Adriano Espaillat: “I thank Chairman Engel for allowing me this opportunity. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 37, in which…”

“I thank Chairman Engel for allowing me this opportunity. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 37, in which Congress will finally reclaim its constitutional authority over the power to declare war and will finally address the terrible suffering happening in Yemen. For 4 years, we have aided the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, which has contributed to the gravest humanitarian crisis in the world, a man-made crisis that we could help alleviate, rather than contribute to. This is 4 years too long. The Trump administration has cozied up to the Saudis, ignoring the harm they cause in Yemen and their egregious violations of human rights. The President has expressed his personal affirmation for the Saudi Kingdom on several occasions, saying, ``They give us a lot of business,'' and, ``They've been a great ally to me.'' Trump and those opposed to this resolution have argued that our ties to Saudi Arabia are too precious and that our cooperation on counterterrorism and countering Iran would be jeopardized by this resolution. But in December, when discussing an earlier version of this resolution, Senator Lindsey Graham wrote the following: ``The fear that the Saudis will stop cooperating with the U.S. on terrorism or Iran isn't rational. Those threats pose as much of a danger to the Saudis as they do to America.…”