[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5709-S5710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6180. Mr. MERKLEY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle F of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1276. CEASEFIRE PROTECTION MEASURES.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the President and all relevant Federal agencies should use
funds and resources at their disposal to continue to engage
in formal or informal diplomacy or consultations with
military forces aligned with and under the control of the
internationally recognized Government of Yemen and with Ansar
Allah, the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition, any other armed
group so as--
(1) to continue to maintain any ceasefire or cessation of
hostilities in the war in Yemen; and
(2) to create, conduct, or continue to facilitate a
legitimate peace process to end the war in Yemen.
(b) Verification Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every 30 days thereafter for
one year, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the
[[Page S5710]]
Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense,
and the head of any other relevant Federal agency, shall
submit to Congress a report that includes the following:
(A) An assessment on the current status of any ceasefire or
cessation of hostilities among the military forces aligned
with and under the control of the internationally recognized
Government of Yemen, Ansar Allah, the Saudi- and Emirati-led
coalition, and any other armed group.
(B) A list of any violations of any existing ceasefire or
cessation of hostilities in Yemen by--
(i) armed forces aligned with and under the control of--
(I) the internationally recognized Government of Yemen;
(II) Ansar Allah; and
(III) any other armed group included in any ceasefire; or
(ii) airstrikes or drone strikes conducted by--
(I) the Saudi Royal Air Force; or
(II) the United Arab Emirates Air Force and Air Defense.
(C) An assessment of how many fuel shipments, including how
many tons of fuel, have entered the port of Hodeida since
April 2, 2022, and whether the collection of custom duties at
the port of Hodeida is used to pay the salaries of public
sector employees.
(D) A description of the reopening of the Sanaa
International Airport to commercial flights, including how
many flights have arrived and departed the airport since
April 2, 2022, and an analysis of the barriers to progress
and possible solutions for opening flights to and from Cairo
International Airport.
(E) An assessment of road access to and from the city of
Taiz, including the estimated time of travel between Taiz and
the city of Aden and any other measurement used to determine
the freedom of movement to and from Taiz.
(F) A list and assessment of any additional condition or
measure included after the date of the enactment of this Act
in any ceasefire, peace process, or negotiated peace
settlement in Yemen.
(G) An assessment and description of the President's
diplomatic strategy and efforts to maintain any such
ceasefire and build on it to advance a negotiated,
legitimate, and permanent peace settlement to end the war in
Yemen.
(H) An analysis of the barriers to progress on elements of
the truce and ways to incentivize progress towards
maintaining the truce and building a more sustainable
political resolution to the conflict.
(I) A progress report on the emergency operation by the
United Nations to transfer the oil from the floating storage
and offloading vessel (FSO) Safer to a safe vessel.
(2) Form.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex that is provided separately from the unclassified
version.
(c) Briefing on Support for Multilateral Human Rights
Investigative Mechanism.--Not later than 60 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State
shall provide a briefing to the appropriate committees of
Congress on the benefits and utility of providing direct
support to an independent multilateral investigative
mechanism to document and report past, ongoing, and future
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law
by all parties in the conflict in Yemen since 2015.
(d) Ceasefire Maintenance Mechanisms; Prohibition of
Licenses Authorizing Exports of Certain Defense Services.--
During the 2-year period beginning on the date of the most
recent violations listed under subsection (b)(1)(B)(ii), the
President may not issue any license, and shall suspend any
license or other approval that was issued before the date of
the enactment of this Act, authorizing the export to the
Government of Saudi Arabia or the Government of United Arab
Emirate of defense services related to the maintenance or
servicing of United States-provided aircraft belonging to
military units determined to have undertaken offensive
airstrikes inside Yemen after such date of enactment that are
not related directly to preventing or degrading the ability
of Ansar Allah forces to launch missile and unmanned aircraft
strikes on the territory of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab
Emirates.
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