S.Amdt. 896

SA 896. Mr. MURPHY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. ___. CONDITIONS FOR REFUELING SUPPORT OF THE SAUDI-LED
COALITION IN YEMEN.

(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act (in this section, the
``certification submittal deadline''), the Secretary of
Defense shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State,
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
certification whether or not the Government of Saudi Arabia
is taking demonstrable actions to do the following as part of
its military operations in Yemen:
(1) Reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian
objects in compliance with obligations under international
humanitarian law, including minimizing harm to civilians,
discriminating between civilian objects and military
objectives, and exercising proportional use of force.
(2) Facilitate the flow of critical humanitarian aid and
commercial goods, including commercial fuel and commodities
not subject to sanction or prohibition under United Nations
Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015).
(3) Target designated foreign terrorist organizations,
including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and affiliates of
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
(b) Additional Matters.--The Secretary of Defense shall
include with the certification under subsection (a) the
following:
(1) A description of efforts by the Government of Saudi
Arabia to avoid harm to civilians and civilian objects in
Yemen, including any changes to the training of its pilots,
its targeting methodology, and its strike approval process.
(2) An explanation of United States support or other
assistance to the Government of Saudi Arabia designed to
improve the training of its pilots, its targeting
methodology, and its strike approval process.
(3) A description of efforts by the Government of Saudi
Arabia to investigate incidents where civilians and civilian
objects have been harmed as a result of airstrikes and, when
necessary, efforts to hold responsible personnel accountable.
(4) Any other matters in connection with the certification
that the Secretary considers appropriate.
(c) Limitation on Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--If the Secretary of Defense does not
submit the certification described in subsection (a) by the
certification submittal deadline, or the Secretary certifies
that the Government of Saudi Arabia is not taking
demonstrable actions as described in that subsection, none of
the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be
obligated or expended after the certification submittal
deadline for the refueling of aircraft of Saudi Arabia or its
military coalition partners in Yemen for any mission to be
conducted in Yemen until the certification described in
subsection (a) is submitted to the appropriate committees of
Congress or the Secretary further certifies to the
appropriate committees of Congress that the Government of
Saudi Arabia is taking demonstrable actions as described in
that subsection, as applicable.
(2) Exception.--The limitation in paragraph (1) shall not
apply with respect to refueling aircraft of Saudi Arabia or
its military coalition partners in Yemen that are conducting
counterterrorism operations in support of United States
national security objectives.
(3) Waiver.--The Secretary of Defense may waive the
limitation in paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that
the waiver is in the national security interests of the
United States. The Secretary shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a written notification of the waiver,
including the justification for the waiver, not later than 48
hours after the issuance of the waiver.
(d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--

[[Page S5139]]

(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives.
______