IIA 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 7 

To direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in 

the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2019 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. LEE, and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

To direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from 

hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been 

authorized by Congress. 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Congress has the sole power to declare war 

6 under article I, section 8, clause 11 of the United 

7 States Constitution. 

8 (2) Congress has not declared war with respect 

9 to, or provided a specific statutory authorization for, 


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1 the conflict between military forces led by Saudi 

2 Arabia, including forces from the United Arab Emir3 ates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, 

4 Senegal, and Sudan (the Saudi-led coalition), 

5 against the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, in 

6 the Republic of Yemen. 

7 (3) Since March 2015, members of the United 

8 States Armed Forces have been introduced into hos9 tilities between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

10 Houthis, including providing to the Saudi-led coali11 tion aerial targeting assistance, intelligence sharing, 

12 and mid-flight aerial refueling. 

13 (4) The United States has established a Joint 

14 Combined Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia, in which 

15 members of the United States Armed Forces assist 

16 in aerial targeting and help to coordinate military 

17 and intelligence activities. 

18 (5) In December 2017, Secretary of Defense 

19 James N. Mattis stated, ‘‘We have gone in to be 

20 very—to be helpful where we can in identifying how 

21 you do target analysis and how you make certain 

22 you hit the right thing.’’. 

23 (6) The conflict between the Saudi-led coalition 

24 and the Houthis constitutes, within the meaning of 

25 section 4(a) of the War Powers Resolution (50 


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1 U.S.C. 1543(a)), either hostilities or a situation 

2 where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly 

3 indicated by the circumstances into which United 

4 States Armed Forces have been introduced. 

5 (7) Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

6 (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)) states that ‘‘at any time that 

7 United States Armed Forces are engaged in hos8 tilities outside the territory of the United States, its 

9 possessions and territories without a declaration of 

10 war or specific statutory authorization, such forces 

11 shall be removed by the President if the Congress so 

12 directs’’. 

13 (8) Section 8(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

14 (50 U.S.C. 1547(c)) defines the introduction of 

15 United States Armed Forces to include ‘‘the assign16 ment of members of such armed forces to command, 

17 coordinate, participate in the movement of, or ac18 company the regular or irregular military forces of 

19 any foreign country or government when such mili20 tary forces are engaged, or there exists an imminent 

21 threat that such forces will become engaged, in hos22 tilities,’’ and activities that the United States is con23 ducting in support of the Saudi-led coalition, includ24 ing aerial refueling and targeting assistance, fall 

25 within this definition. 


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1 (9) Section 1013 of the Department of State 

2 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

3 U.S.C. 1546a) provides that any joint resolution or 

4 bill to require the removal of United States Armed 

5 Forces engaged in hostilities without a declaration of 

6 war or specific statutory authorization shall be con7 sidered in accordance with the expedited procedures 

8 of section 601(b) of the International Security and 

9 Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (Public Law 94– 

10 329; 90 Stat. 765). 

11 (10) No specific statutory authorization for the 

12 use of United States Armed Forces with respect to 

13 the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

14 Houthis in Yemen has been enacted, and no provi15 sion of law explicitly authorizes the provision of tar16 geting assistance or of midair refueling services to 

17 warplanes of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emir18 ates that are engaged in such conflict. 

19 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

20 FROM HOSTILITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF 

21 YEMEN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED 

22 BY CONGRESS. 

23 Pursuant to section 1013 of the Department of State 

24 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

25 U.S.C. 1546a) and in accordance with the provisions of 


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1 section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance 

2 and Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (Public Law 94– 

3 329; 90 Stat. 765), Congress hereby directs the President 

4 to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in 

5 or affecting the Republic of Yemen, except United States 

6 Armed Forces engaged in operations directed at al Qaeda 

7 or associated forces, by not later than the date that is 

8 30 days after the date of the enactment of this joint reso9 lution (unless the President requests and Congress author10 izes a later date), and unless and until a declaration of 

11 war or specific authorization for such use of United States 

12 Armed Forces has been enacted. For purposes of this reso13 lution, in this section, the term ‘‘hostilities’’ includes in14 flight refueling of non-United States aircraft conducting 

15 missions as part of the ongoing civil war in Yemen. 

16 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING CONTINUED 

17 MILITARY OPERATIONS AND COOPERATION 

18 WITH ISRAEL. 

19 Nothing in this joint resolution shall be construed to 

20 influence or disrupt any military operations and coopera21 tion with Israel. 

22 SEC. 4. REPORT ON RISKS POSED BY CEASING SAUDI ARA23 BIA SUPPORT OPERATIONS. 

24 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact25 ment of this joint resolution, the President shall submit 


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1 to Congress a report assessing the risks posed to United 

2 States citizens and the civilian population of Saudi Arabia 

3 and the risk of regional humanitarian crises if the United 

4 States were to cease support operations with respect to 

5 the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

6 Houthis in Yemen. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORT ON INCREASED RISK OF TERRORIST AT8 TACKS TO UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

9 ABROAD, ALLIES, AND THE CONTINENTAL 

10 UNITED STATES IF SAUDI ARABIA CEASES 

11 YEMEN-RELATED INTELLIGENCE SHARING 

12 WITH THE UNITED STATES. 

13 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this joint resolution, the President shall submit 

15 to Congress a report assessing the increased risk of ter16 rorist attacks on United States Armed Forces abroad, al17 lies, and to the continental United States if the Govern18 ment of Saudi Arabia were to cease Yemen-related intel19 ligence sharing with the United States. 

Æ 


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