MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Alli McCracken, CODEPINK National Director, 860-575-5692, [email protected]
Sam Ritchie, CODEPINK Communications Director, 347-452-0008, [email protected]
Activists are Part of Movement to Reject Saudi Weapons Deal, Protect Yemeni Civilians
When: Monday, September 19, 2016 at 12:00 noon
Where: Outside the Hart Senate building on Constitution Ave NE
WASHINGTON, September 16, 2016 – On Monday, September 19, CODEPINK will rally outside of the Senate with loud noisemakers to “make noise for Yemen” and to protest the impending $1.15 billion US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. Activists will gather in front of the Senate to protest with pots, pans, cowbells, and more. On Tuesday, September 20, the Senate is expected to vote on S. J. Res 39, a resolution to block the weapons deal, introduced by Senators Chris Murphy, Mike Lee, Al Franken, and Rand Paul. Activists strongly support the resolution and have been lobbying the Senate to vote ‘yes’ on it.
“As a Yemeni, I am protesting outside the Senate to bring the voices of those suffering at the receiving end of US-manufactured bombs, dropped on my home country,” said Bushra al-Fusail an organizer with CODEPINK. “The Saudi-led coalition has been committing war crimes in Yemen, and the United States should not enable these atrocities by selling them more weapons.”
“CODEPINK is an active member of a growing coalition that is opposed to selling more US weapons to Saudi Arabia,” said Alli McCracken, CODEPINK co-director. “The Saudi government has received over 100 billion dollars worth of weapons just during the Obama administration, and used them to commit war crimes in Yemen. Our coalition strongly supports S. J. Res. 39, introduced by Senators Murphy, Paul, Lee, and Franken, to block this latest $1.15 billion weapons deal.”
The rally will be held Monday, September 19, 2016 at 12:00 pm outside the Hart Senate Office Building on Constitution Avenue. For more information or to set up interviews with the activists, contact CODEPINK National Director Alli McCracken at [email protected] or 860-575-5692.
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