Young Applauds Important and Overdue Diplomatic Surge to End Yemen Civil War and Address Historic Humanitarian Crisis
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) issued the statement below following Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s statement last night calling for an end to the conflict in Yemen. Senator Young’s statement also comes after Secretary of Defense James Mattis called for a ceasefire in Yemen within 30 days.
Senator Young said, “I have called for a U.S.-led diplomatic surge on Yemen since March of 2017, and I am pleased that the administration is finally and unambiguously drawing the line in terms of what we expect from all parties—including the Saudis. I look forward to supporting the efforts of Martin Griffiths and partnering with the administration to hold all parties to the conflict accountable.”
Young continued, “The ongoing civil war in Yemen is the primary cause of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, and the only way to make tangible and durable progress in preventing millions of deaths from famine is ending the misguided civil war. The longer this war continues, the more opportunities Iran will have to threaten our interests and the more dangerous terrorist groups will become. In order to make clear that Congress stands with the administration in bringing the civil war to an end, when the Senate returns to session, I plan to introduce legislation that would end U.S. air refueling of Saudi coalition aircraft in Yemen engaged in the civil war.”
Senator Young has been a leading voice in the Senate working to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, as detailed in an article by USA Today. On March 23, 2017, Senator Young led a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling for an urgent and comprehensive diplomatic effort to address the humanitarian crises in Yemen and three other countries. Senator Young hand-delivered the letter to Secretary Tillerson. On September 26, 2017, the United States Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution written by Senator Young and then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD) calling for an urgent and comprehensive diplomatic effort to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and three other countries. Over the last year and a half, Senator Young has utilized a variety of means to emphasize that the ongoing civil war in Yemen and impediments erected by Saudi Arabia to the delivery of humanitarian assistance have been a leading cause of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
Last month, Senator Young and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) wrote a Yemen op-ed published in the Washington Post. On October 10, Senators Young and Shaheen again teamed-up to lead a bipartisan letter to Secretary Pompeo asking him to clarify his certification related to Yemen.
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