Bernie Sanders: Congress Must Assert Its Power and End American Involvement in Yemen

by Kyle Feldscher
April 01, 2018 09:52 AM

Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union” support for Saudi Arabia in the conflict — which has devolved into a proxy war between the Saudis and Iran — must end.

Congress needs to seize back its constitutional power to declare war by ending American involvement in Yemen’s civil war, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Sunday.

Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday American support for Saudi Arabia in the conflict — which has devolved into a proxy war between the Saudis and Iran — must end.

“You're looking at one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, famine, a million people suffering from cholera, people drinking filthy water,” he said, “and what I and Sen. (Mike) Lee and Sen. (Chris) Murphy have insisted is that the time is long overdue for the U.S. Congress to accept its constitutional responsibility for war making and not giving that over to the president and that's been the case for many, many years.

“We brought a resolution to the floor. We got 44 votes, which is a good start. If the U.S. is going to get involved in a war, it should not be the president who makes that decision. It is under the Constitution — the Congress has got to re-establish that authority.”

The civil war in Yemen has spiraled out of control in recent years, with Saudi-backed forces battling Iranian-backed forces.

Last week, Iranian-backed forces fired missiles from the Yemen border into the Saudi capital of Riyadh.