REP. LIEU STATEMENT ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF NDAA WITH LIEU PROVISIONS ON YEMEN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) issued the following statement in response to House passage of the Conference Report to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. The final version of the bill includes two key provisions authored by Congressman Lieuthat will bring critical congressional oversight to the conflict in Yemen for the first time. Sec. 1265 requires the Departments of Defense and State to report to Congress on whether the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are abiding by their commitments in Yemen. Sec. 1275 requires the President to submit a detailed report that contains a military and diplomatic strategy for Yemen.

"Today, we achieved an important victory by bringing critical oversight to the role of the United States in a disastrous foreign conflict. Despite years of documentation that the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen has committed what look like multiple war crimes, the Trump Administration has refused to answer basic questions about the coalition's track record. Instead, the Administration has continued selling them weapons.

I am pleased the annual Department of Defense authorization bill includes the provisions I wrote to require the Administration to be accountable for the coalition's conduct and articulate a military and diplomatic strategy for Yemen. This is long overdue. We must never allow U.S. military assistance in a conflict if we do not have confidence in our partner's willingness and ability to avoid civilian casualties and prevent humanitarian disaster. As we approach the three-year mark of a military conflict that has left over 15,000 civilians dead and created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, it is far past time we have a diplomatic strategy to end it."

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