[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7151-S7153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Yemen

  Mr. SANDERS. Thank you.
  Mr. President, later this afternoon, I believe, we will be voting on 
one of the more important foreign policy issues that we have voted on 
in a very long time. This, of course, deals with the U.S. involvement 
in the war in Yemen.
  In March of 2015, under the leadership of Muhammad bin Salman, who 
was then the Saudi Defense Minister and is now, of course, the Crown 
Prince, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab

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Emirates intervened in Yemen's ongoing civil war. As a result of that 
Saudi intervention, Yemen is now experiencing the worst humanitarian 
disaster in the world.
  It is absolutely imperative that we call attention to the inhumane 
and horrific situation that is now impacting the people of Yemen, a 
small nation of 28 million people, one of the poorest countries on 
Earth.
  According to the United Nations, Yemen is at risk of the most severe 
famine in more than 100 years, with some 14 million people--about half 
of that country's population--facing starvation. Already, as a result 
of this terrible war, according to the Save the Children organization, 
some 85,000 children in Yemen have starved to death over the last 
several years. Let me repeat that. According to the Save the Children 
organization, some 85,000 children in Yemen have already starved to 
death over the last several years, and millions more face starvation if 
the war continues. That is what we are looking at today.
  In addition, Yemen is currently experiencing the worst cholera 
outbreak in the world, with as many as 10,000 new cases erupting every 
week, according to the World Health Organization. As you know, cholera 
is a disease spread by infected water that causes severe diarrhea and 
dehydration and will only accelerate the death rate as it weakens the 
ability of people to resist disease. The cholera outbreak in Yemen has 
occurred because Saudi bombs have destroyed Yemen's water 
infrastructure, and people there are no longer able to access clean 
water.
  The fact is that the United States, with relatively little media 
attention, has been Saudi Arabia's partner in this horrific war. We 
have been providing the bombs that the Saudi-led coalition is using. We 
have been refueling their planes before they drop those bombs. We have 
been assisting with intelligence. In too many cases, our weapons are 
being used to kill civilians.
  In August, as many will remember, it was an American-made bomb that 
obliterated a school bus full of young boys, killing dozens and 
wounding many more. A CNN report found evidence that American weapons 
have been used in a string of such deadly attacks on civilians since 
the war began. According to the independent monitoring group, Yemen 
Data Project, between March of 2015 and March of 2018, more than 30 
percent of the Saudi-led coalition's targets have been nonmilitary.
  A few weeks ago, I met with several very brave human rights activists 
from Yemen, urging Congress to put a stop to this war. They told me 
clearly that when Yemenis see ``Made in USA'' on the bombs that are 
killing them, it tells them that it is the United States of America 
that is actively involved in this war. That is the sad truth. That is a 
truth we have to finally deal with, and I hope deal with effectively 
later this afternoon.
  The message that the Senate should be sending to the Saudi Government 
and to the whole world is that we will not continue to support a 
catastrophic war led by a despotic regime that has a dangerous, 
destructive, and irresponsible military policy. No more--enough death, 
enough killing, enough destruction.
  Above and beyond the humanitarian crisis--the worst in the world 
right now, destroying a small, poor country--that war has been a 
disaster for our national security and the national security of our 
allies. The administration defends our engagement in Yemen by 
overstating Iranian support for the Houthi rebels. While Iran's support 
for Houthis is of serious concern for all of us--and I do not minimize 
that--the fact is that the relationship has only been strengthened with 
the intensification of the war. The war is creating the very problem 
this administration claims to want to solve.
  The war in Yemen is also undermining the broader effort against 
violent extremists. A 2016 State Department report found that the 
conflict had helped al-Qaida and the Islamic State's Yemen branch 
``deepen their inroads across much of the country.'' As the head of the 
International Rescue Committee, former British Foreign Minister David 
Miliband said in a recent interview: ``The winners are the extremist 
groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS.'' Just last week, the Wall Street 
Journal reported: ``Nearly two years after being driven from its 
stronghold in Yemen, one of al Qaeda's most dangerous franchises has 
entrenched itself in the country's hinterlands as a devastating war 
creates the conditions for its comeback.''

  So this war is, without dispute, a horrific humanitarian crisis, but 
it is also a strategic disaster, benefiting terrorist groups like al-
Qaida and ISIS.
  Further, importantly, let us not forget that Saudi Arabia is an 
undemocratic monarchy controlled by one family. Sometimes we kind of 
pass that over. It is controlled by one family--the Saudi family. In a 
2017 report by the conservative Cato Institute, Saudi Arabia, our ally 
in this terrible war in Yemen, was ranked 149 out of 159 countries in 
terms of freedom and human rights. That is our ally. That is the 
country with which we are putting our credibility on the line. For 
decades, as I think most Members of the Senate know, the Saudis have 
funded schools, mosques, and preachers who promote an extreme form of 
Islam known as Wahhabism.
  In Saudi Arabia today, women are not second-class citizens; they are 
third-class citizens. Women still need the permission of a male 
guardian to go to school or to get a job. They have to follow a strict 
dress code and can be stoned to death for adultery or flogged for 
spending time in the company of a man who is not their relative.
  Earlier this year, Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul, a leader in 
the fight for women's rights, was kidnapped from Abu Dhabi and forced 
to return to her country. She is currently being held without charges. 
The same is true of many Saudi political activists.
  Sadly, President Trump continues to proclaim his love and affection 
for the Saudi regime. The brutality and lawlessness of the Saudi 
regime, as everybody in this country now knows, was made clear to the 
entire world with the murder of the dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal 
Khashoggi, in the Saudi consulate in Turkey--right in their own 
consulate. Pathetically, as part of his continuing respect for 
authoritarian regimes--whether it is Putin or Russia or other regimes 
around the world--President Trump rejected the findings of the CIA's 
assessment that the Saudi Crown Prince was responsible for that murder. 
When given a choice between believing a despotic ruler in Saudi Arabia 
or our own Central Intelligence Agency, sadly, the President of the 
United States sided with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
  Lastly, let me raise an issue that many of my conservative friends--
Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and others--have been raising, which is an 
important issue that I hope progressives pay attention to, which is 
that this war in Saudi Arabia was not authorized by the U.S. Congress. 
It was not voted on by the U.S. Congress and, therefore, is 
unconstitutional. Let us not forget that the Founding Fathers of this 
country put the awesome responsibility of war and peace into the hands 
of the Congress, not the President of the United States--not a 
Democratic President or a Republican President. Article I of the 
Constitution clearly States that it is Congress, not the President, 
that has the power to declare war.
  The time is long overdue for Congress to take back that 
responsibility, which it has abdicated under Democratic and Republican 
leaderships.
  If the Members of the House and the Senate want to go to war in 
Yemen, vote to go to war in Yemen. Don't let the President of the 
United States do it on his own.
  Later this afternoon, as I understand it, there will be a resolution 
coming before this body as to whether we proceed to vote on ending U.S. 
involvement in the Saudi-led war. That amendment is cosponsored by my 
friends Senator Lee of Utah, Senator Murphy of Connecticut, and many, 
many others. This is an enormously important vote. This is a vote that 
says to the world: We are going to end the horrific humanitarian 
disaster that is killing tens of thousands of defenseless children in 
Yemen. It is a vote which says that we are going to stand for American 
values. It is a vote which says that the time is now to tell Saudi 
Arabia that we are not continuing to partner with them in this horrific 
crisis.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.

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  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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