SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Citing a raging humanitarian crisis as well as constitutional law, more than three dozen legal scholars, human rights advocates, and former officials urged the U.S. Senate on Thursday to back a proposal that would end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen.
Yale Law School professor Bruce Ackerman, Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Tawakkol Karman, and former U.S. ambassador Stephen Seche were among the experts who sent a letter to every senator asking them to support a resolution proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) to remove U.S. forces from the conflict in Yemen, as no military action there has been authorized by Congress.
"We strongly encourage you and your Senate colleagues to co-sponsor and vote for S.J. Res 54, which defends the constitutional linchpin of Congress's sole authority to declare war and promises to help end what aid groups consider the worst humanitarian crisis in the world," the letter stated.
"For far too long, Congress under Democratic and Republican administrations has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war."--Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
The Saudi-led coalition, which has backed Yemen's government forces in their fight against the Houthi rebels since 2015, has been provided with weapons, refueling support, and intelligence by the U.S. as well as the U.K. and France.
The war has plunged Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, into a grave humanitarian crisis, with 8.4 million people living on the brink of famine.
Under the bipartisan resolution proposed last week, the Senate would direct "the removal of U.S. forces from such unauthorized hostilities within 30 days unless and until a declaration of war or a specific statutory authorization is enacted," wrote the experts.
As Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research wrote in a column this week, the letter is "historic in that it invokes the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which was legislated toward the conclusion of a long struggle to end U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. The law requires that Congress must have a debate and vote on ending involvement of U.S. military forces in unauthorized hostilities, if a member of Congress requests it."
"The founding fathers gave the power to declare war to Congress, the branch most accountable to the people," said Sanders last week when he introduced the proposal. "For far too long, Congress under Democratic and Republican administrations has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war."
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Citing a raging humanitarian crisis as well as constitutional law, more than three dozen legal scholars, human rights advocates, and former officials urged the U.S. Senate on Thursday to back a proposal that would end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen.
Yale Law School professor Bruce Ackerman, Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Tawakkol Karman, and former U.S. ambassador Stephen Seche were among the experts who sent a letter to every senator asking them to support a resolution proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) to remove U.S. forces from the conflict in Yemen, as no military action there has been authorized by Congress.
"We strongly encourage you and your Senate colleagues to co-sponsor and vote for S.J. Res 54, which defends the constitutional linchpin of Congress's sole authority to declare war and promises to help end what aid groups consider the worst humanitarian crisis in the world," the letter stated.
"For far too long, Congress under Democratic and Republican administrations has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war."--Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
The Saudi-led coalition, which has backed Yemen's government forces in their fight against the Houthi rebels since 2015, has been provided with weapons, refueling support, and intelligence by the U.S. as well as the U.K. and France.
The war has plunged Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, into a grave humanitarian crisis, with 8.4 million people living on the brink of famine.
Under the bipartisan resolution proposed last week, the Senate would direct "the removal of U.S. forces from such unauthorized hostilities within 30 days unless and until a declaration of war or a specific statutory authorization is enacted," wrote the experts.
As Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research wrote in a column this week, the letter is "historic in that it invokes the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which was legislated toward the conclusion of a long struggle to end U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. The law requires that Congress must have a debate and vote on ending involvement of U.S. military forces in unauthorized hostilities, if a member of Congress requests it."
"The founding fathers gave the power to declare war to Congress, the branch most accountable to the people," said Sanders last week when he introduced the proposal. "For far too long, Congress under Democratic and Republican administrations has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war."
Citing a raging humanitarian crisis as well as constitutional law, more than three dozen legal scholars, human rights advocates, and former officials urged the U.S. Senate on Thursday to back a proposal that would end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen.
Yale Law School professor Bruce Ackerman, Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Tawakkol Karman, and former U.S. ambassador Stephen Seche were among the experts who sent a letter to every senator asking them to support a resolution proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) to remove U.S. forces from the conflict in Yemen, as no military action there has been authorized by Congress.
"We strongly encourage you and your Senate colleagues to co-sponsor and vote for S.J. Res 54, which defends the constitutional linchpin of Congress's sole authority to declare war and promises to help end what aid groups consider the worst humanitarian crisis in the world," the letter stated.
"For far too long, Congress under Democratic and Republican administrations has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war."--Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
The Saudi-led coalition, which has backed Yemen's government forces in their fight against the Houthi rebels since 2015, has been provided with weapons, refueling support, and intelligence by the U.S. as well as the U.K. and France.
The war has plunged Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, into a grave humanitarian crisis, with 8.4 million people living on the brink of famine.
Under the bipartisan resolution proposed last week, the Senate would direct "the removal of U.S. forces from such unauthorized hostilities within 30 days unless and until a declaration of war or a specific statutory authorization is enacted," wrote the experts.
As Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research wrote in a column this week, the letter is "historic in that it invokes the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which was legislated toward the conclusion of a long struggle to end U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. The law requires that Congress must have a debate and vote on ending involvement of U.S. military forces in unauthorized hostilities, if a member of Congress requests it."
"The founding fathers gave the power to declare war to Congress, the branch most accountable to the people," said Sanders last week when he introduced the proposal. "For far too long, Congress under Democratic and Republican administrations has abdicated its constitutional role in authorizing war."