[pjw] INFO: Letter to Oregon congressional delegates: End war on Yemen

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters
We sent the below letter to all 7 elected federal representatives of 
Oregon today. FYI, it is not an easy thing to do-- none have email 
addresses, so we had to use their web forms to submit everything. Some try 
to screen out by zip code, which is off-putting to an organization like 
ours which has supporters all over the state.

Anyway, feel free to share with your contacts, your groups, and your reps 
if you agree with what we wrote.
--dan h
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

To Oregon's Congressional delegation: Representatives Earl Blumenauer, 
Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg Walden and 
Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden:

We are writing to urge you to put an end to the US war in Yemen and 
support for the Saudi-led war there.

In December, all five members of Oregon's House delegation voted to 
support H. Res. 599, calling for a political solution and pointing out 
that there is no Authorization for Use of Military Force in Yemen. That 
Resolution passed 366-30.

In June, both Senators voted on S. Res. 42, which called to stop the sale 
of arms to Saudi Arabia which allow it to continue conducting the war. 
Unfortunately, that Resolution failed 47-53.

You are all aware that the war in Yemen has brought about one of the 
worst humanitarian crises on the planet. Our group watched for many years 
as Iraq suffered a similar fate under sanctions and bombs-- in that case, 
launched by a coalition led by our own country.

Jennifer Newstead, a nominee for legal advisor to the State Department, 
admitted that US law prohibits American assistance to countries which 
block the flow of humanitarian aid (Foreign Policy, December 19). Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of State Tim Lenderking said there is no military 
solution to the war in Yemen, calling instead for "aggressive diplomacy" 
(Al Jazeera, December 22).

Since our entire delegation has already shown its support for the people 
of Yemen, Peace and Justice Works calls upon all seven of you to take the 
following steps:

1) Make this matter a focus of any public appearances, especially media 
appearances.

2) Take steps to strengthen the resolutions by creating or supporting 
legislation (such as H. Res. 81) that would stop:
a) the flow of arms to Saudi Arabia,
b) the use of American aircraft to help refuel Saudi planes,
and
c) the use of US drones and ground troops (confirmed by NBC on December 
20), which only add more fuel to the flames of conflict in Yemen.

3) Ensure humanitarian aid is supported financially and can find its way 
to the Yemeni people.

We look forward to your prompt responses.

Dan Handelman, Wayne Haythorn and other members of
Peace and Justice Works