[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 193 (Tuesday, December 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7128-S7129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Yemen
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, this is an issue that I and a number of
us Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives, have been
working on for a number of years.
I was disappointed that the Biden administration has announced its
opposition to the resolution I am bringing forth, but we have been in
communication with the administration all day, and just a few minutes
ago, we have received a commitment from them that they will work with
us to end the war in Yemen and bring peace to that very troubled
region.
I don't know if the administration and those of us who want to go
forward will end up being in agreement. If not, I assure the Members
that we will be back with a resolution in the very near future, as soon
as we can, because this is an issue that I and many of us feel
passionately about.
To the Members, I am not going to ask for a vote tonight, but I do
want to express my concerns, deep concerns, about what is going on in
that region.
In 2014, with the active support of the U.S. military, Saudi Arabia,
the UAE and a coalition of other countries intervened in the civil war
in Yemen. The result of that intervention was the creation of the worst
humanitarian crisis on the planet, and it really is almost hard to
imagine what is going on in that impoverished country.
Since the war began in 2015, over 377,000 people have been killed,
including at least 130,000 people who have died from indirect causes
like food insecurity and lack of healthcare as a direct result of the
Saudi blockade of Yemen and the humanitarian obstruction by warring
parties.
Today, nearly 25 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian
assistance, 5 million are at risk of famine, and over a million are
affected by cholera. According to UNICEF, by the end of this calendar
year, nearly 18 million people, including over 9 million children, will
lack access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services in Yemen,
leading to regular outbreaks of preventable diseases like cholera,
measles, and diphtheria.
The 8-year war in Yemen has internally displaced over 4 million
people, making Yemen home to one of the largest internal displacement
crises in the world, with women and children bearing the brunt of that
burden.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, nearly 77 percent--
or 3 million--of those displaced in Yemen are women and children. Every
2 hours, a Yemeni woman dies during childbirth, an almost entirely
preventable crisis. Furthermore, in Yemen today, more than a million
pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished, a number we
may see double with rising food insecurity.
According to the international relief organization Oxfam, the threat
of famine is very serious. Despite ongoing humanitarian assistance,
over 17 million people in Yemen remain food insecure, a number set to
rise to 19 million by the end of this year. In Yemen today, over a
million pregnant or breastfeeding women and over 2 million children
under 5 require treatment for acute malnutrition--acute malnutrition.
And if you think the suffering in that country cannot get any worse,
unfortunately, you would be dead wrong. The United Nations reports
that, if the conflict doesn't stop, the war in Yemen could lead to the
deaths of 1.3 million people by the year 2030.
And let us be crystal clear: The initiators of this terrible war in
Yemen were Saudi Arabia, one of the very most dangerous countries on
the face of this Earth. Saudi Arabia is a dictatorship that is doing
everything that it can to crush democracy in its own country. It is a
brutal regime that treats women as third-class citizens and tortures
civilians. It is one of the worst human rights violators in the world.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, as I think many of us are familiar with,
Muhammad bin Salman, ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a
Washington Post columnist and American resident, with a bone saw in
2018. And there is little doubt about that.
In a blatant attempt to jack up gas prices in the United States and
harm our economy, Saudi Arabia agreed to partner with Vladimir Putin in
the murderous war against the people of Ukraine.
At a time when children in Yemen are facing mass starvation, when
that impoverished country's healthcare system is collapsing, Saudi
Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman bought himself a $500 million yacht, a
$300 million French chateau, and a $450 million Leonardo da Vinci
painting. And he can afford to do this because their family is worth
some $1.4 trillion, one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest,
families in the entire world.
According to Freedom House, a respected human rights organization:
Saudi Arabia's absolute monarchy restricts almost all
political rights and civil liberties. No officials at the
national level are elected. The regime relies on pervasive
surveillance, the criminalization of dissent, appeals to
sectarianism and ethnicity, and public spending supported by
oil revenues to maintain power. Women and religious
minorities face extensive discrimination in law and in
practice.
According to Human Rights Watch, under the government headed by Crown
Prince Muhammad bin Salman, ``Saudi Arabia has experienced the worst
period of repression in its modern history.'' Human Rights Watch has
reported that ``accounts have emerged of alleged torture of high-
profile political detainees in Saudi prisons,'' including Saudi women's
rights activists and others. The alleged torture included electric
shocks, beatings, whippings, and sexual harassment.
Enough is enough. We must fundamentally reassess our relationship
with the murderous regime of Saudi Arabia. We can and we must begin to
do that by ending our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, and that
is why I have introduced a resolution that requires the United States
to withdraw its forces from and involvement in the Saudi-led war in
Yemen, which has not been authorized by the U.S. Congress.
[[Page S7129]]
This obviously is not a radical idea. In 2019, the Senate passed a
similar resolution by a vote of 54 to 46. Every Democrat who was
present voted for it, along with seven Republicans. The House of
Representatives passed that same resolution by a vote of 247 to 175.
Every Democrat in the House who was present voted for it, along with 16
Republicans. Sadly, then-President Trump vetoed it, and it did not
become law.
It is long past time that we take a very hard look at our
relationship with Saudi Arabia, a country whose government represents
the very opposite of what we profess to believe in. Last year,
President Biden and his administration did the right thing when it
announced it would end U.S. support for offensive military operations
led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen and named a special envoy to help bring
this conflict to an end.
The good news is that, as a result of these efforts--I think as a
result of the resolution passed in the House and the Senate--the Saudis
have paused their deadly airstrikes in Yemen, and, in April, the United
Nations brokered a truce between the warring factions.
The bad news is that this truce expired over 2 months ago, and there
is now evidence that violence in Yemen is beginning to escalate.
Now, I understand that the administration is opposed to this
resolution, and let me briefly respond to some of their concerns.
First, the administration claims that this resolution is unnecessary
because Saudi Arabia has paused its bombing campaign in Yemen. Well,
Mr. President, that may be true, but--let's be clear--there is no
guarantee that Saudi Arabia will not start bombing Yemen tomorrow,
relying on U.S. military support and U.S.-manufactured weapons to carry
out those airstrikes, which in the past have done incalculable harm to
the people of Yemen. In fact, a previously announced end to U.S.
offensive support did not prevent devastating and indiscriminate Saudi
airstrikes in Yemen, which occurred as late as March 2022.
Passing this legislation would allow Congress to play a constructive
role in the negotiation of an extension of the truce and a long-term
and lasting peace. The resolution that we are debating today--we are
discussing right now--will help ensure that Saudi airstrikes do not
resume.
Further, while it is true that the Saudi blockade is not as severe as
it has been in the past, vital commodities like fuel and medicine are
still in short supply; and Saudi Arabia, to this day, still has imposed
restrictions on nearly all commercial imports into Yemen, including
fuel. And Saudi Arabia still has control over Yemeni airspace, which
has prevented thousands of patients with medical emergencies from
leaving the capital of Sana'a, according to the Quincy Institute.
This legislation that I have brought forward simply codifies what
President Biden has already pledged to do by ending U.S. military
assistance to the Saudi-led coalition's war in Yemen. Specifically,
this resolution would achieve three important goals:
First, it would end U.S. intelligence sharing for the purpose of
enabling offensive, Saudi-led coalition strikes inside Yemen.
Second, it would end U.S. logistical support for offensive, Saudi-led
coalition strikes, including the provision of maintenance and spare
parts to coalition members flying warplanes.
Finally, it would prohibit U.S. military personnel from being
assigned to command, coordinate, participate in the movement of or
accompany Saudi-led coalition forces engaged in hostilities without
specific statutory authorization from the Congress.
Let us be clear. This is a narrowly targeted resolution that only
affects Saudi Arabia's offensive operations in Yemen. This resolution
would still allow for U.S. military support to be used to protect the
territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia. In other words, nothing in this
legislation prevents the United States from helping Saudi Arabia defend
itself against attacks originating from Yemen. Further, this resolution
would not affect America's support for Ukraine's self-defense, as some
opponents of this legislation have claimed.
That is why I am proud to be joined on this resolution by some of the
staunchest defenders of Ukrainian sovereignty and U.S. national
security interests, who, like me, are outraged by Saudi Arabia's
collaboration with Russia and open support of illegal wars of
aggression. They include Senator Durbin, Senator Blumenthal, Senator
Peters, Senator Warren, Senator Markey, and a number of others who
support this resolution.
Passing this War Powers Resolution will send a very powerful message
to Saudi Arabia that the war in Yemen must finally come to an end.
There must be a peaceful resolution to this horrific conflict. Passing
this resolution will also send a message to Saudi Arabia that its
partnership with Russia, with respect to the war in Ukraine, is
unacceptable.
In October, after Saudi Arabia agreed to cut oil production, the
Biden administration recognized the need to work with Congress to
reexamine the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
President Biden said he wanted action from Congress. This resolution is
a narrowly tailored response that will help achieve that objective.
In October, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Senator Menendez, said:
The United States must immediately freeze all aspects of
our cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales
and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary
to defend U.S. personnel and interests.
He continued:
As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I
will not green-light any cooperation with Riyadh until the
Kingdom reassesses its position with respect to the war in
Ukraine. Enough is enough.
I agree with that, and this resolution is our opportunity to send a
powerful message to Saudi Arabia that Congress is, in fact, reexamining
our relationship with that country; it is an attempt to defend the
Constitution of the United States, which gives the power of making war
to Congress, not to the President; and it is an effort to end our
complicity in this horrendously bloody and horrible conflict.
Congress has a narrow window now to do something important. Enacting
the War Powers Resolution will send a powerful message to the Saudis
and to the Houthis that the United States will not be a party to this
war and that the warring factions must find a sustainable peace
solution.
The vote on this resolution is very important. And let me repeat: We,
just a few minutes before I got to the floor, received word from the
administration that they wanted to work with us in crafting language
that would be mutually acceptable, and we are going to give them that
opportunity. Whether we succeed or not, I don't know. And let me
repeat: If we do not succeed, I will be back with many of my colleagues
to bring forth this resolution, something that is very important.
What this resolution, finally, is about is that it says that the
people of Yemen need more humanitarian assistance, not more bombs. It
is a vote that says that the Senate believes in the Constitution of our
country, which makes it clear that the Congress, not the President,
determines whether and when the United States goes to war. It is a vote
that tells Saudi Arabia that we will not continue to give it a blank
check with respect to war and foreign intervention. And it is a vote
that says: No, we will not stand with Saudi Arabia while it is actively
supporting Vladimir Putin's horrific war of aggression against the
people of Ukraine.
So, once again, where we are at is, I am not going to ask for a vote
tonight. I look forward to working with the administration, which was
opposed to this resolution, to see if we can come up with something
that is strong, that is effective. And if we do not, I will be back.
With that, I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Hassan). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.