pitner_13-15r.qxp_Congress Watch 7/8/22 7:39 AM Page 14
Strip”—an effort that the senators say is fueling a “new anti-Semitism.” They also sent a letter to Secretary of State Blinken, asking to rescind the $1 million in grants the State Department gives to “anti-Israel NGOs,” aka human rights organizations. On the legislative front of this effort, on June 14, Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), with no other co-sponsors, introduced S. 4389 titled “The Commission of Inquiry (COI) Elimination Act,” which calls for the “abolition of certain United Nations groups.” It was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. The bill—which is similar but not identical to H.R. 7223 (introduced in the House in March currently with 75 bipartisan co-sponsors) would withhold from the U.S. contribution to the UNHRC “25 percent of the amount budgeted for the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, unless the Secretary of State submits to Congress a certification that the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel has been abolished.” On June 29, the full House Appropriations Committee marked up and adopted the FY23 State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) bill. The language of the abovementioned bill was part of an amendment put forth by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (RPA), which prohibits the use of funds from supporting the U.N. International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel. The amendment was adopted by voice vote. Migration & Refugee Assistance (MRA) in the FY23 SFOPS bill stipulates that, “$5,000,000 shall be made available for refugees resettling in Israel.” This is a perennial earmark, although formerly a much larger amount, that started when large numbers of Jews were coming to Israel from the former Soviet Union. The report accompanying the bill notes that the committee recommendation clarified to include funds for refugees from the former Soviet Union, Ukraine and other Eastern European states, and other refugees resettling in Israel.” 14
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) on June 14, with no co-sponsors, introduced S. 4397, “Strengthening Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations (C-UAS) Partnerships Act.” Per Lankford’s press release, this is legislation is “to authorize the Secretary of Defense to bolster our work with our allies and increase training capacity in counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) with partners like Israel who also lead in this area.” There is speculation that it may have been introduced for the purposes of being added to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It’s referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
FURTHER CONSTRAINTS ON THE IRAN NEGOTIATIONS On May 24, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (RTN) and seven Republican cosponsors introduced S. 4290, “The Iran China Accountability Act” similar to H.R. 3465 under the same name with nearly identical text, introduced by Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) on May 21 with seven Republican co-sponsors. Both bills “impose certain requirements relating to the renegotiation or reentry into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or other agreement relating to Iran’s nuclear program, and for other purposes.” These other purposes include tracking receipt of funds from China to Iran and demanding that any agreement includes the certification of the “destruction of any and
IndextoAdvertisers Alamo Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Al-Mokha Coffee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover Capitol Hill Citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Kinder USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Land of Canaan Foundation . . . . . 22 Middle East Children’s Alliance . . . 37 Mondoweiss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. . . . 15 Palestinian Medical Relief Society . . . 9 Playgrounds for Palestine. . . . . . . . 40 Unitarian Universalists . . . . . . . . . . 25 United Palestinian Appeal (UPA) . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover Zakat Foundation of America . . . . 23
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
all nuclear and missile capabilities of Iran as well as all weapons infrastructure and offensive cyber activity.” It has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. With an eye toward Iran, Republicans in both the House and the Senate are leveraging the relations of the Abraham Accords for another purpose. On June 8, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and five bipartisan co-sponsors, introduced H.R. 7987, followed on June 9 by S. 4366, which was introduced by Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and three bipartisan co-sponsors, the “Deterring Enemy Forces and Enabling National Defenses Act of 2022,” aka the “DEFEND Act of 2022.“ It aims to “require the Secretary of Defense to seek cooperation with allies and partners in the Middle East to identify an architecture and develop an acquisition approach for certain countries in the Middle East to implement an integrated air and missile defense capability to protect the people, infrastructure and territory of such countries from cruise and ballistic missiles, manned and unmanned aerial systems and rocket attacks from Iran, and for other purposes.” It has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) proposed an amendment to the FY23 SFOPS bill that, “prohibits the use of funds to implement an agreement with Iran relating to the nuclear program unless such agreement has been submitted to Congress for review. The amendment also prohibits the use of funds to revoke the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.” The amendment was adopted by voice vote following the adoption of the second degree amendment by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).
UPDATE ON H.R. 6940 AKA ANTIFIRST AMENDMENT BILL The “Israel Anti-Boycott” bill introduced by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), has garnered five new co-sponsors, bringing the total number to 59 Republican House members. As a reminder, this bill prohibits participation by certain entities and individuals in AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022
