Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to end U.S. funding for the disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen. The House took this step by approving legislative language in a military policy bill that, if passed into law, would require the Trump administration to stop providing aerial refueling for Saudi and other coalition aircraft, intelligence sharing, and other forms of military support for this indiscriminate war that has killed thousands and plunged Yemen to the cusp of famine.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

kate@fcnl.org

202-547-6000

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to end U.S. funding for the disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen. The House took this step by approving legislative language in a military policy bill that, if passed into law, would require the Trump administration to stop providing aerial refueling for Saudi and other coalition aircraft, intelligence sharing, and other military support for this indiscriminate war that has killed thousands and plunged Yemen to the cusp of famine.

In addition to approving the amendments offered by Representatives Warren Davidson(R-OH) and Rick Nolan (D-MN) to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810), the House legislation also also requires the President to provide Congress with a comprehensive strategy on Yemen policy and requires the Pentagon to provide unprecedented reporting on the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Kate Gould FCNL’s Legislative Representative for Middle East Policy, made the following statement:

“Today, the House voted to end U.S. backing for the Saudi-led war in Yemen that has plunged millions to the brink of starvation, and sparked a cholera outbreak that kills another Yemeni nearly every hour.

These wholly unprecedented votes build on a wave of congressional momentum against U.S.-backing for the Saudi-led war that has resulted in the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. This tide of opposition was on display on the Senate floor last month, when a bipartisan group of 47 senators voted against sending more weapons of mass starvation to Yemen.

Today, the House built on that momentum by voting to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in two different amendments. The rigorous reporting requirements of the President and the Pentagon on U.S. policy in Yemen and the Saudi-led war also send the message that Congress will not stand for President Trump’s blank check to the Saudi-led campaign to bomb and starve Yemenis for leverage at the negotiating table.

FCNL congratulates the members of Congress leading these measures and looks forward to working with partners in the Senate to ensure that similar measures are included in the final text of the NDAA for FY 2018. We call on the Trump administration to heed the House votes and end U.S. refueling and other forms of U.S. military support for the catastrophic war in Yemen.”

The Davidson amendment would prohibit U.S. military action in Yemen not authorized by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Given that U.S. participation in the Saudi-led war in Yemen is not targeting al-Qaeda, U.S. involvement in this war is not authorized by the 2001 AUMF, and is therefore prohibited by this amendment.

The Nolan amendment prohibits the deployment of U.S. troops to participation in Yemen’s civil war.

The Lieu amendment requires a report from the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State on the extent to which Saudi Arabia is abiding by its commitments to reduce civilian casualties in Yemen.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is a nonpartisan Quaker lobby in the public interest. FCNL works with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people of many different faiths from every state in the U.S. to advocate for social and economic justice, peace, and good government.