WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives successfully passed a resolution to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen pursuant to the War Powers Act. The Senate plans to vote on the same resolution offered by Murphy along with U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) in the coming weeks. Last year, their resolution passed the Senate 56-41. This was the first time since the War Powers Act became law in 1973 that the U.S. Senate successfully passed a resolution pursuant to the law, and today is the first time that it has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This is a big deal. For years, I’ve said the United States should not be involved in this disastrous and unconstitutional war, and today a bipartisan group of members in the House of Representatives sent a very strong message to the Saudi government and the Trump administration,” said Murphy. “Momentum in Congress is building for the United States to stop supporting the Saudis’ war in Yemen. The Senate will soon vote on this resolution for a second time, and the president will have to decide if he wants the United States military to continue to aid the Saudi-led coalition in killing thousands of civilians and blocking humanitarian aid in Yemen, or if he wants to side with the overwhelming number of people in this country who want us to get out. This should not be complicated.”

Since the beginning of this conflict in 2015, Murphy has been a vocal critic of the United States’ support for the Saudi-led civil war in Yemen, and called on his colleagues to pass legislation to end U.S. military involvement. The conflict has led to devastating humanitarian consequences and a security vacuum that has empowered terrorist groups, like ISIS and al Qaeda, to grow stronger in the region. Murphy has repeatedly expressed concern that U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia’s military actions against Houthi rebels in Yemen threatens our own national security interests. As a result of U.S. involvement assisting Saudi Arabia, we are potentially radicalizing young Yemenis against America and assisting in the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Yemeni citizens.

Last year, Murphy renewed his call to cease support for the Saudi-led campaign following a United Nations report that found continued human rights violations. After the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey in October, Murphy reiterated his call for the suspension of military support for the Saudi-led campaign. He echoed his call in an op-ed in the Washington Post. In December, the U.S. Senate successfully passed the War Powers Act to remove U.S. troops from hostilities from Yemen offered by Murphy, and U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). The legislation was reintroduced last month.

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