FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  December 9, 2020 Contact: Erik Sperling, Executive Director, erik@justforeignpolicy.org, 202-448-2898 Just Foreign Policy: Biden Right to Choose Restraint-Minded Defense Secretary Over Longtime War Proponent WASHINGTON — Just Foreign Policy Executive Director Erik Sperling released the following statement as Members of Congress from across the political spectrum welcome President-elect Biden’s selection of Lloyd Austin for Secretary of Defense: President-elect Biden’s historic announcement of Lloyd Austin as his choice for Secretary of Defense — the first Af ..read more

The PDF version of the letter can be downloaded here:  12-03-19 Smith Yemen NDAA Letter   TEXT OF LETTER: December 3, 2019   The Honorable Adam Smith Chairman  House Armed Services Committee  2216 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515    Dear Chairman Smith: We thank you for your leadership in working tirelessly to bring an end to the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which is responsible for threatening tens of millions of innocent people with starvation, disease, and death. We appreciate your commitment to ensuring that the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 (NDAA) serves as a v ..read more

Thanks to the 40+ advocacy groups that signed this letter urging House Leadership support Amendment 339 during consideration of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, to end to US participation in the Saudi-UAE coalition’s war in Yemen. This letter was sent to House offices on Tuesday, July 9th at 10am. By ending US participation in the Saudi-UAE led coalition’s war in Yemen, Congress can prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from spiraling further out of control as it reasserts its Constitutional authority on matters of war and peace. Please help us spread the this message by doing the f ..read more

Congress Can End the Yemen War This Summer, Despite Trump By Hassan El-Tayyab – Published in Truthout June 8th, 2019 On April 16, President Trump vetoed one of the most historically significant pieces of legislation to emerge from Congress during his presidency: S.J.Res.7, the Yemen War Powers Resolution. This bill would end U.S. military involvement in the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) disastrous war on Yemen. A veto override vote in the Senate a few weeks later passed with a simple majority of 53-45, but did not achieve the 67 vote supermajority needed to overturn the veto. Th ..read more

Thanks to the 40+ advocacy groups that signed this letter urging an end to US participation in the Saudi-UAE coalition’s war in Yemen during consideration of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and Defense Appropriations this summer. This letter was sent to every House and Senate office on Tuesday June 4th at 10am. We are already making waves. Vox featured our effort in an article they published on June 4th, 2019! Read that here. By suspending the sale of arms and ending US participation in the Saudi-UAE led coalition’s war in Yemen, Congress can prevent a humanitarian catastro ..read more

Thanks to the 40+ national advocacy groups including Just Foreign Policy, Win Without War, Demand Progress, FreedomWorks, Common Defense, Indivisible, MoveOn, FCNL, Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and many others who signed this coalition letter urging Senators cosponsor S.J.Res.11 – Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Resolution of 2019. Given that the Trump administration’s actions and rhetoric has made clear it is considering use of force, it is imperative Congress show opposition to unilateral military action by th ..read more

The Senate veto override vote on the Yemen war powers resolution failed to get a 2/3rds majority. The final count ended up being 53-45. While this vote is a set back, our work to end US support for the Saudi war in Yemen is far from over. There is still much Congress can do to end the war. They have the power of the purse and can vote to defund the war and stop arm sales in the National Defense Authorization Act over the summer. They’ve also got the arms export control act and can use that to stop arms sales. Rep McGovern has a stand alone bill in the House to do that as well. There is also th ..read more

  1. It’s against international law for a country to seek regime change in another county. Recognizing the VZ opposition and supporting this coup attempt is illegal. 2. We must reject the coup in VZ and support dialogue being called for by the UN, Mexico, Uruguay, and the Vatican. If the VZ people want to have another election I would fully support that. But that’s up to the VZ people and not the Trump Administration. 3. We must take unauthorized military force completely off the table. It is illegal under Article 1 Section 8 of our constitution for anyone but Congress to declare war. Bolton ..read more

Hassan El-Tayyab was on Al Jazeera English talking about Trump vetoing the Yemen War Powers and next steps.  https://mediaview.aljazeera.com/video/292Q9miEcE …     The post Yemen War Powers Veto Analysis – Interview on Al Jazeera English appeared first on Just Foreign Policy ..read more

Thanks to the 14 undersigned advocacy groups including the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Indivisible, Open Society Policy Center, VoteVets, Common Defense, Win Without War, Foreign Policy for America, Demand Progress, Just Foreign Policy, and more who urge Chairman Engel and House Foreign Affairs Committee members to support a clean mark up of Rep Cicilline’s bill HR1004 – the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act. It was sent to every Democratic member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee April 8th at 5pm. See the text and full signer list below.   With the ..read more