U.S. lawmakers expect votes on steps to
crack down on Saudi Arabia
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[November 14, 2018]
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers said
on Tuesday the Senate could vote within weeks on legislation to punish
Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen and the death of a journalist at its
consulate in Istanbul.
Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, said the Senate could vote before the end of the
year on a resolution seeking to cut off all assistance to Saudi Arabia
for the war in Yemen.
He said it was also possible that measures to prevent arms sales to
Riyadh would make it to the Senate floor.
"Senators are looking for some way to show Saudi Arabia the disdain they
have for what has happened, with the journalist, but also concerns about
the way Yemen has gone," Corker told Reuters as lawmakers returned to
Washington for the first time since last week's congressional elections.
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The killing of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi
consulate in Turkey has heightened concerns in Congress about the Riyadh
government, already raised by the war in Yemen, particularly over
civilians killed in Saudi attacks.
"It would be very hard, if a weapons sale came up, to keep it from being
undone, at least in the Senate," Corker said.
Gulf Arab states have been battling since 2015 to restore a government
driven out by the Houthis, Shi'ite Muslim fighters that Yemen's
neighbors view as agents of Iran. The war has killed more than 10,000
people and created the world's most urgent humanitarian emergency.
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![](../images/111418pics/news_t38.jpg)
U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) speaks with news media at the U.S.
Capitol building in Washington, U.S., July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Leah
Millis
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Corker said his staff had asked that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and CIA Director Gina Haspel come to
the Capitol as soon as late November for a classified briefing to
address concerns about Yemen and Khashoggi's death.
Trump's Republicans kept control of the Senate in the Nov. 6
elections but lost their majority in the House of Representatives to
Democrats.
Republicans will remain in charge of the House until the new
Congress is seated in January, however, and voted on Tuesday to stop
legislation in committee that would have ended U.S. support for the
war in Yemen.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi signaled that things could
change when Democrats take over, if not before.
"Real, immediate action must be taken by Congress to end this
horrific humanitarian crisis," she said in a statement.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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