WASHINGTON, D.C. – After voting to direct the President to end unauthorized U.S. military assistance to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement:
“Today, the Senate finally took an important step towards reclaiming and fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to determine whether to declare war and send our brave men and women into harm’s way. For far too long, Congress has ceded that solemn responsibility, allowing the executive branch to commit our troops in engagements around the world without public debate or congressional approval. That has had painful consequences, particularly in Yemen, where the Saudis are responsible for perpetuating one of the worst humanitarian situations in the world. Untold numbers have been killed, starved to death and have died of cholera. With this in mind and recognizing Saudi Arabia’s clear responsibility for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Kashoggi, the Senate was right to send a message today that American military assistance for this coalition must end.”
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Since she was elected to the Senate, Duckworth has urged her colleagues to replace our outdated Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs), which set the legal framework, parameters and constitutional basis for our ongoing military engagements. Last September, Duckworth joined a bipartisan group of Senators to urge the Senate to debate a new AUMF and she penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal chastising her colleagues for neglecting their constitutional responsibility to debate a new AUMF, arguing that failing to act enables a seemingly endless conflict overseas without an honest, sober accounting of the true costs of war.
