[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 37 (Thursday, March 1, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1301-S1302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Yemen War Powers Resolution

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, there should be no issue of more 
importance to Members of Congress than the issue of war and peace and 
when it is appropriate to send the young people of our country into 
harm's way, knowing that some of them will not return home alive.
  It goes without saying that every armed conflict the United States of 
America is engaged in must be consistent with the Constitution of the 
United States and be lawful.
  Let's make no mistake about it--article I, section 8 of the 
Constitution states in no uncertain terms that ``Congress shall have 
the power to . . . declare war.'' The Founding Fathers gave the power 
to declare war to Congress because Congress is that body most 
accountable to the people.
  For far too long, Congress--under Democratic and Republican 
administrations--has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing 
war. The time is long overdue for Congress to reassert its 
constitutional authority. If you think that a military intervention 
makes sense, then let's have that debate on the floors of the Senate 
and the House and cast a vote. But that is not what we have been seeing 
for a number of years.
  What Senator Lee and Senator Murphy and I are doing with privileged 
resolution S.J. Res. 54 is demanding that Congress once again take its 
constitutional responsibility for war and peace seriously. I thank 
Senators Durbin, Warren, and Booker for coming on board that 
resolution. I hope this bipartisan resolution will gain more and more 
support in the coming days.
  Many Americans are unaware that the people of Yemen are suffering 
today in a devastating civil war, with Saudi Arabia and their allies on 
one side and Houthi rebels on the other.
  In November of last year, the United Nations emergency relief 
coordinator said that Yemen was on the brink of ``the largest famine 
the world has seen for many decades.'' So far, at least 10,000 
civilians have died, 3 million have been displaced, and over 40,000 
have been wounded in this war. Fifteen million people lack access to 
clean water and sanitation. More than 20 million people in Yemen--over 
two-thirds of that country's population--need some kind of humanitarian 
support, with nearly 10 million in acute need of assistance. More than 
1 million suspected cholera cases have been reported--1 million cholera 
cases have been reported--representing potentially the worst cholera 
outbreak in world history.
  Many Americans probably are not aware that U.S. forces have been 
actively engaged in support of the Saudis in this terrible war, 
providing intelligence and aerial refueling of planes whose bombs have 
killed thousands of people and made this crisis far worse.
  We believe--and I speak for Senator Lee and Senator Murphy--that as 
Congress has not declared war or authorized military force in this 
conflict, U.S. involvement in Yemen is unconstitutional and 
unauthorized, and U.S. military support of the Saudi coalition must 
end. Without congressional authorization, our engagement in this war 
should be restricted to providing desperately needed humanitarian aid 
and diplomatic efforts to put an end to this terrible conflict. That is 
why yesterday we introduced a joint resolution pursuant to the 1973 War 
Powers Resolution calling for an end to U.S. support for the Saudi war 
in Yemen.
  The War Powers Resolution defines the introduction of U.S. Armed 
Forces to include ``the assignment of members of such armed forces to 
command, coordinate, participate in the movement of, or accompany the 
regular or irregular military forces of any foreign country or 
government when such military forces are engaged, or there exists an 
imminent threat that such forces will become engaged, in hostilities.'' 
That is from the War Powers Resolution. Assisting with targeting 
intelligence and refueling warplanes as they bomb those targets clearly 
meets this definition.
  This is not a partisan issue. Support for the Saudi intervention in 
Yemen began under a Democratic President and has continued under a 
Republican one. Senator Lee is a conservative Republican. I am a 
progressive Independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
  In November of last year--and it is important that Members of the 
Senate hear this--the U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 366 
to 30, passed a nonbinding resolution stating that U.S. involvement in 
the Yemen civil war is unauthorized. Every Member of the Democratic 
leadership voted for this. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi voted for it. 
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer voted for it. The ranking member of the House 
Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, voted for it, as did the 
Republican chairman of that committee, Ed Royce.
  Here is the bottom line: If the President or Members of Congress 
believe that support for this war is in the U.S. interest and that we 
should be involved in it, then let them come to the floor of the House 
and Senate, make their case, and then let's have a vote.
  I believe we have become far too comfortable with the United States 
engaging in military interventions all over the world. We have now been 
in

[[Page S1302]]

Afghanistan for nearly 17 years--the longest war in American history. 
Our troops are now in Syria under what I believe are questionable 
authorities, and the administration has indicated that it may broaden 
that military mission even more.
  The time is long overdue for Congress to reassert its constitutional 
role in determining when and where our country goes to war. I am very 
proud to be working with Senators Lee, Murphy, and others on this 
vitally important issue.
  Thank you very much
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.