IIA 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. J. RES. 56 

Directing 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 

JULY 14, 2022 

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

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Directing 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 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, 


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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 (in this section referred to as 

5 the ‘‘Saudi-led coalition’’), against the Houthis, also 

6 known as Ansar Allah, in the Republic of Yemen. 

7 (3) Since March 2015, United States Armed 

8 Forces have been introduced into hostilities between 

9 the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis in Yemen. 

10 (4) The conflict between the Saudi-led coalition 

11 and the Houthis constitutes, within the meaning of 

12 section 4(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution (50 

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

14 where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly 

15 indicated by the circumstances into which United 

16 States Armed Forces have been introduced. 

17 (5) Pursuant to section 5(b) of the War Powers 

18 Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544(b)), the President shall 

19 terminate any use of United States Armed Forces 

20 unless the Congress has declared war or has enacted 

21 a specific authorization for such use of United 

22 States Armed Forces. 

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

24 (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)) states that ‘‘at any time that 

25 United States Armed Forces are engaged in hosVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Jul 14, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SJ56.IS SJ56

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1 tilities outside the territory of the United States, its 

2 possessions and territories without a declaration of 

3 war or specific statutory authorization, such forces 

4 shall be removed by the President if the Congress so 

5 directs’’. 

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

7 (50 U.S.C. 1547(c)) defines the introduction of 

8 United States Armed Forces to include ‘‘the assign9 ment of members of such armed forces to command, 

10 coordinate, participate in the movement of, or ac11 company the regular or irregular military forces of 

12 any foreign country or government when such mili13 tary forces are engaged, or there exists an imminent 

14 threat that such forces will become engaged, in hos15 tilities’’, and activities that the United States is con16 ducting in support of the Saudi-led coalition fall 

17 within this definition. 

18 (8) Section 1013 of the Department of State 

19 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

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

21 bill to require the removal of United States Armed 

22 Forces engaged in hostilities without a declaration of 

23 war or specific statutory authorization shall be con24 sidered in accordance with the expedited procedures 

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


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

2 329; 90 Stat. 765). 

3 (9) No declaration of war, specific statutory au4 thorization, or national emergency created by attack 

5 upon the United States, its territories or posses6 sions, or its Armed Forces exists for the use of 

7 United States Armed Forces with respect to the con8 flict between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis 

9 in Yemen pursuant to section 2(c) of the War Pow10 ers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541(c)), and no provision 

11 of law explicitly authorizes the assignment of United 

12 States Armed Forces to command, coordinate, par13 ticipate in the movement of, or accompany the reg14 ular or irregular military forces of the Saudi-led coa15 lition in hostilities against the Houthis in Yemen. 

16 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES 

17 FROM HOSTILITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF 

18 YEMEN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED 

19 BY CONGRESS. 

20 Pursuant to section 1013 of the Department of State 

21 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1984 and 1985 (50 

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

23 section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance 

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

25 329; 90 Stat. 765), Congress hereby directs the President 


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1 to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities 

2 against the Houthis in the Republic of Yemen by not later 

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

4 of this joint resolution (unless the President requests and 

5 the Congress authorizes by joint resolution a later date), 

6 and unless and until a declaration of war or specific au7 thorization for such use of United States Armed Forces 

8 has been enacted. 

9 SEC. 3. HOSTILITIES DEFINED. 

10 In this joint resolution, the term ‘‘hostilities’’ includes 

11 the following: 

12 (1) With respect to United States participation 

13 in the military operations of the Saudi-led coalition 

14 against the Houthis in Yemen— 

15 (A) sharing intelligence for the purpose of 

16 enabling offensive coalition strikes; and 

17 (B) providing logistical support for offen18 sive coalition strikes, including by providing 

19 maintenance or transferring spare parts to coa20 lition members flying warplanes engaged in 

21 anti-Houthi bombings in Yemen. 

22 (2) The assignment of United States Armed 

23 Forces, including any civilian or military personnel 

24 of the Department of Defense, to command, coordi25 nate, participate in the movement of, or accompany 


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1 the regular or irregular military forces of the Saudi2 led coalition forces in hostilities against the Houthis 

3 in Yemen or in situations in which there exists an 

4 imminent threat that such coalition forces become 

5 engaged in such hostilities, unless and until the 

6 President has obtained specific statutory authoriza7 tion, in accordance with section 8(a) of the War 

8 Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)). 

9 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING OPERATIONS 

10 DIRECTED AT AL QAEDA. 

11 Nothing in this joint resolution may be construed to 

12 prohibit United States Armed Forces from engaging in op13 erations directed at al Qaeda or forces associated with al 

14 Qaeda. 

15 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING AUTHOR16 IZATIONS FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of 

18 the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)(1)), noth19 ing in this joint resolution may be construed as author20 izing the use of military force. 

21 (b) NO MODIFICATION TO AUTHORIZATION FOR USE

22 OF MILITARY FORCE.—Nothing in this joint resolution 

23 may be construed to limit, expand, or otherwise modify 


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1 the scope of the Authorization for Use of Military Force 

2 (Public Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note). 

Æ 


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