BREAKING: 56 Senators vote to pass Yemen resolution
To
Dear MoveOn member,
There's two huge news updates for you from our campaign to end U.S. military involvement in the Yemen conflict.
First news highlight: The Senate just overwhelmingly voted to officially pass the Yemen War Powers Resolution, introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy.1
Senators have chosen to move toward ending U.S. complicity in the Saudi-led attacks in Yemen, where the humanitarian crisis is growing worse by the day and an estimated 85,000 children have already died.
Unfortunately, the House refused to move forward because of a measure that blocked a House vote on the Yemen conflict—and specifically because Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer chose not to whip Democrats against this measure. This was a failure that shouldn't be repeated again.
With this momentum from a strong bipartisan Senate vote and a new Democratic Congress in three weeks, we have a real chance to finally end U.S. involvement in this war in January.
And let's be clear: this vote—with 56 senators voting in favor—is a huge grassroots victory powered by a broad movement, including MoveOn members like you. Check out what we accomplished together. 
Second news highlight: On the eve of the vote, the U.N. successfully brokered a ceasefire in the port city of Hodeida, which is vital to getting aid supplies into Yemen for the millions of people that are suffering.2
This same ceasefire agreement could have happened nearly two years ago, saving tens of thousands of lives.
As we've said from the beginning: Passing the war powers resolutions and holding Saudi Arabia accountable is not just to get the U.S. out of this unauthorized conflict. The external pressure that this will create, and has created, is vital to push the warring parties toward a peace agreement and an end to this horrific war.
And there is still work to do to ensure Congress continues to build this pressure in January.
When I sent a breaking news email last week following the huge preliminary vote in the Senate, I noted how far we had come in this fight. When this was a fringe issue, we laid 5,000 flowers in front of the Capitol Building to garner attention to the unfolding humanitarian crisis claiming the lives of thousands of children.
This was at a time when few in the media or D.C. could have imagined what happened today on the floor of the U.S. Senate was even possible.
With 56 Senators voting for the resolution, things are finally shifting. We have momentum on our side to pressure the warring parties—especially the Saudi coalition—to stop the war in Yemen and to build out a different type of U.S. global policy.
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Thanks for all you do.
–Iram, Schuyler, Mark, Erica, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Senate votes to end U.S. support for Saudi war in Yemen," CBS News, December 13, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/61603?t=23&akid=222154%2E38417624%2EUVwGOC
https://act.moveon.org/go/61603?t=23&akid=222154%2E38417624%2EUVwGOC
2. "Yemen's warring sides agree to ceasefire in critical port city," Axios, December 13, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/61590?t=25&akid=222154%2E38417624%2EUVwGOC
https://act.moveon.org/go/61590?t=25&akid=222154%2E38417624%2EUVwGOC
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