IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 123 

Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities 

in the Republic of Yemen. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2020 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. BIGGS, 

Mr. KHANNA, Mr. POCAN, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, and Mr. GAETZ) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War 

Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed 

Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Republic of 

Yemen. 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

4 FROM HOSTILITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF 

5 YEMEN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED 

6 BY CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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•HCON 123 IH 

1 (1) Unauthorized United States military par2 ticipation in the Saudi-led war in Yemen has con3 tributed to producing the world’s largest humani4 tarian crisis, with an estimated 20 million people de5 pendent on food aid and two million children under 

6 five years of age requiring treatment for malnutri7 tion. Over five years of military conflict, 50 percent 

8 of Yemen’s healthcare infrastructure has closed, and 

9 Saudi-led bombings have destroyed over 70 hos10 pitals. COVID-19 is now spreading largely unde11 tected across Yemen’s immuno-compromised popu12 lation. 

13 (2) Congress has the sole power to declare war 

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

15 States Constitution. 

16 (3) Congress has not declared war with respect 

17 to, or provided a specific statutory authorization for, 

18 the conflict between military forces led by Saudi 

19 Arabia, including forces from the United Arab Emir20 ates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, 

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

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

23 the Republic of Yemen. 

24 (4) Since March 2015, members of the United 

25 States Armed Forces have been introduced into hosVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC123.IH HC123

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•HCON 123 IH 

1 tilities between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

2 Houthis. 

3 (5) The conflict between the Saudi-led coalition 

4 and the Houthis constitutes, within the meaning of 

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

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

7 where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly 

8 indicated by the circumstances into which United 

9 States Armed Forces have been introduced. 

10 (6) Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

11 (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)) states that, ‘‘at any time that 

12 United States Armed Forces are engaged in hos13 tilities outside the territory of the United States, its 

14 possessions and territories without a declaration of 

15 war or specific statutory authorization, such forces 

16 shall be removed by the President if the Congress so 

17 directs by concurrent resolution’’. 

18 (7) Section 8(c) of the War Powers Resolution 

19 (50 U.S.C. 1547(c)) defines the introduction of 

20 United States Armed Forces to include ‘‘the assign21 ment of members of such armed forces to command, 

22 coordinate, participate in the movement of, or ac23 company the regular or irregular military forces of 

24 any foreign country or government when such mili25 tary forces are engaged, or there exists an imminent 


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•HCON 123 IH 

1 threat that such forces will become engaged, in hos2 tilities’’, and activities that the United States has 

3 conducted in support of the Saudi-led coalition fall 

4 within this definition. 

5 (8) No specific statutory authorization for the 

6 use of United States Armed Forces with respect to 

7 the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the 

8 Houthis in Yemen has been enacted, and no provi9 sion of law explicitly authorizes the assignment of 

10 United States Armed Forces to command, coordi11 nate, participate in the movement of, or accompany 

12 the regular or irregular military forces of the Saudi 

13 or United Arab Emirates in hostilities against Yem14 en’s Houthis. 

15 (b) REMOVAL OF ARMED FORCES.—Pursuant to sec16 tion 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 

17 1544(c)), Congress hereby directs the President to remove 

18 United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the 

19 Houthis in the Republic of Yemen, except United States 

20 Armed Forces engaged in operations directed at Al Qaeda 

21 in the Arabian Peninsula or associated forces, by not later 

22 than the date that is 30 days after the date of the adoption 

23 of this concurrent resolution (unless the President re24 quests and the Congress authorizes a later date), and un25 less and until a declaration of war or specific authorization 


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•HCON 123 IH 

1 for such use of United States Armed Forces has been en2 acted. For purposes of this resolution, in this section, the 

3 term ‘‘hostilities’’ includes the assignment of United 

4 States Armed Forces to command, coordinate, participate 

5 in the movement of, or accompany the regular or irregular 

6 military forces of the Saudi or United Arab Emirates in 

7 hostilities against Yemen’s Houthis. 

8 SEC. 2. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING NO AUTHOR9 IZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE. 

10 Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers 

11 Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)(1)), nothing in this concur12 rent resolution may be construed as authorizing the use 

13 of military force. 

Æ 


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