WASHINGTON — Wednesday, Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Nancy Mace (SC-01), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Adam Schiff (CA-28) led a bipartisan group of 48 Members of Congress in introducing legislation – H.J.Res. 87 – to assert Congress’s constitutional war powers and end unauthorized United States military involvement in Saudi Arabia’s brutal war in Yemen. A companion version will be introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the Senate when the chamber reconvenes.

Since 2015, the U.S. has been involved in supporting the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen, without ever receiving authorization from Congress. For over seven years, the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes and air-and-sea blockade have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and threatened millions more with famine. In recent months, Saudi airstrikes escalated, killing and injuring four times more civilians than in 2021. According to the United Nations, this conflict has triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“Article I of the Constitution is clear: Congress, not the Executive branch, has the sole authority to declare war and authorize involvement of U.S. forces in overseas conflicts, including inserting U.S. troops as advisors in aid of foreign-led hostilities,” said Rep. DeFazio. “It’s critical that the Biden Administration take the steps necessary to fulfill their promise to end U.S. support for the disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen. We should not be involved in yet another conflict in the Middle East – especially a brutal war that has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and contributed to the deaths of at least 377,000 civilians.”

“Congress cannot sit by and allow the United States’ complicity to continue in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal. “There are more than 16 million Yemenis living on the brink of starvation and more than two million children suffering from acute malnutrition — and the American people’s tax dollars are helping finance that suffering. I am proud to join my colleagues in leading the introduction of this resolution today and securing a vote to finally put a stop to American involvement in this catastrophe. We look forward to seeing this resolution pass the House and Senate, and be signed into law by the President, so he can fulfill his commitment to ending U.S. involvement in this crisis.”

“The war in Yemen continues, sadly, to be an overlooked humanitarian crisis; it is imperative Congress rescinds U.S. support for this unauthorized military conflict and works toward peace on the Arabian peninsula,” said Rep Mace.

“The recent ceasefire has created an opportunity for American diplomacy to help end the tremendous human suffering caused by the war in Yemen,” said Rep. Schiff. “The clearest and best way to press all sides to the negotiating table is for Congress to immediately invoke its constitutional war powers to end U.S. involvement in this conflict.”

Consistent with virtually identical provisions the House of Representatives has adopted for three consecutive years, the DeFazio-led Yemen War Powers Resolution would:

• End U.S. intelligence sharing that enables offensive Saudi-led coalition strikes;

• End U.S. logistical support for offensive Saudi-led coalition strikes, including providing of maintenance and spare parts to coalition members engaged in anti-Houthi bombings in Yemen;

• Prohibit U.S. personnel from being assigned to command, coordinate, participate in the movement of, or accompany Saudi-led coalition forces engaged in hostilities without prior specific statutory authorization by Congress.

The full list of co-sponsors includes: Representatives Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Nancy Mace (SC-01), Adam Schiff (CA-28), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Ken Buck (CO-04), André Carson (IN-07), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Gerald Connolly (VA-11), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Lloyd Doggett (TX-25), Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Matt Gaetz (FL-01), John Garamendi (CA-03), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03), James Himes (CT-04), Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Kaiali’i Kahele (HI-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Richard Larsen (WA-02), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Andy Levin (MI-11), Ted Lieu (CA-33), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Thomas Massie (KY-04), James McGovern (MA-02), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-45), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Bobby Rush (IL-01), Michael F.Q. San Nicolas (Guam-AL), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Peter Welch (VT-AL), and Susan Wild (PA-07).

Over 100 national organizations have endorsed this resolution, including: Action Corps, Afghans For a Better Tomorrow, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), American, Muslim Bar Association (AMBA), American Muslim Empowerment Network (AMEN), Amie Bishop Consulting, Antiwar.com, Ban Killer Drones, Benedictines for Peace, Beyond the Bomb, Bridges Faith Initiative, Bring Our Troops Home, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR), Center for International Policy, Center for Victims of Torture, Center on Conscience and War, Central Valley Islamic Council, Charity & Security Network, Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), CODEPINK, Common Defense, Community Peacemaker Teams, Concerned Vets for America, Daily Kos, Daughters of Wisdom (US Province), Defending Rights & Dissent, Defense Priorities Initiative, Demand Progress, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), Detention Watch Network, Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa Peace and Justice Office, Environmentalists Against War, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Action Network, Freedom Forward, FreedomWorks, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ, Global Zero, Health Alliance International, Historians for Peace and Democracy, Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, USA-JPIC, ICNA Council for Social Justice, If Not Now, Indivisible, Institute for Policy Studies New, Internationalism Project, Interfaith Community Sanctuary, Islamophobia Studies Center, Jewish Voice for, Peace Action, Just Foreign Policy, Just Futures Law, Justice Is Global, MADRE, Maryknoll Office for, Global Concerns, Medical Mission Sisters, MoveOn, MPower Change, Muslim Justice League, Muslims for Just Futures, National Council of Churches, National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Neighbors for Peace, Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, Office of Peace, Justice, and Ecological Integrity, Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Our Revolution, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Peace Direct, Peace Education Center, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Presbyterian Church (USA), Progressive Democrats of America, Project Break the Cycle, Project South, Public Citizen, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, R Street Institute, ReThinking Foreign Policy, RootsAction.org, Secure Justice, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team, Spin Film, Srs. of St. Joseph of Cluny Province of USA/Canada, Sunrise Movement, The Episcopal Church, The Libertarian Institute, The United Methodist Church — General Board of Church and Society, Union of Arab Women, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, United Church of Christ, Justice and Local Church Ministries, United for Peace and Justice, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), Veterans For Peace, Win Without War, Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND), World BEYOND War, Yemen Freedom Council, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, and Yemeni Alliance Committee.

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