Bipartisan passage of War Powers Act resolution is an important step for Congress to reassert its rightful authority over the use of military force

Senate also unanimously votes for resolution condemning Saudi crown prince for murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after joining the full Senate in voting 56 to 41 to pass a resolution to end the United States’ support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Udall has long called for Congress to assert its constitutional powers over the use of military force, is the sponsor of the Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act , and has led the effort in the Senate to call on President Trump and the Trump Organization to fully disclose their financial ties to the Saudi government.

“The Senate has come together in a bipartisan way to send a powerful and historic message – that the United States must live up to our values and end our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which is responsible for one of the most horrifying humanitarian disasters of this century. This is an important step toward to ending our complicity in a war that has caused unimaginable pain, suffering, and death among innocent civilians and children. And I hope Congress will continue to assert our rightful and Constitutional authority over the use of military force when it comes to other conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.

“This administration’s refusal to hold the Saudi Kingdom accountable for its atrocities is particularly reprehensible, especially when considering the government’s murder of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Kashoggi and the apparently deep, but still undisclosed, financial ties between the president’s personal business interests and the Saudi government. However, this is about much more than any one administration or any political party. No administration, Democratic or Republican, should be permitted to enter the United States into war without the approval of the American people and clear authorization from Congress.”