116th Congress to Include Seven Arab-American Representatives
SOURCE: WASHINGTON REPORT
BY: SHIRL McARTHUR
After the November mid-term elections that swung control of the House from Republicans to Democrats, there will be seven Arab Americans in the House of Representatives, four Republicans and three Democrats, including two Muslim women, Somali-American Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). In addition, Arab-American Chris Sununu was re-elected governor of New Hampshire. The new House will include 28 Jewish representatives, an increase of 5, and 8 Jewish senators, up from 7.
Omar and Tlaib, as well as newly elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), have all been openly critical of Israel, especially Israel’s human rights record. But their voices will likely be overwhelmed by the continuing congressional support of Israel. Although it has been mostly Republicans who have been unquestioning supporters of Israel no matter what, Jewish Democrats will chair five important House committees: Eliot Engel (NY), Foreign Affairs; Nita Lowey (NY), Appropriations; Jerrold Nadler (NY), Judiciary; Adam Schiff (CA), Intelligence, and John Yarmuth (KY), Budget.
KHASHOGGI DISAPPEARANCE PROMPTS BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL OUTRAGE
The apparent murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 prompted at least 15 letters from members of Congress—from both parties and from both the House and the Senate—urging strong U.S. reaction against the government of Saudi Arabia. Since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is widely suspected as being responsible for Khashoggi’s killing, perhaps the most important letter was that to President Donald Trump signed Oct. 10 by 22 senators, led by chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), respectively, which triggered an investigation under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The Global Magnitsky Act requires the president, upon receipt of a request from the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for an extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violation of internationally recognized human rights against an individual exercising freedom of expression, and to report to the committee within 120 days with a determination and a decision on the imposition of sanctions on that person or persons.
The mild sanctions imposed on Nov. 15 did little to satisfy critics of the Trump administration’s response to Khashoggi’s murder. Corker said he hopes for more action. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said, “We are pretending to do something and doing nothing.”
Then, on Nov. 20, after it was widely reported that the CIA had concluded, “with high confidence,” that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s murder, Trump issued a statement undercutting the CIA’s conclusion. He said, “Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information,” then emphasized what “a great ally” Saudi Arabia has been. To this Corker said, “I never thought I’d see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.”
NEW BILLS WOULD WITHHOLD MILITARY AID TO SAUDI ARABIA
On Oct. 16 Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) introduced H.R. 7070 to prohibit military aid to Saudi Arabia “pending a determination by the secretary of state regarding the status of Jamal Khashoggi.” Then, on Oct. 23 McGovern introduced the similar H.R. 7082, noting in a press release that the new bill is “stronger” than the previous one. H.R. 7082 has 31 co-sponsors, including McGovern. In the Senate, Paul on Oct. 11 introduced S. 3590 to prohibit military aid to Saudi Arabia until the secretary of state determines that Khashoggi is alive.
And on Oct. 31, five Republican senators, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), signed a letter to Trump urging him to “suspend talks related to a potential civil nuclear cooperation agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.” Previously, on Sept. 25, Reps. Bradley Schneider (D-IL) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) introduced H.R. 6894 “to require a report on Saudi Arabia obtaining nuclear fuel enrichment capabilities.”
Reaction to the Khashoggi killing also extended to Saudi military actions in Yemen. On Oct. 4, more than 50 representatives, led by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Walter Jones (R-NC) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him to provide all documentation justifying his Sept. 12 certification, as required by law, that the Saudi and UAE governments are undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and making good faith efforts to support diplomacy to end the war in Yemen. On Nov. 15 Menendez, with five co-sponsors, introduced S. 3652 “to support the peaceful resolution to the civil war in Yemen, to address the resulting humanitarian crisis, and to hold the perpetrators responsible for murdering a Saudi dissident.”
And the previously described H.Con.Res. 138, introduced in September by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), which would require the president to “remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress” has gained new interest. It now has 97 co-sponsors, including Khanna.
“HUMAN SHIELDS” BILL ADVANCES, MINUS OFFENDING PASSAGES
As the previous “Congress Watch” noted, the real purpose of S. 3257, the “STOP Using Human Shields” bill introduced in July by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), appeared to be to establish that responsibility for Israel’s killing any civilians in Gaza or Lebanon would fall 100 percent on Hamas or Hezbollah. As expected, the measure was reported to the full Senate by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) on Oct. 3. But before being reported, the SFRC amended it by replacing its text with one not including the objectionable sections. The amended bill now would simply sanction “foreign persons that are responsible for the use of civilians as human shields.” However, the sanctions described are mostly redundant, since the stated targets of the bill are members of Hamas and Hezbollah, and those organizations are already subject to U.S. sanctions. The bill has 52 co-sponsors, including Cruz.
The SFRC then took up H.R. 3342, the Human Shields bill passed by the House back in October 2017, replaced its text with the amended text of S. 3257, and sent it to the full Senate on Oct. 11, where it was passed by unanimous consent the same day. The amended H.R. 3342 was returned to the House for action on Oct. 12.
NEW LAW MAKES IT EASIER TO SUE PALESTINIANS—OR OTHERS
As reported in the previous issue, on Oct. 3 Trump signed, as P.L. 115-253, S. 2946, the “Anti-Terrorism Clarification” bill, introduced in May by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Cruz. The purpose of the law is to enable U.S. victims of alleged terrorism to sue in U.S. courts by establishing something called “personal jurisdiction.” According to the new law, “parties are deemed to have consented to personal jurisdiction” if they accept any form of U.S. economic aid, law enforcement aid, or non-proliferation aid. While the purpose of the law’s drafters was clearly to attack the PA or PLO, its wording could also apply to any country accepting any amount of the described aid (notice that the described aid does not include any aid provided to Israel). Effectively, then, this sacrifices, or at least limits, the use of aid as a foreign policy tool.
Positively, though, “Palestinian Partnership Fund” bills were introduced in the House and the Senate “to promote joint economic development and finance joint ventures between Palestinian entrepreneurs and companies in the U.S., Israel, and countries in the Middle East.” S. 3549 was introduced Oct. 4 by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), with three co-sponsors, and H.R. 7060 was introduced Oct. 12 by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Lowey.
EXPANDING U.S.-ISRAEL COOPERATION
On Sept. 26 Rep. Michael Conaway (R-TX), with five co-sponsors, introduced H.Con.Res. 139 “expressing the policy of the U.S. to pursue and enter into a military treaty alliance” with Israel. And on Sept. 28 Meadows, with 10 co-sponsors, introduced H.R. 6998 “to support security and law enforcement training and cooperation between the U.S. and Israel.”
New Bill Would Hope to Prevent War with Iran
On Sept. 26 Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced S. 3517, titled “Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran.” It would “limit the use of funds for kinetic military operations in or against Iran.” The bill has 11 co-sponsors, including Udall,
Only a couple of Iran sanctions bills have made any, limited, progress (see “Status Updates” box). H.R. 4238, the “Iranian Proxies Terrorist Sanctions” bill, introduced in November 2017 by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), still has 20 co-sponsors, including Poe. But a new one with the same title, S. 3431, was introduced Sept. 12 by Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and two co-sponsors.
NO DEFENSE SALES TO BAHRAIN, NEW AUMF MEASURE
On Oct. 10 Sen. Paul introduced S.J.Res. 65 disapproving “the proposed export to the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain of certain defense articles and services.” On Nov. 15 on the Senate floor, Paul moved to discharge the measure from the Foreign Relations Committee to enable it to be voted on. However, Corker moved to table Paul’s motion, sending it back to the Foreign Relations Committee, and Corker’s motion passed by a vote of 77-21.
The previously described measures authorizing the use of military force have made no progress, but a new one, H.Res. 1069, was introduced Sept. 13 by Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Jones. It would require “the President to seek congressional authorization prior to any engagement of the U.S. Armed Forces against any adversary.”