Pass the War Powers Legislation

The NYC-DSA Anti-War Working Group supports the War Powers legislation in the House and Senate that would direct the US to withdraw support from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. We are asking people to pressure their representatives to sign on.

Take Action!

These resolutions—H.J.Res.37 in the House and S.J.Res.7 in the Senate—correctly identify that US support for the Saudi coalition in Yemen has never been authorized by Congress and does not fall within the scope of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. Both bills invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which grants them privileged status, making it an effective tool for forcing a vote on an uncomfortable issue and addressing the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Yemen.

House bill, H.J.Res.37

An earlier version of H.J.Res.37 was introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna in 2016 and thwarted by Democratic House leadership in an effort to protect Obama’s legacy. After much work on the part of grassroots organizers and activists, and despite sabotage by former House speaker Paul Ryan, the latest version of the legislation finally passed in the House on Feb 13, 2019, by a vote of 248-177.

Senate bill, S.J.Res.7

The Senate-version of the bill, introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Mike Lee (R-UT), will come to a vote sometime next week (the second week of March 2019). Because of Republican gains in the Senate last November, we expect it to be a very close vote, coming down to a few swingable Republicans. If passed, this would be a huge step towards ending the bloody US-backed intervention in Yemen. It would also challenge the rigorously unexamined scope of the war on terror and the President’s authority in executing it.

Targets

Together with an informal coalition of organizations, we’ve identified a list of target senators, who could vote either way:

These are the senators who need the most pressure, but we are still encouraging everyone, in every state, to call their senators by dialing 1-833-STOP-WAR and ask them to vote “yes” on S.J.Res.7!

Call Script

An example script, which you can follow while making your call:

Hello, my name is _____, and I am one of your constituents. I am concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where a US-backed intervention has brought half the country to the brink of starvation. I am calling on Senator _____ to vote “Yes” on S.J.Res.7, the War Powers legislation introduced by Sens. Sanders, Lee, and Murphy, which will direct Trump to end support for Saudi-led hostilities in Yemen.

Further Action

If you would like to do more to advocate for this legislation, there are further steps you can take. We recommend organizing a meeting with other concerned constituents at your senator’s office—or, if they are not amenable to that, organizing a protest outside!

The Yemeni Alliance Committee has put together a helpful toolkit for supporting the effort to end US support for the war on Yemen.

We also encourage you to reach out to us at antiwar@socialists.nyc if you have any questions!