[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 15, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1572-E1573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE WITH RESPECT TO UNITED STATES POLICY 
                             TOWARDS YEMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 13, 2017

  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I have heard from many of my constituents who 
are concerned about U.S. involvement in Yemen. The

[[Page E1573]]

country is in ruins, civilians are paying the price, and there seems to 
be little to no interest in using our considerable heft and moral 
authority to search for and find a diplomatic solution.
  We are no closer to peace in Yemen today than when the first bombs 
dropped. What we do have after over two years of war and suffering is a 
fractured country, repeated attacks on health and other civilian 
facilities in a country now experiencing a deadly cholera outbreak that 
could eventually reach 1 million suspected cases by year's end, limited 
access to lifesaving humanitarian aid, including the decision last week 
by the Saudi-led coalition to close all ports and ground all 
humanitarian flights into the country that will only make a bad 
situation, worse.
  That decision was quickly condemned by the United Nations and others 
who warned about the dire consequences for Yemen's 27 million citizens. 
In the face of international pressure and condemnation, it appears the 
Saudi-led coalition may now reopen some ports but the situation remains 
dire.
  There are serious questions that need to be answered about U.S. 
involvement, direct and indirect, including what it is actually helping 
to achieve, and what are the costs. While participation in the Yemen 
civil war preceded this Administration, that fact does not remove the 
responsibility of the President and this Congress.
  The final FY 2018 Defense Authorization bill (H.R. 2810) that we are 
going to consider later this week includes a provision calling for a 
U.S. Security Strategy for Yemen from this Administration. That would 
be a step forward. Unfortunately, the bill that will come before the 
House this week would strip--without public debate, discussion, or 
deliberation--a provision from the House-passed bill that would have 
barred any use of taxpayer funding to deploy members of the U.S. Armed 
Forces to participate in the ongoing civil war in Yemen.
  Additionally, the House-passed version of H.R. 1298 barred the use of 
taxpayer funds authorized in the bill to conduct U.S. military 
operations in Yemen. That provision was also dropped in conference with 
the Senate, again with no public debate or deliberation. If we agree 
that the humanitarian situation is horrific, that a political solution 
is the only solution, then why keep the pathway open for broader U.S. 
military engagement?
  The provisions in the House-passed version of H.R. 2810 would have 
put strong teeth behind the resolution we are considering today and 
behind the concerns expressed during this debate and in this resolution 
regarding the humanitarian crises that is unfolding in Yemen as a 
direct result of this damaging conflict.
  Mr. Speaker, it is not in our nation's interest to make a dangerous 
region only more volatile. It is not in our nation's interest to see 
Yemen become an even more broken and divided nation and even a failed 
state. And it is not clear that continuing to do more of the same will 
not reverse those trends or bring us closer to the diplomatic solution 
that is almost universally recognized as the only effective solution.

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