IA 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 37 

Directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2019 

Mr. KHANNA (for himself, Mr. POCAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. HOYER, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. BUCK, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. JONES, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CASTRO

of Texas, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. SARBANES, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. OMAR, 

Mr. HIMES, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CROW, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 

LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. COX of California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. DEUTCH, 

Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

CISNEROS, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MOORE, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. TONKO, Mr. WELCH, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. MOULTON, 

and Mr. NEGUSE) submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from 

hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been 

authorized by Congress. 


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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 finds the following: 

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, 

10 the conflict between military forces led by Saudi 

11 Arabia, including forces from the United Arab Emir12 ates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, 

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

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

15 the Republic of Yemen. 

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

17 States Armed Forces have been introduced into hos18 tilities between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

19 Houthis, including providing to the Saudi-led coali20 tion aerial targeting assistance, intelligence sharing, 

21 and mid-flight aerial refueling. 

22 (4) The United States has established a Joint 

23 Combined Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia, in which 

24 members of the United States Armed Forces assist 


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1 in aerial targeting and help to coordinate military 

2 and intelligence activities. 

3 (5) In December 2017, Secretary of Defense 

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

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

6 you do target analysis and how you make certain 

7 you hit the right thing.’’. 

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

9 and the Houthis constitutes, within the meaning of 

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

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

12 where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly 

13 indicated by the circumstances into which United 

14 States Armed Forces have been introduced. 

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

16 (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)) states that, ‘‘at any time that 

17 United States Armed Forces are engaged in hos18 tilities outside the territory of the United States, its 

19 possessions and territories without a declaration of 

20 war or specific statutory authorization, such forces 

21 shall be removed by the President if the Congress so 

22 directs’’. 

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

24 (50 U.S.C. 1547(c)) defines the introduction of 

25 United States Armed Forces to include ‘‘the assignVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ37.IH HJ37

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1 ment of members of such armed forces to command, 

2 coordinate, participate in the movement of, or ac3 company the regular or irregular military forces of 

4 any foreign country or government when such mili5 tary forces are engaged, or there exists an imminent 

6 threat that such forces will become engaged, in hos7 tilities’’, and activities that the United States is con8 ducting in support of the Saudi-led coalition, includ9 ing aerial refueling and targeting assistance, fall 

10 within this definition. 

11 (9) Section 1013 of the Department of State 

12 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

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

14 bill to require the removal of United States Armed 

15 Forces engaged in hostilities without a declaration of 

16 war or specific statutory authorization shall be con17 sidered in accordance with the expedited procedures 

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

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

20 329; 90 Stat. 765). 

21 (10) No specific statutory authorization for the 

22 use of United States Armed Forces with respect to 

23 the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

24 Houthis in Yemen has been enacted, and no provi25 sion of law explicitly authorizes the provision of tarVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ37.IH HJ37

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1 geting assistance or of midair refueling services to 

2 warplanes of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emir3 ates that are engaged in such conflict. 

4 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

5 FROM HOSTILITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF 

6 YEMEN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED 

7 BY CONGRESS. 

8 Pursuant to section 1013 of the Department of State 

9 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

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

11 section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance 

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

13 329; 90 Stat. 765), Congress hereby directs the President 

14 to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in 

15 or affecting the Republic of Yemen, except United States 

16 Armed Forces engaged in operations directed at al-Qaeda 

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

18 30 days after the date of the enactment of this joint reso19 lution (unless the President requests and Congress author20 izes a later date), and unless and until a declaration of 

21 war or specific authorization for such use of United States 

22 Armed Forces has been enacted. For purposes of this reso23 lution, in this section, the term ‘‘hostilities’’ includes in24 flight refueling, non-United States aircraft conducting 

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


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1 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING CONTINUED 

2 MILITARY OPERATIONS AND COOPERATION 

3 WITH ISRAEL. 

4 Nothing in this joint resolution may be construed to 

5 influence or disrupt any military operations and coopera6 tion with Israel. 

7 SEC. 4. REPORT ON RISKS POSED BY CEASING SAUDI ARA8 BIA SUPPORT OPERATIONS. 

9 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this joint resolution, the President shall submit 

11 to Congress a report assessing the risks posed to United 

12 States citizens and the civilian population of Saudi Arabia 

13 and the risk of regional humanitarian crises if the United 

14 States were to cease support operations with respect to 

15 the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

16 Houthis in Yemen. 

17 SEC. 5. REPORT ON INCREASED RISK OF TERRORIST AT18 TACKS TO UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

19 ABROAD, ALLIES, AND THE CONTINENTAL 

20 UNITED STATES IF SAUDI ARABIA CEASES 

21 YEMEN-RELATED INTELLIGENCE SHARING 

22 WITH THE UNITED STATES. 

23 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this joint resolution, the President shall submit 

25 to Congress a report assessing the increased risk of ter26 rorist attacks on United States Armed Forces abroad, alVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Jan 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HJ37.IH HJ37

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1 lies, and to the continental United States if the Govern2 ment of Saudi Arabia were to cease Yemen-related intel3 ligence sharing with the United States. 

Æ 


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