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US: House Democrats Seek to Halt Support to Saudi Aggression on Yemen

US: House Democrats Seek to Halt Support to Saudi Aggression on Yemen
folder_openUnited States access_time2 years ago
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By Staff, WP 

The Washington Post reported that a new proposal from Democratic lawmakers would bar US firms from providing maintenance support to Saudi Arabia’s air force.

The move comes as an attempt to impose new limits on American involvement in the Gulf kingdom’s long aggression on Yemen.

The bill from Reps. Tom Malinowski [D-N.J.] and Jim McGovern [D-Mass.], chairman of the House Rules Committee, would prohibit the State Department for a period of two years from granting licenses to American companies that maintain aircraft “belonging to military units that carried out offensive airstrikes inside Yemen over the last year,” according to a copy of the measure obtained by The Washington Post. 

The bill would also suspend current licenses during that time.

Malinowski said: “When you’ve got Saudi aircraft … killing dozens and dozens of civilians in strikes that appear to be completely unjustifiable, using planes that are kept in the air under a contract approved by the US government, I think we have an obligation to look at what we’re doing.”

The proposal coincides with the anniversary of President Biden’s vow to cut off aid to offensive flights, a reflection of his administration’s attempt to put human rights at the center of its foreign policy.

It’s not clear what support the measure, also sponsored by Reps. Ted Lieu [D-Calif.], Colin Allred [D-Tex.] and Katie Porter [D-Calif.], will receive. Aides said one likely path would be to consider it for incorporation in next year’s annual military bill, which will begin to come together over the summer.

Because similar measures have previously passed the House, the bill’s sponsors hope it will garner renewed support.

A State Department spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the administration, declined to comment on the proposed legislation but noted threats to Gulf nations.

The bill would also require the administration to provide Congress quarterly updates on Saudi airstrikes in Yemen and would permit Biden the ability to waive the maintenance contract ban on a case-by-case basis.

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