WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism and a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, on Thursday released the following statement after passage of his amendment to condition U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen at the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee markup:

“The war in Yemen is a national security nightmare for the United States, and we should be using every lever at our disposal to stop it. Al Qaeda and its factions are only getting stronger, and cholera and famine are only spreading wider. This is the moment for the United States to step in—both to negotiate a political end to the crisis but also to make sure our weapons aren’t perpetuating the war,” said Murphy. “I’m glad that my amendment was adopted by a voice vote today. With the split in the coalition over south Yemen, we are now in the bizarre position of having U.S. arms used to both attack and defend the Hadi government. This is a good step in making sure U.S. weapons aren’t following into the hands of extremist groups.”

CNN, Amnesty International and others have documented transfers of American-made defense articles, including MRAPS, to al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardline Salafi militias, and other groups waging war in Yemen; the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed an open investigation into these unauthorized transfers earlier this year. These American weapons have also made their way into the hands of the Iranian-linked Houthi fighters, exposing some of America's sensitive military technology to Tehran and potentially endangering the lives of U.S. troops in other conflict zones. Recipients of U.S. weaponry are legally obligated to adhere to end-use requirements which prohibit the transferring of any equipment to third parties without prior authorization from the U.S. government.

Since 2015, Murphy has been a vocal critic of U.S. support for military campaigns in Yemen that have led to devastating humanitarian consequences and a security vacuum that has empowered terrorist groups. Murphy introduced bipartisan legislation to limit U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s military campaign in Yemen and called on the Saudi government to take action to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. He also led a bipartisan request that members of the U.S. Senate receive a classified briefing on ongoing U.S. counterterrorism operations and objectives in Yemen in the wake of a deadly U.S. raid in Yemen earlier this year. Last year, Murphy introduced a bipartisan joint resolution of disapproval to block the $1.15 billion U.S. sale of Abrams tanks and associated major defense articles to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also applauded a decision by the White House in December 2016 to halt some military arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and called for further action by the United States to end military support for a war marked by humanitarian abuse.

 

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