To recap a bit, there is a resolution to be voted on (and likely passed) in the U.S. Senate today that calls for ending US assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war they are involved in in Yemen which has killed hundreds of civilians, caused the biggest outbreak of Cholera the world has ever seen and threatens massive starvation. However, as explained below in this excerpt from this HuffPost Article, Paul Ryan with help from five (5) Congressional “Democrats” have blocked any consideration of this resolution in the House, basically killing its chance of passage in 2018.
“GOP leadership [Speaker Paul Ryan] sneaked the Yemen provision into the farm bill rule on Tuesday night, enraging many Democrats and some Republicans critical of U.S. support for the Saudis. It appeared to be a pre-emptive move to protect the Trump administration’s Yemen policy because the Democratic-backed measure held privileged status, which meant it had to be considered, and its advocates were seeking to bring it up soon after expected passage of a similar bill in the Senate as a way to send an even stronger rebuke of the kingdom and a military campaign held largely responsible for the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”
But the Farm Bill Rule (with its sneaked in provision blocking debate and a vote on the Yemen Resolution) passed by a vote of 206 to 203, with surprisingly 18 Republicans voting against and even more surprisingly 5 “Democrats” voting for it (17 Republicans and 6 Democrats were absent at the time of this vote). So if these 5 “Democrats” had voted “no”, the Farm Bill Rule and its sneaked in Yemen provision would have failed, allowing the House to take up the Senate’s Yemen resolution this year. If that had happened, the likely result would have been that Ryan would of had to remove the Yemen provision from the Farm Bill Rule and hold another vote to pass the rule. So no significant consequences for the popular Farm Bill.
The five “Democrats” are Reps. Jim Costa (Calif.), Al Lawson (Fla.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Dutch Rupperberger (Md.), and David Scott (Ga.).
As MSNBC’s Chris Hayes stated last night, echoing our outrage:
"There is literally no domestic constituency of actual voters who are agitating for the US to continue facilitating the bombardment and starvation of Yemen,"
So what the hell made these 5 “Democrats” vote for the rule?
Well, we got a partial answer today from Jeff Stein's (WaPo) interview of Rep. Peterson;
Can you say CLUELESS!
These 5 Dems. should have known what they were voting on, and at least in one case, he didn’t. I know it got snuck in, but 18 Republicans and 185 Democrats who voted against the rule knew it was in there and knew if they defeated the rule they would simply have to vote on a new Farm Bill Rule without the Yemen provision.
Yes, I know that the Dems. can and will pass the Yemen Resolution in the House and send it onto the Senate in 2019 for passage, so this is really only a short delay. But its a delay that allows more innocent Yemenis to die every passing day.
I sure hope that Nancy calls these 5 Dems. into her office and educates them on the importance of this matter, as well as give them the good solid tongue lashing they deserve!
Thursday, Dec 13, 2018 · 10:07:03 PM +00:00
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Doctor Who
Thanks for the Rec. List! I am humbled.
What I still can’t understand about this vote is that 185 Democrats apparently got the message from House Dem. Leadership about the “poison pill” put in by Ryan, but these 5 Dems. seem clueless. Were they in the John at the time? I’m baffled?