Advocates are calling for passage of a resolution that will withdraw US troops from the Saudi Arabia-Yemen conflict. The measure passed the Senate last year, then was narrowly defeated in the Republican-controlled House
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2019
Contact: Tihi Hayslett, Demand Progress Campaigner, (347) 756-9084, [email protected]
Major national progressive grassroots groups are re-launching StopTheWar.us, an activism campaign to pass War Powers Resolutions to end US involvement in Yemen. The relaunch coincides with the re-introduction of a joint War Powers Resolution by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy, and Reps. Ro Khanna and Mark Pocan today.
In 2018, the StopTheWar.us effort drove 230,000 actions to Congress, with constituents sending messages to senators and representatives in support of the passage of the War Powers Resolutions; the effort also drove nearly 20,000 phone calls to lawmakers.
“The conflict in Yemen has caused a drastic humanitarian crisis, leaving millions of people lacking access to food, and civilians, including children, killed by US-supplied bombs used in Saudi airstrikes. Congress must immediately end our involvement,” said Tihi Hayslett of Demand Progress, a lead campaigner on the effort. He continued, “Beyond its influence in the current crisis, the unprecedented passage of the War Powers Resolution would create an ongoing, structural check on warmaking that would reduce the bellicosity of our foreign policy for decades to come.”
In 2018, a procedural vote on the Yemen War Powers Resolution passed by a stunning 63-37 in the Senate, with strong bipartisan support. In the House, the effort failed on a narrow 206-203 vote, with five Democrats voting alongside Republicans to kill the measure. Following backlash from this vote, House leaders committed to moving the resolution through that chamber. A vote on the on the resolution is expected in the House in coming weeks.
The Saudi-Yemen conflict has already resulted in 22 million people requiring humanitarian assistance, 18 million people without access to food, and has left tens of thousands of civilians dead. It is currently the broadest humanitarian crisis in the world.
Organizations participating in StopTheWar.us include About Face: Veterans Against The War, Daily Kos, Defending Rights & Dissent, Demand Progress, Just Foreign Policy, Progress America, Watchdog.net, Win Without War, World Beyond War, and the Yemen Peace Project.
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