Young Talks Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Border Security on Fox News
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) appeared on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom this morning to discuss the pending Yemen vote before the Senate, as well as the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, and funding for border security. Senator Young, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a leading voice in the Senate since March 2017 on addressing the humanitarian crisis and ending the civil war in Yemen, where approximately fourteen million people are at risk of starvation.
On Yemen, Senator Young said, “I’ve been working on this matter since March of 2017… we’re finally at a point where negotiations are going on, but we need to apply more pressure, which we’ll have an opportunity to do on the floor of the U.S. Senate today so that the Saudis negotiate in good faith.”
Regarding Iranian influence in Yemen, Senator Young said, “The only way to reduce Iranian influence in Yemen over the longer term is to make sure that this civil war – which is destabilizing that country – comes to an end… Right now it’s unstable and Iran and Al Qaeda and ISIS will continue to threaten not just their neighbors but even the American people if this continues. So today these votes will be important, and I will be… offering an amendment to the legislation we’re voting on today that [would prevent the resumption of] refueling assistance [for] Saudi aircraft, which have been targeting indiscriminately men, women, and children in the country of Yemen… that’s inconsistent with our values, it’s inconsistent with our national security interests, and that’s why folks back home understand this thing needs to be brought to an end.”
On the military budget and border security Senator Young said, “We absolutely have to secure our southern border. As a United States Marine who spent a number of months stationed on our southern border working on precisely this mission… I think it’s essential that Congress acts on this issue. I think the president is right to press on this… Chuck Schumer has shut down the government over a related issue of illegal immigration a number of months ago. I hope he doesn’t do so again. We need to work together in a bipartisan way to do exactly what the people of Indiana and the rest of America I would hope would want us to do here – secure that border and then solve the broader immigration challenges we face as a nation.”
Click here to watch Senator Young’s full interview.