Title: Yemen Security and Humanity Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Yemen Security and Humanity Act
This bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) addressing the famine conditions in Yemen is in U.S. national security interests, (2) U.S.-supported interventions to advance national security should consider the impact of military engagement on humanitarian operations, and (3) bureaucratic procedures with respect to humanitarian aid must be improved.
The Global Food Security Act of 2016 is amended to include in the U.S. global comprehensive food security strategy, with respect to famine-risk areas, coordination among the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the U.S. military.
The Department of State and the Department of Defense shall jointly report to Congress regarding U.S. security and humanitarian interests in Yemen, including: (1) U.S. strategic objectives, including humanitarian support to famine-threatened civilian populations; (2) efforts to coordinate civilian and military efforts; and (3) the diplomatic strategy with respect to regional partners seeking to end Yemen's civil war.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2795 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2795

    To increase coordination among relevant Federal departments and 
 agencies to address United States security and humanitarian interests 
                   in Yemen, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2017

 Ms. Bass (for herself, Mr. Crowley, Ms. Lee, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Richmond, 
and Ms. Jackson Lee) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 
 on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To increase coordination among relevant Federal departments and 
 agencies to address United States security and humanitarian interests 
                   in Yemen, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Yemen Security and Humanity Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Yemen, a country that has been plagued by violence and 
        insurgency for many years, has been locked in a devastating 
        civil war since 2015.
            (2) In April 2017, the World Food Programme announced that 
        Yemen is on the brink of ``full-scale famine'' and classified 
        approximately 7,000,000 Yemenis, including 2,200,000 children, 
        as ``severely food insecure''.
            (3) Although many factors account for the famine conditions 
        in Yemen, including years of government mismanagement, 
        corruption, and natural disasters, the World Food Programme 
        indicates that the impact of the conflict--including the 
        destruction of public services, infrastructure, transport, and 
        Yemen's economy--is having a significant impact on Yemen's food 
        insecurity.
            (4) According to the United Nations International 
        Children's Emergency Fund, a Yemeni child dies every ten 
        minutes, on average, from malnutrition, diarrhea, or 
        respiratory tract infections.
            (5) Disease, war, and desperate poverty in Yemen threaten 
        United States core values and strategic priorities for 
        combating global terror.
            (6) According to the January 2014 ``Worldwide Threat 
        Assessment of the US Intelligence Community''--
                    (A) a ``[l]ack of adequate food will be a 
                destabilizing factor in countries important to US 
                national security that do not have the financial or 
                technical abilities to solve their internal food 
                security problems''; and
                    (B) ``[f]ood and nutrition insecurity in weakly 
                governed countries might also provide opportunities for 
                insurgent groups to capitalize on poor conditions, 
                exploit international food aid, and discredit 
                governments for their inability to address basic 
                needs''.
            (7) Yemen imports 90 percent of its food, a majority of 
        which enters the country through the port of Hodeida, currently 
        a Houthi-controlled city.
            (8) In response to the August 2015 bombing of the port of 
        Hodeida, the United States Agency for International Development 
        funded, in part, the replacement of port cranes destroyed in 
        the bombing, though the replacements have not been delivered 
        because of current conditions on the ground despite being 
        essential to accelerate the rapid delivery of food from the 
        port.
            (9) Relief organizations are concerned that the closure of 
        the port of Hodeida for any reason could further exacerbate 
        famine in Yemen because the majority of humanitarian aid enters 
        the country through that port.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) effectively addressing the famine conditions in Yemen 
        is in the national security interests of the United States;
            (2) interventions supported by the United States to advance 
        national security should also consider the impact of military 
        engagement on humanitarian operations in such regions; and
            (3) bureaucratic procedures with respect to humanitarian 
        aid must be urgently improved and expedited to allow for an 
        expansion of the scale of the humanitarian operations providing 
        such aid.

SEC. 4. COORDINATION IN FAMINE-RISK AREAS.

    Section 5(a) of the Global Food Security Act of 2016 (22 U.S.C. 
9304(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (16), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (17), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(18) facilitate coordination between the United States 
        Agency for International Development, the United Nations Office 
        for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and United States 
        military personnel, with respect to famine-risk areas.''.

SEC. 5. UNITED STATES SECURITY AND HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT STRATEGY FOR 
              YEMEN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
Defense, in coordination with the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development, shall jointly submit to Congress 
a comprehensive report on United States security and humanitarian 
interests in Yemen, including each of the following:
            (1) The strategic objectives of the United States in Yemen, 
        including humanitarian support to civilian populations under 
        threat of famine, and the criteria for determining the success 
        of such objectives.
            (2) A description of efforts to coordinate civilian and 
        military efforts with respect to Yemen.
            (3) A description of the diplomatic strategy with respect 
        to regional partners seeking to end the civil war in Yemen.
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