May 2, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 72 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S2579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              S.J. RES. 7

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, in March, the Senate narrowly passed a 
resolution that would have misused the War Powers Act and actually 
hampered efforts to bring the conflict in Yemen to a close. 
Fortunately, the President vetoed it.
  So today, Members will have a second chance to send the right message 
to our partners in the region, to important humanitarian missions, and 
to eradicating al-Qaida from the Arabian Peninsula. I urge my 
colleagues to vote to uphold the President's veto.
  The resolution before us starts from false premises. We are not 
parties to the civil war in Yemen. We are no longer providing even air-
to-air refueling.
  More important, the resolution would make it actually more difficult 
to prevent the loss of innocent lives. This resolution would require 
U.S. advisers to cease training and intelligence sharing operations 
that help pilots avoid civilian casualties. And it would dry up U.S. 
noncombat support to the weakened, U.N.-recognized government in Yemen.
  The resolution would also create serious new problems for the U.N.-
led diplomatic mission that is doing all it can to negotiate an end to 
the bloodshed.
  Abandoning our Yemeni, Emirati, and Saudi partners just as diplomatic 
efforts are starting to make progress is hardly the way to give them 
the confidence to take the hard diplomatic steps that are necessary.
  An abrupt withdrawal of U.S. support for the coalition would be good 
news for Iran, for the Houthi rebels they support, and, of course, al-
Qaida, as well.
  I share many of my colleagues' serious concerns about aspects of 
Saudi Arabia's behavior, but the best way for us to encourage better 
behavior from our partners is to remain involved with Saudi Arabia and 
the UAE, not push them into the arms of Russia and China.
  The War Powers Act is a blunt tool, and not at all the right vehicle 
to productively or diplomatically express concern about the behavior of 
close partners of the United States.
  The Senate passed a more nuanced resolution in December of last year, 
and it has many other tools to register concern and disapproval. If 
Senators want to play a productive role in this conflict, I would 
encourage them to meet with Saudi, Emirati, and Yemeni officials, to 
travel to the region, and to hold hearings on this important matter.
  But for all the reasons I have laid out, this particular resolution 
is a particularly bad idea. I urge each of my colleagues to join me in 
setting it aside and upholding the President's veto.

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