Yemen

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, later on, the Senate may consider a resolution by the junior Senators from Utah and Vermont that pertains to the situation in Yemen. In effect, these Members want to end the limited American assistance to the Saudi-led coalition that is supporting the U.N.-recognized government in the civil war in Yemen.

I will oppose the motion to proceed to the Sanders-Lee resolution and would urge Members to join me in voting against it. Members on both sides have legitimate concerns about the war in Yemen, about the U.S. interests tangled up in this conflict, and especially about the horrible plight of Yemeni citizens who are caught in the crossfire. And where Saudi Arabia is concerned, I think every single Member of this body shares grave concerns about the murder of Khashoggi and wants accountability. We also want to preserve a 70-year partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and we want to ensure that it continues to serve American interests and stabilizes a dangerous and critical region.

This is the backdrop for today's debate: challenging circumstances that require the Senate to act with prudence and precision. But the Sanders-Lee resolution is neither precise enough nor prudent enough.

For one thing, I do not believe the resolution should be privileged under the War Powers Act. The United States is not involved in combat. It is not dropping ordnance. It is no longer even providing air-to-air refueling. As I have stated previously, even if these activities continued, it is a far cry to equate them with ``hostilities.'' Regardless, the practice has already stopped.

If the Senate wants to pick a constitutional fight with the executive branch over war powers, I would advise my colleagues to pick a better case.

Second, their resolution is an inappropriate vehicle. There are more careful ways the Senate could express its concern about the conflict in Yemen or our partnership with Saudi Arabia without taking such a blunt instrument to the policy in this area. Indeed, this resolution would threaten other support the United States is providing that is designed to improve coalition targeting and limit civilian casualties.

Finally, from the Senate's perspective, considering a War Powers Act resolution has the potential to present a lengthy, messy process when our calendar is already packed more than full with other important business to complete for the American people.

This resolution's shortcomings do not mean the Senate must do nothing. There is a better option at hand. Legislation introduced by Chairman Corker does a good job capturing bipartisan concerns about both the war in Yemen and the behavior of our Saudi partners more broadly without triggering an extended debate over war powers while we hasten to finish all our other work. I have cosponsored his legislation. It is a superior road to the outcome that most Senators want. So I urge every Member to vote against considering the Sanders- Lee resolution later today and join me in supporting Chairman Corker's responsible alternative.

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