE ATTACKS AGAINST 
THE UNITED STATES AND VESSELS OPERATING IN THE RED SEA REGION, PURSUANT 
   TO 50 U.S.C. 1543(c); PUBLIC LAW 93-148, SEC. 4(c); (87 STAT. 556)

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


  January 16, 2024.--Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
                         ordered to be printed
                                           The White House,
                                      Washington, January 12, 2024.
Hon. Mike Johnson,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: Since at least November 2023, Yemen-based 
Houthi militants have engaged in a series of attacks against 
United States military forces, including ships and aircraft, 
and against maritime commercial shipping, operating in the Red 
Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden. These 
attacks pose a threat to the safety of United States forces and 
commercial ships and their crews, regional political and 
economic stability, and navigational rights and freedoms. On 
January 9, 2024, the Houthi militants perpetrated their largest 
attack in the Red Sea, with multiple unmanned aerial systems, 
anti-ship cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles targeting 
United States and United Kingdom Navy vessels. On January 10, 
2024, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution 
demanding the Houthis immediately cease all attacks. The Houthi 
militants continue to pose a threat of future attacks against 
United States forces and military vessels and against other 
maritime traffic in the region.
    On January 11, 2024, at my direction, United States forces 
as part of a multinational operation alongside the United 
Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the 
Netherlands, conducted discrete strikes against facilities in 
Yemen that facilitate Houthi militants' attacks in the Red Sea 
region. These facilities include air and coastal surveillance 
radar sites, unmanned aerial system launch facilities and 
launch sites, and cruise and ballistic missile facilities and 
launch sites. The strikes were taken to deter and degrade 
Houthi capacity to conduct future attacks and were conducted in 
a manner designed to limit the risk of escalation and avoid 
civilian casualties. I directed the strikes in order to protect 
and defend our personnel and assets, to degrade and disrupt the 
ability of the Houthi militants to carry out future attacks 
against the United States and against vessels operating in the 
Red Sea region, and to deter the Houthi militants from 
conducting or supporting further attacks that could further 
destabilize the region and threaten United States strategic 
interests.
    I directed this military action consistent with my 
responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home 
and abroad and in furtherance of United States national 
security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my 
constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief 
Executive and to conduct United States foreign relations. The 
United States took this necessary and proportionate action 
consistent with international law and in the exercise of the 
United States' inherent right of self-defense as reflected in 
Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The United States 
stands ready to take further action, as necessary and 
appropriate, to address further threats or attacks.
    I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep 
the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers 
Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the 
Congress in this action.
            Sincerely,
                                               Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

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