WASHINGTON — Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Peter DeFazio (OR-04), lead sponsors of H.J.Res. 87, the bipartisan Yemen War Powers Resolution which includes more than 80 cosponsors, issued the following statement regarding the recent announcement that President Biden plans to visit Saudi rulers in mid-July:
“We share the concerns of many of our congressional colleagues who have expressed grave misgivings regarding the President’s planned meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a ‘reset’ of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia — after promising to treat the regime as a ‘pariah.’ President Biden made a commitment ‘that America will never again check its principles at the door just to buy oil or sell weapons’ and would ‘end U.S. support for the disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen.’
“In light of the administration’s reported plan to use the visit to ‘push to end the war in Yemen,’ Congress must play a constructive and active role in fulfilling these promises, while asserting its rightful constitutional role over war and peace. We urge both the House and Senate to expeditiously consider our bipartisan Yemen War Powers Resolution to ensure the President’s goal is realized. Its passage will help maintain the tenuous ceasefire between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, while preventing any resumption of deadly Saudi airstrikes which rely on critical U.S. operational support. We also ask for President Biden’s full support of this critical resolution.
“The United States has participated in the Saudi-led war in Yemen for more than seven years without congressional authorization. Congress acting to pass our Yemen War Powers Resolution will send a powerful signal to the Crown Prince that both the President and Congress are committed to seeing an end to this war and alleviating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, which continues to impact tens of millions of innocent Yemenis, including children. That suffering, and the United States’ role in it, must be brought to an end.”