Defense News: Schumer & Pelosi have 9 days to end the Yemen war

Defense News says Schumer & Pelosi have 9 days to end the Yemen war in 2019.
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Defense News reports that Congressional leaders hope to draft a compromise House-Senate conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act [“NDAA”], the bill that funds the Pentagon and its contractors, by September 19. That would imply that there’s at most 9 days left to convince the Democratic Congressional leadership to make ending U.S. participation in the Saudi war in Yemen a top priority in House-Senate negotiations. The House voted to prohibit further U.S. participation in the war when it passed the Smith-Khanna-Schiff-Jayapal amendment to the NDAA. The Senate hasn’t yet voted on this amendment, because Mitch McConnell hasn’t yet allowed it to do so. 

Because the NDAA funds the Pentagon and its contractors like Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, it is uniquely perceived in Washington as a “must pass,” “veto proof” bill. Congress already voted to prohibit U.S. unconstitutional participation in the Saudi war in Yemen when it passed the Bernie Sanders-Mike Lee-Chris Murphy Yemen War Powers Resolution, but Trump vetoed that bill. Congress already voted to stop arming the Saudi war in Yemen when it passed resolutions of disapproval against Trump’s Saudi-UAE arms deals, but Trump vetoed those as well. What’s different about the NDAA is that it’s very hard for Trump to veto, because if Trump vetoed the bill then the Pentagon would not get our tax dollars until Congress and Trump came to agreement. Unless Trump has stopped caring about keeping our tax dollars flowing to Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin – who believes that? - it’s very unlikely that Trump will veto the bill, even if Congress uses the bill to end the Yemen war. It’s very unlikely that Trump will want to go on TV and explain to Americans that he had to veto the bill that “funds the troops” because he insists on continuing to unconstitutionally help the Saudi regime starve Yemeni children to death. 

As the Washington Post reported, a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Adam Schiff, Mark Pocan, and Matt Gaetz is urging Congressional leaders to include the Smith-Khanna amendment in the version of the NDAA it sends to Trump. “Now we must use Congress’s power of the purse to block every nickel of taxpayer money from going to assist the Saudi dictatorship as it bombs and starves civilians in Yemen,” Sanders said.

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed formally heads the Senate Democratic side of the negotiations, because he is the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Reed has promised activists in Rhode Island that he will make ending the Saudi war in Yemen a top priority in the negotiations. But so far, Majority Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi have no made public commitment like Jack Reed has to prioritize ending the Yemen war on NDAA. 

This is why we need to pull out the stops in the next 9 days to pin down Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi on making public commitments like the one Jack Reed made. Some people may try to tell you that you have no say in this if you don’t live in New York or San Francisco. But Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are now acting in their capacity as leaders of all Democrats in America, so it must be the case that we all have a say. 

Their phone numbers are below. When you reach a staffer or leave a message, you can say something like: 

”I urge you to make a public commitment like the one Jack Reed made to prioritize ending the Saudi war in Yemen on NDAA.” 

Please report your phone calls to Schumer and Pelosi in the comments below this post at Daily Kos to inspire others to call. And if you get or find a commitment from Schumer or Pelosi to make ending the Yemen war a priority on NDAA like the one Jack Reed made, please note that in CAPS.

Chuck Schumer: 

DC: (202) 224-6542

Albany: (518) 431-4070

Binghamton: (607) 772-6792

Buffalo: (716) 846-4111

NYC: (212) 486-4430

Rochester: (585) 263-5866

Syracuse: (315) 423-5471

Nancy Pelosi:

DC: (202) 225-4965

San Francisco: (415) 556-4862

Thanks for all you do to help U.S. foreign policy become more just,

Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy



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