WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday asked President Biden’s nominee to be the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, about the imperative to end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and specifically replace an outdated United Nations Security Council resolution that has constrained negotiations. Thomas-Greenfield reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen and to reevaluating the current Security Council resolution. Ending the war in Yemen has been a top priority for Murphy in the United States Senate.

“[I]n 2015, the Security Council passed a resolution which essentially, at the time, endorsed all of the Saudis’ demands at the onset of their intervention, and it really has constrained our ability to negotiate an end to the war,” said Murphy. “…will you commit to seeking an updated Security Council resolution to replace this one, 2216? And what steps are you contemplating to try to work through the UN to bring an end to this conflict as soon as possible?”

Murphy also highlighted the need to reopen United Nations-authorized humanitarian border crossings into Syria and stressed the importance of the World Health Organization (WHO) as a necessary partner in the fight against pandemic disease and the promotion of global public health.

“The WHO is a miracle. It has eliminated smallpox. It has saved millions of lives through the vaccination of poor people all across the world. It is a forum through which adversaries and enemies can come together and talk about shared public health challenges. Yes, it is no different than any other international organization in that it doesn't often work as effectively as we would like. But there is no way for the United States to help rebuild an international anti-pandemic infrastructure without the WHO,” said Murphy. “And while we should certainly talk about reform, we should also celebrate the unique capabilities that the WHO provides us and I imagine you share at least part of my analysis and you believe that there is no way for us to stop the next pandemic without being an active participant in the WHO.”

A full transcript of Murphy’s exchange with Thomas-Greenfield can be found below:

MURPHY: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much, ambassador, for your years of service and your willingness to step up and serve again in this role. I wanted to first talk about the situation today in Yemen. Secretary Blinken, last week, committed to ending U.S. support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. But in 2015, the Security Council passed a resolution which essentially, at the time, endorsed all of the Saudis’ demands at the onset of their intervention, and it really has constrained our ability to negotiate an end to the war.

“That resolution seeks the return of President Hadi. I think everybody who knows anything about this conflict understands that there will have to be some transition away from President Hadi in order to gain a peace deal. It demands that the Houthis withdraw from all the areas that they've seized, and it really only recognizes two parties to the conflict. In other words, it ignores the role of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran.

“These are all pretty outdated and unrealistic demands, and so my question is, will you commit to seeking an updated Security Council resolution to replace this one, 2216? And what steps are you contemplating to try to work through the UN to bring an end to this conflict as soon as possible?”

Thomas-Greenfield: “Thank you, sir. And let me just start by saying that the situation in Yemen is horrific. It is one of the worst humanitarian crises that we're facing right now. And so we need to aggressively move forward to address finding a solution, a negotiated solution, to this situation.

“Yemen is being used by both the Saudis and the Iranians who have contributed to the war, and so I think it is incumbent on us in New York, if I'm confirmed there, to address this issue at the Security Council.”

MURPHY: “And again, I would specifically request that you review the existing resolution--”

Thomas-Greenfield: “I absolutely will.”

MURPHY: “It is unworkable, I think, on its present terms. I want to stay in the region and ask you a specific question with respect to humanitarian access in Syria. In 2020, the UN Security Council failed to reauthorize UN agencies' continued usage of three of the four border crossings. The final border crossing is essentially up for expiration this year. So I just want to ask whether you will work towards the immediate reauthorization of the crossings that we lost in 2020 and work to reassure that we continue to have access to the remaining crossing. With this sort of limited ability to get relief into Syria, you can imagine the crisis that already exists getting substantially, horrifically worse.”

Thomas-Greenfield: “Senator, thank you for raising that. And you may not be aware because we talk so much about my career in Africa, I spent more than half of my career working on humanitarian affairs, and I will commit to ensuring that we find a way to open up those avenues so that humanitarian assistance can get to the most needy people in Syria.”

MURPHY: “And lastly, let me turn to the World Health Organization. When we talk about the WHO up here, we tend to always lead with the same phrase or a version of it: ‘The WHO is in need of reform, it has to change, but…’ and then we fill in the blanks of all the wonderful things the WHO has done. I would suggest that we flip that presumption.

“The WHO is a miracle. It has eliminated smallpox. It has saved millions of lives through the vaccination of poor people all across the world. It is a forum through which adversaries and enemies can come together and talk about shared public health challenges. Yes, it is no different than any other international organization in that it doesn't often work as effectively as we would like. But there is no way for the United States to help rebuild an international anti-pandemic infrastructure without the WHO. 

And while we should certainly talk about reform, we should also celebrate the unique capabilities that the WHO provides us and I imagine you share at least part of my analysis and you believe that there is no way for us to stop the next pandemic without being an active participant in the WHO.”

Thomas-Greenfield: “I absolutely agree with you. I know that you are aware that the President did rejoin WHO, or stopped our exit from WHO, because we realize how important a role that organization plays around the globe.

MURPHY: “Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.”

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