Will Senate Move to Stop U.S. Backing for Saudi War on Yemen?

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JEHAN HAKIM, hakimjehan at gmail.com
Hakim is chair of the Yemeni Alliance Committee [see on Facebook], which is working with other groups including Just Foreign Policy and Action Corps. The groups noted that Trump last week defended U.S. government support for the Saudi-led war.

The groups just released a statement: “The Senate will likely vote Tuesday on U.S. support for the Saudi Coalition in the Yemen war. As 14 million Yemenis face the world’s worst famine in 100 years, Yemeni-American activists and allies will rally Monday after Thanksgiving at Senate offices across U.S. … [See from CBS News on Sunday: “Bernie Sanders confident bill stopping U.S. support of Saudi Arabia in Yemen can pass.” See Sanders’ recent New York Times oped: “Bernie Sanders: We Must Stop Helping Saudi Arabia in Yemen.”]

“Last week activists in San Francisco and Los Angeles succeeded in obtaining support from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff for a bill to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi-Houthi war in Yemen. The legislation invokes the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to end all U.S. support for the war in Yemen. Tuesday [Senate Minority Leader] Schumer tweeted his support for the Senate version, SJRes54, but he, Sen. Menendez of New Jersey, and many other senators have yet to co-sponsor the bill.

“The U.S. administration recently announced it would stop refueling Saudi warplanes over Yemen. But the week before Thanksgiving the U.S. House narrowly voted to block debate of a bill to withdraw the U.S. completely from the Saudi Coalition in Yemen. The U.S. continues to provide critical military support and diplomatic cover for Saudi Arabia in Yemen. The Saudi Coalition has stopped the flow of food, medicine, and fuel into Yemen.”