WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today delivered the following remarks on the House floor condemning the rule offered by House Republicans’ that blocked a debate on American military involvement in Yemen:

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, Mr. Speaker, and I rise in strong opposition to the rule because once again, the majority is stifling debate on a critical national security issue.

“The gentleman from California, Mr. Khanna, has tried again and again to bring debate forward in this body about where and how the United States military is engaged around the world.

“This is Congress’ responsibility, and not only has the majority abdicated that responsibility, they won’t even let us talk about. Resolutions dealing with war powers have special privileges in Congress, because these are such grave issues. That’s how Congress wrote the law.

“The other body is grappling with this problem, but the majority in this body wants to pretend these issues just don’t exist, and they strip those privileges away with this rule. That’s wrong. It’s a betrayal of the men and women who have served this country in uniform.

“We won’t ignore these issues in the next Congress. We should defeat this rule and have a real debate.”

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