[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1938-S1939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      YEMEN WAR POWERS RESOLUTION

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, the brutal war in Yemen has raged for 
3 years. At least 10,000 civilians have lost their lives in this 
conflict. More than 8 million Yemenis are on the brink of starvation. 
The worst cholera outbreak in modern history has afflicted over 1 
million people, including over 600,000 children. Millions more are 
displaced from their homes. As the years wear on, the cycle of 
desperation, destruction, and death continues unabated.
  Make no mistake: The Houthis and their Iranian backers bear great 
responsibility for the civilian toll of this war. However, the Saudi-
led coalition, with U.S. military support, continues to conduct 
hundreds of airstrikes each month. According to the United Nations, 
almost two-thirds of reported civilian deaths are the result of these 
airstrikes.
  The administration claims U.S. military support for the coalition, in 
the form of aerial refueling, munitions sales, and targeting 
assistance, provides leverage in the conflict; yet the Defense 
Department appears to know

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disturbingly little about how U.S. military assistance is used on the 
battlefield, including whether our refueling enables the bombing of 
civilians. Most critically, with both sides at a total impasse, the 
prospect of a political settlement is farther from reach now than at 
the beginning of this devastating war.
  In. short, U.S. policy in Yemen has been an abject failure, and by 
continuing our military assistance unmitigated, we are complicit in 
this tragedy.
  This complicity is fueled by President Trump's unquestioning embrace 
of the Saudi monarchy, and his apparent inability to use our leverage 
to place meaningful restraints on the Saudi attacks in Yemen. In 
addition, more than a year after his inauguration, the President has 
not put forward nominees to fill key diplomatic posts that would be 
responsible for addressing this conflict, including the Assistant 
Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs or the U.S. Ambassador to 
Saudi Arabia. He has alienated our counterparts at the United Nations. 
In action and in deed, President Trump has all but ensured the 
onslaught in Yemen will continue.
  I believe it is incumbent on the Congress to hold the Saudi-led 
coalition accountable and no longer to abdicate our responsibility in 
decisions of peace and war. S.J. Res. 54 reins in the President's 
largely unencumbered war making powers and ends unconditional U.S. 
military support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen without an 
authorization from Congress. For these reasons, I voted against the 
motion to table this resolution.

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