MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Monday, March 19, 2018, 2:30 p.m. ET
CONTACT: (Avaaz) Will Davies / 646-628-1210 / will@avaaz.org
(MoveOn) Jordan Wilhelmi / 612.281.2310 / press@moveon.org
MONDAY, 2:30 PM: Activists Lay 5,000 Flowers on US Capitol Lawn Memorializing Yemeni Children Killed by Saudi Bombings
As Trump Meets Saudi Crown Prince, Activists Urge Senate to End U.S. Participation in Saudi Bombings of Yemen in Historic Vote
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the eve of President Trump’s meeting with the Saudi crown prince, activists from Avaaz, MoveOn, and Win Without War will lay 5,000 flowers on the U.S. Capitol lawn, memorializing the Yemeni children killed or harmed in the U.S.-backed Saudi bombing of Yemen. The action is in support of bipartisan S.J.Res. 54, introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), to stop U.S. military participation in the inhumane Saudi-led war on Yemen. The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation on Tuesday.
WHEN: Monday, March 19, 2:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.
ON-THE-GROUND CONTACT: Samantha Miller | 818-419-6994
Despite Congress never having authorized U.S. military participation in the conflict—the Department of Defense has launched a major lobbying campaign to continue U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led coalition's bombing of Yemen and avert Senate approval of S.J.Res. 54.
Last November, the House of Representatives passed a resolution by a vote of 366 to 30, acknowledging that there is no congressional authorization for U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war, making ongoing U.S. participation explicitly unconstitutional and illegal. The new resolution, introduced in the Senate by Senators Sanders, Murphy, and Lee, seeks to end U.S. military engagement by invoking the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which grants Congress the power to direct the president to remove U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities.
Since 2015, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has carried out an indiscriminate bombing campaign across Yemen and enforced a crippling blockade on food, medicine, and fuel. The UN has placed all the parties in the conflict, including the Saudi-led coalition, on its blacklist for committing atrocities. For three years, the United States has actively participated in the Saudi-led air campaign by providing midair refueling services and targeting assistance to Saudi coalition warplanes conducting bombings.
A Yemeni child dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes. Three years of war have shattered a beautiful nation and driven millions of its people to the brink of famine. The reality is heartbreaking:
- 11 million Yemeni children survive on humanitarian assistance, and as many as 400,000 suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
- 8.4 million Yemenis are a step away from famine.
- Over a million people, the majority of them children, have contracted cholera in the worst recorded outbreak in modern history—a medical crisis made worse by a dire shortage of clean water.
2 million children are currently out of school, with millions more at risk of losing their access to learning.
“We’re laying 5,000 flowers on the Capitol lawn to honor the children who have been killed or brutally maimed in Yemen. As the Saudi crown prince meets with President Trump, we’re here to show the cost of this war on children. Hundreds are dead, thousands are starving, and millions have no school to attend,” explained Nick Kimbrell, Senior Campaigner at Avaaz.
“For too long, Congress has shunned its constitutional responsibility when it comes to asserting its rightful authority over acts of war. A first-ever Senate vote to end an unauthorized U.S. war is vital to reining in the increasingly terrifying powers of the executive branch and the latitude the U.S. military has taken in the past 16 years. Ending U.S. participation in the Saudi-led war in Yemen is only the beginning of a very long road to curbing the instability our policies have caused in majority-Muslim nations,” added Iram Ali, Campaign Director at MoveOn.
"The crisis in Yemen is a humanitarian catastrophe affecting millions of innocent civilians, and it is completely unconscionable for the United States military to be involved in this disaster. Congress must reassert its constitutional role, vote in favor of this resolution, and prevent the United States from being sucked deeper and deeper into another quagmire war," said Alexander McCoy, a member of Common Defense and a Marine Corps veteran who served in Saudi Arabia.
“When it comes to the U.S. role in the conflict in Yemen, Congress is asleep at the wheel,” said CREDO Organizing Director Kaili Lambe. “American military forces are refueling the Saudis’ American-made planes so that the Saudis and their coalition can drop American-made weapons to carry out a devastating war that is killing civilians, destroying crops, cutting off access to ports, and wreaking havoc on the people of Yemen. U.S. tax dollars are directly financing this Saudi-led war, even though U.S. involvement has not been authorized by Congress, whose responsibility it is to debate, vote on, and authorize military action. All U.S. senators with a conscience should throw their full support behind S.J.Res.54 and do everything in their power to end U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.”
"Despite the weak denials of successive administrations, the United States is a party to the war in Yemen and has a role to play in bringing it to an end. This week, Congress can recognize this role and the responsibility it entails by passing legislation that will immediately de-escalate the most egregious attacks on Yemen’s civilians and set the stage for a political resolution to the conflict," explained Eric Eikenberry at the Yemen Peace Project.
"The American public has made it crystal clear that the Senate must vote to end our unauthorized war in Yemen and our complicity in starving millions of Yemenis. Killing 5,000 innocent children has no purpose, strategic or otherwise. Tuesday's vote is a historic opportunity for the Senate to stand up for the Constitution and for the millions of Yemenis our support for Saudi Arabia harms in Yemen," said Stephen Miles, Director of Win Without War.
“The U.S. is literally fueling the slaughter of children in Yemen, as U.S. pilots fuel U.S.-made bombers to rein down U.S.-made bombs on schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods. With Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler and lead prosecutor of this war in Washington this week, tomorrow’s vote is a historic opportunity for the Senate to send the message that the U.S. must end its complicity in creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis,” said Kate Gould from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL).
Avaaz has campaigned to block arms sales to the Saudis as long as the war continues and has raised funds to support Western and Yemeni journalists to ensure the world continues to be informed about this catastrophic war. See more: avaaz.org/yemen
MoveOn has driven over 3,800 calls to senators to stop U.S. participation in the inhumane war in Yemen. Over 24,000 MoveOn members have also signed a petition by Mokhtar Alkhanshali (also known as “the Monk of Mokha”) since the Sanders-Lee-Murphy resolution was released. You can view the petition here: MoveOn.org/YemenCantWait