Did you know that your senator is only one of five Democratic senators (Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Mark Warner of Virginia, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia) who voted to continue providing Saudi Arabia with weapons to bomb Yemen?
This week, we were in the Senators' offices calling for a change of heart. Please reinforce our message by urging your senator to call for a ceasefire and an end to the Saudi blockade of humanitarian aid, and to co-sponsor SJ Resolution 40, limiting US military sales to Saudi Arabia.
Back in June, a Senate vote to stop a weapons deal with the Saudis lost by 53-47. Thanks to these five Senators, we lost the chance to stop those weapons. If these five Democrats had voted with the Senate Democratic leadership and the majority of Senate Democrats, the Senate would have taken a historic step to block a Saudi arms deal.
Now the situation is even worse. Not only has the war escalated in recent weeks, but the Saudis have imposed a blockade that is keeping food and medicines from millions of people in desperate need.
With Saudi Arabia's war and blockade, Yemen is on the brink of famine and a million malnourished children in Yemen are at risk from cholera. The U.S. arming of Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen makes us complicit in Saudi Arabia's war crimes. Even Donald Trump has recently called on Saudi Arabia to “completely allow food, fuel, water, and medicine to reach the Yemeni people,” and for all parties to “immediately cease hostilities, reenergize political talks, and end the suffering of the Yemeni people.” If Donald Trump can call for that, certainly your senator should as well.
In peace & solidarity,
Ann, Ariel, Brienne, Haley, Jodie, Katie, Mariana, Mark, Mary, Medea, Nancy, Paki, Taylor, and Tighe
P.S. Invest in #Peace this holiday season! Holiday gift packages available at the CODEPINK Store! Also, CODEPINK has another wonderful trip to Cuba from February 25 to March 4. Join us. Tell your friends on Twitter and Facebook!
