III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 714 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 

bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia be held accountable for 

contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, preventing a resolution 

to the blockade of Qatar, the jailing and torture of dissidents and 

activists inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the use of force to intimidate rivals, and the abhorrent and unjustified murder of journalist Jamal 

Khashoggi. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 5, 2018 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

YOUNG, and Mr. COONS) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud of Saudi 

Arabia be held accountable for contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, preventing a resolution to 

the blockade of Qatar, the jailing and torture of dissidents and activists inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 

the use of force to intimidate rivals, and the abhorrent 

and unjustified murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

Whereas following the accession of King Salman bin Abd al 

Aziz Al Saud to the throne of the Kingdom of Saudi AraVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Dec 05, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR714.IS SR714

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•SRES 714 IS 

bia in January 2015, King Salman appointed his son, 

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as Minister of Defense; 

Whereas, on April 29, 2015, King Salman appointed Prince 

Mohammed bin Salman as Deputy Crown Prince and elevated him to the line of succession; 

Whereas, on June 21, 2017, King Salman appointed Prince 

Mohammed bin Salman as Crown Prince and heir apparent to the Saudi throne; 

Whereas Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has frequently disregarded the rights of Saudi citizens and in an 

effort to consolidate his personal control over Saudi government decisionmaking; 

Whereas, following his appointment as Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman began carrying out a systematic 

purge of individuals opposed or agnostic to his rule and 

vision; 

Whereas, in November 2017, numerous members of the royal 

family, prominent businessmen, cabinet ministers, and 

former officials within Saudi Arabia were detained and 

allegedly tortured in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel at the 

order of Mohammed Bin Salman; 

Whereas one of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s first 

acts as Minister of Defense was to launch a military campaign in Yemen with the stated objective of restoring the 

internationally recognized Government of Yemen, which 

had been forced out of Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi 

rebels; 

Whereas, in March 2015, Saudi Arabia instituted a naval and 

aerial blockade on Yemen, and currently maintains strict 

limits on air and sea transit to the country which contribute to delays of critical humanitarian aid and comVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Dec 05, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR714.IS SR714

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•SRES 714 IS 

mercial supplies to a nation that imports as much as 90 

percent of its food and relies on imported fuel; 

Whereas the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen is in its fourth 

year and has contributed to 22,200,000 Yemenis needing 

humanitarian assistance; 

Whereas, on December 4, 2018, President Donald J. 

Trump’s nominee to serve as the Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen testified that the ongoing civil war in 

Yemen has exacerbated the world’s largest food security 

emergency, created power vacuums that terrorists have 

exploited, facilitated Iran’s ambitions, and complicated 

United States counterterrorism efforts; 

Whereas, on June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, along with the 

United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, and other countries, severed diplomatic relations with Qatar, recalled 

their ambassadors, expelled Qatari diplomats, and imposed limits on the entry and transit of Qatari nationals 

and vessels in their territories, waters, and airspace; 

Whereas the blockade against Qatar has significantly complicated relationships in the region and hindered United 

States counterterrorism and counter-Iran objectives, and 

undermined United States efforts to end conflicts across 

the region; 

Whereas, in November 2017, Mohammed bin Salman pressured Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, to resign 

from his position via a television broadcast while in Saudi 

Arabia; 

Whereas, according to the organization Reporters without 

Borders, the arrest of journalists and bloggers has doubled since the appointment of Crown Prince Mohammed 


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bin Salman, and an estimated 28 individuals are currently still detained; 

Whereas, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 

Government of Saudi Arabia continues to detain political 

prisoners, including Saudi blogger Raif Badawi since 

2012 and Saudi women’s right activists since August 

2018; 

Whereas Jamal Khashoggi was a prominent Saudi journalist 

and an outspoken critic of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin 

Salman; 

Whereas, on September 18, 2017, Jamal Khashoggi wrote of 

increased ‘‘waves of arrests ahead of the Crown Prince’s 

ascension to the throne,’’ and stated that he had left 

Saudi Arabia and gone into self-imposed exile in the 

United States of America due to his fear of arrest by the 

Crown Prince; 

Whereas, throughout 2017 and 2018, Jamal Khashoggi wrote 

a series of opinion articles offering pointed critiques and 

advice to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and to 

United States and Saudi officials; 

Whereas, prior to his death, Jamal Khashoggi had sought 

status as a lawful permanent resident of the United 

States and was the father to three United States citizens; 

Whereas, on October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi disappeared 

during a visit to the Consulate of the Kingdom of Saudi 

Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey; 

Whereas, following the disappearance, Turkish authorities reported that Jamal Khashoggi had been murdered inside 

the Saudi consulate; 

Whereas, on October 8, 2018, the brother of Crown Prince 

Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Ambassador to the 


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United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, stated that 

‘‘the reports that suggest that Jamal Khashoggi went 

missing in the Consulate in Istanbul or that the Kingdom’s authorities have detained him or killed him are absolutely false, and baseless’’; 

Whereas, on October 19, 2018, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs announced that Mr. Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate by Saudi nationals on October 

2, 2018; and 

Whereas, on November 15, 2018, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned 17 Saudi officials, including senior Saudi government official Saud al-Qahtani, 

his subordinate Maher Mutreb, and Saudi Consul General Mohammed Alotaibi, for their connection to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, including some individuals who 

worked directly for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 

and his personal security apparatus: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms 

3 the murder of Jamal Khashoggi; 

4 (2) finds that as Crown Prince, Mohammed bin 

5 Salman was in control of the security forces at the 

6 time of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder; 

7 (3) based on evidence and analysis made avail8 able to this institution, has a high level of confidence 

9 that Mohammed bin Salman was complicit in the 

10 murder of Jamal Khashoggi; 


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1 (4) urges the United States Government and 

2 the international community to hold all parties, in3 cluding Mohammed bin Salman, involved in the 

4 murder of Jamal Khashoggi accountable; 

5 (5) calls on the Government of the Kingdom of 

6 Saudi Arabia to negotiate directly with representa7 tives of the Houthi movement in order to end the 

8 war in Yemen, agree on a political resolution, re9 verse the humanitarian crisis, and refocus efforts on 

10 defeating al Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen; 

11 (6) calls on the Government of the Kingdom of 

12 Saudi Arabia to negotiate a political solution to its 

13 dispute with Qatar expeditiously and in a way that 

14 restores diplomatic relations with Qatar; and 

15 (7) urges the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to im16 mediately release Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, the 

17 Saudi women’s rights activists, and other detained 

18 political prisoners. 

Æ 


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