More than a dozen House lawmakers, mostly Democrats, declined to endorse a resolution to condemn the “barbaric war” launched by Hamas terrorists against Israel.
The absence of their names from the resolution does not necessarily mean they won’t vote for its passage, but it puts them in a small class of their own that is out of step with more than 400 of their colleagues.
The lawmakers included 14 Democrats and one Republican: Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
The Democrats who didn’t sign on to the resolution were:
- Jamaal Bowman of New York.
- Cori Bush of Missouri.
- Andre Carson of Indiana.
- Al Green of Texas.
- Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.
- Gwen Moore of Wisconsin.
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
- Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
- Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands.
- Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
- Delia Ramirez of Illinois.
- Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi.
- Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
- Gregorio Sablan of the Northern Mariana Islands.
A spokesperson for Ms. Moore said the lawmaker “hasn’t seen the text yet” when asked about it late Wednesday.
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The resolution began circulating early in the week and was released to the media Tuesday by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. At that time, it had 390 co-sponsors and has since grown to 421.
The other members’ offices either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
The resolution states that its purpose is “standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.” It also condemns Iran’s support of terrorist groups like Hamas, reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself, mourns the loss of life and calls on Hamas to release all hostages.
Mr. Bowman, Ms. Bush, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Omar, Ms. Pressley and Ms. Tlaib and are members of Congress’ far-left “Squad,” some of whom have made pro-Palestinian statements in the wake of Hamas’ deadly attack that killed at 1,300 people in Israel, including at least 27 Americans. More than 1,500 people have been killed in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in Israel’s counterattack, according to Gaza officials.
Ms. Tlaib is the only Palestinian American member of Congress and has been criticized for not removing a Palestinian flag outside her office.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar downplayed the significance of his members not supporting the resolution and deflected the criticism by referencing the Republicans who oppose more aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“Oftentimes, people don’t sign on to the resolutions and vote for them,” the California Democrat told The Washington Times. “You have 100 Republicans who don’t support Ukraine aid and assistance as well. A focus on just a couple [members] probably isn’t the most accurate view.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael T. McCaul, the Texas Republican who was the lead author of the resolution, said he’ll be focused on the final vote tally rather than who co-sponsors it.
“I’m going to call for a recorded vote because we want to see who votes no on it, and I think that’s going to tell you the whole story,” Mr. McCaul told The Times.
The House will not be able to move forward with the resolution until House Republicans elect a new speaker.
Most of those who did not join the resolution did issue statements following Hamas’ attack condemning the violence. But Ms. Bush and Ms. Tlaib suffered backlash — including from Democrats — for their remarks.
Ms. Tlaib called for the U.S. to end foreign aid to Israel, which she suggested would begin “dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.”
Ms. Bush said the U.S. “must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid.”
President Biden, who has described Hamas’ actions as “pure evil,” said Wednesday in a meeting with Jewish community leaders that “silence is complicity.”
“I think you’ve already figured it out — I refuse to be silent,” he said.
A Gallup poll published in March before the Hamas terror attack found that Democrats sympathized more with Palestinians than with Israelis for the first time — 49% to 38% — but that favorable views of Israel remained high regardless of party affiliation.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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