[Pages S2152-S2158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

MOTIONS TO DISCHARGE--S.J. RES. 33 AND S.J. RES. 26

Mr. SANDERS. Pursuant to section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control
Act, I move to discharge the Committee on Foreign Relations from
further consideration of S.J. Res. 33 and S.J. Res. 26 relating to the
disapproval of the proposed foreign military sales to the Government of
Israel of certain defense articles and services.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the titles.
The senior assistant executive clerk read as follows:

Motion to discharge from the Committee on Foreign Relations
(S.J. Res. 33) providing for congressional disapproval of the
proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of
certain defense articles and services.
Motion to discharge from the Committee on Foreign Relations
(S.J. Res. 26) providing for congressional disapproval of the
proposed foreign military sale to Israel of certain defense
articles and services.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
debate the motions concurrently with all other provisions from
yesterday's order remaining in effect.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Campaign Finance

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, let me begin by telling the American
people something that they already know, and that is, as a result of
the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, we now have a
corrupt campaign finance system that allows billionaires to buy
elections and to influence major pieces of legislation. That, I think,
is not a secret to the American people.
If you are a Republican and you vote against the Trump-Musk
administration in one way or another, you have got to look over your
shoulder and worry that you are going to get a call from Elon Musk, the
wealthiest man in the world, and he will tell you that if you vote
against what he wants, he will spend unlimited amounts of money to
defeat you in the next election. That is not a great secret. That is
what Musk has been saying publicly.
If you are a Democrat, you have to worry about the billionaires who
fund AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. If you vote
against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his horrific war
in Gaza, AIPAC will punish you with millions of dollars in
advertisements and other ways to see that you are defeated.
AIPAC's PAC and super PAC spent nearly $127 million combined during
the 2023-2024 election cycle, according to the Federal Election
Commission. And I must confess that AIPAC has been successful. Last
year, they defeated two Members of the U.S. House who opposed providing
military aid to Netanyahu's extremist government.
Now, given all of that, I would hope that Democrats and Republicans
who understand that they were elected to protect the interests of their
constituents, not billionaire campaign contributors, would support the
ending of Citizens United and would move us toward public funding of
elections so billionaires could not continue to control the political
and legislative process.
Further, I would hope that both parties would move to end super PAC
funding in their primaries, keep the super PAC money, Musk money, AIPAC
money out of the Democrat and Republican primaries.
I would hope that that would be the case so that we can, once again,
become a government of the people, by the people, for the people, and
not a government run by the billionaire class.

Israel

Mr. President, I trust that every American and certainly every Member
of the Senate understands that Hamas, a terrorist organization, began
this terrible war with its barbaric October 7, 2023, attack on Israel,
which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages.
The International Criminal Court was correct in indicting the leaders
of Hamas as war criminals for those atrocities. Clearly, Israel had the
right to defend itself against Hamas.
But most Americans also understand that while Israel had a right to
wage war against Hamas, it did not and does not have the right to wage
war against the entire Palestinian population, and, tragically, that is
exactly what we have seen over the last year and a half.
Let us be clear: Prime Minister Netanyahu's racist and extremist
government has waged an all-out, barbaric war against the Palestinian
people and made life unlivable in Gaza.

Within Gaza's population of just 2.2 million people, more than 50,000
have been killed and more than 113,000 have been injured, 60 percent of
whom are women, children, and elderly people. That is 7.4 percent of
the population of Gaza killed or wounded--7.4 percent in a year and a
half.
If those same percentages were applied to the United States, in terms
of a horrible war where our people were killed or wounded, it would
mean that over 25 million Americans would have been killed or wounded.
In total, since this war began, 15,000 children--children--in Gaza
have been killed, and today there are some 17,000 orphans. But it is
not just the dead and the wounded.
Israel's indiscriminate bombardment has damaged or destroyed two-
thirds of all structures in Gaza, including 92 percent of the housing
units--as you can see from this photo. Ain't a whole lot left. I don't
know why they need any more bombs; they basically destroyed the entire
area. Nothing much left to be destroyed.
Almost no part of Gaza has been left unscathed. Most of the
population now is living in tents or other makeshift structures. Most
of the territory's hospitals and primary healthcare facilities have
been bombed, leaving virtually all Gazans without basic medical care at
a time when bombs are flying and people are being wounded, and think
about what that means. I have met repeatedly with doctors, American
doctors and others, who have served in Gaza, and they are treating
hundreds of patients a day without electricity, without anesthesia,
without clean water, including dozens of children arriving with gunshot
wounds to the head. I have seen the photographs and the videos.
Gaza's civilian infrastructure has been totally devastated, including
almost 90 percent of water and sanitation facilities. Most of the roads
in Gaza have been destroyed or made impassable. Gaza's educational
system has been obliterated. Children are not going to school.
According to the World Bank, more than 2,000 educational facilities
ranging from kindergartens to universities have been destroyed.
Hundreds of schools have been bombed, as has every single one of Gaza's
12 universities. There has been no electricity in Gaza for 17 months,
no electricity.
Put simply, Netanyahu and his extremist government have killed or
wounded over 7 percent of Gaza's population and has turned Gaza into a
wasteland unfit for human life. That is what has been going on over the
last year and a half.
In terms of where we are today, right now, the Netanyahu government
broke the cease-fire 2 weeks ago, endangering the well-being of the
remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Further, in the last 2 weeks, they have intensified their assaults
against the Palestinian people. According to UNICEF, since Netanyahu
broke the cease-fire, more than a thousand people have been killed,
including over 300 children, and more than 600 children have been
wounded in the last short period of time.
UNICEF says that most of these children were killed while sheltering
in makeshift tents or damaged homes. Just in the last 24 hours, 97 more
people have been killed in Gaza.
Since Netanyahu broke the cease-fire, even more aid workers, the
people whose job it is to try to help people who have been wounded or
hurt, more aid workers have been killed, putting the total of over
400--400--aid workers have been killed since the war began.
Earlier this week, the United Nations announced that they have
recovered the bodies of 15 emergency aid workers who were killed by
Israeli forces while wearing their emergency responder uniforms and
then dumped into a mass grave in southern Gaza.
They were buried alongside the destroyed emergency vehicles, clearly
marked ambulances, a fire truck, and a U.N. car.
With the resumption of bombing, hundreds of thousands of Gazans are
once again being forcibly displaced by bombing and evacuation orders.

[[Page S2153]]

This week, Israeli authorities issued displacement orders for most of
Rafah, where about 150,000 people were estimated to be sheltering.
Think about what all of this means in human terms. Throughout this
war, millions of desperately poor people, the people in Gaza, by and
large, are extremely poor. They have been repeatedly driven from their
homes. They have been forced to pick their way through a demolished
landscape again and again with nothing more than the clothes on their
backs.
Families have been herded into so-called safe zones, only to face
continued bombardment.
The children of Gaza--Mr. President, this is just one picture--have
suffered a level of physical and emotional torture that is almost
beyond comprehension and that will clearly stay with each and every one
of them for the rest of their lives.
These children are hungry. They are thirsty. It is hard to get clean
water. They have been denied healthcare. And they have witnessed the
death of their parents, their family members, their homes, and
virtually everything around them. And they have been picked up and
moved from one place to another. All the while, drones are on top of
them, shooting or photographing what they are doing.
Throughout this war, Israel's restrictions on humanitarian aid have
left hundreds of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of
children, facing malnutrition and starvation--malnutrition and
starvation. Children have literally starved to death while aid just sat
a few miles away, blocked by Israeli forces.
The U.N., the United States, and every aid organization working in
Gaza has been clear throughout this war: Israel's unreasonable and
unnecessary restrictions on humanitarian aid have contributed to
massive death and profound suffering.
But as bad as the last year and a half has been, at least Israel let
some--some, not enough, but some--aid through. But what is happening
right now is unthinkable.
Today, it is 31 days and counting with absolutely no humanitarian aid
getting into Gaza--nothing--no food, no water, no medicine, no fuel for
over a month. That is a clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, the
Foreign Assistance Act, and basic human decency.
It is a war crime. You don't starve children. And it is pushing
things toward an even deeper catastrophe.
Earlier this week, 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme
were forced to close because they ran out of flour and cooking gas. The
U.N. is still trying to deliver its remaining stocks of food already in
Gaza but says ``that the situation remains extremely critical since the
cargo closure of the crossings almost a month ago.''
All of this is unconscionable. What we are talking about is a mass
atrocity, and what makes it even worse, and why I am here today and why
I have introduced the resolutions that we will soon be voting on, is
that we, as Americans, are deeply complicit in all that is happening in
Gaza.
This is not some terrible event. This is not an earthquake in
Myanmar. It is not something that we had nothing to do with. We are
deeply complicit in all of this death and suffering.
Last year alone, the United States provided $18 billion in military
aid to Israel and delivered more than 50,000 tons of military
equipment. It is American bombs and American military equipment that
are being used to destroy Gaza, kill 50,000 people, and injure over
110,000 people. We cannot hide from that reality.
If we condone the barbarism that is taking place in Gaza today, we
will have no standing in the world to condemn the horrors and war
crimes that other countries may commit. You are not going to be able to
look at China or Russia or Saudi Arabia or any other country and say:
Look, how terrible. Look at what they are doing to the children, to the
women, to innocent people.
We will have no credibility because they will come back and say:
Really? You are really concerned about what China, Russia, Saudi Arabia
may be doing? Hey, take a look at what you supported in Gaza and the
billions of dollars in aid you gave to Netanyahu's government.
Today is the day to stand up to barbarism in Gaza and to do our best
to prevent future barbaric acts all over the world.
It is no secret to anyone how these U.S. weapons have been used.
Israel has bombed indiscriminately, killing civilians, journalists--a
whole lot of journalists have been killed--paramedics, children, and
humanitarian workers in record numbers. They have used massive 2,000-
pound bombs in densely populated Gaza, despite the fact that studies
show that 90 percent of victims of explosive weapons used in a
populated area are civilians. These bombs have a blast radius of more
than 350 meters, yet Israel has dropped them into crowded apartment
buildings, killing hundreds of civilians, to take out a handful of
Hamas fighters.
All of that is illegal and immoral and against American law.
The Foreign Assistance Act, which is what we are talking about today,
and the Arms Export Control Act, what we are talking about today, are
very clear. The United States cannot provide weaponry to countries that
violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S.
humanitarian aid.
According to the U.N., much of the international community, and every
humanitarian organization on the ground in Gaza, Israel is clearly in
violation of these laws. Under these circumstances, it is illegal for
the U.S. Government to provide Israel with more offensive weaponry. It
is simply against our laws.
Despite all of that, in the last month, the Trump administration has
announced its intention to transfer some $12.5 billion more in
offensive weapons--not defensive weapons, offensive weapons--to
Netanyahu's government, in clear violation of U.S. law. And that is why
we are here today.
Joint resolutions of disapproval--which is what we are dealing with
right now--are Congress's tool to enforce American law. Today, we will
vote on two resolutions to block two of the most egregious of these
Trump administration offensive arms sales, which would provide almost
$9 billion more in heavy bombs and other munitions to Netanyahu,
including more than 35,000--35,000--massive 2,000-pound bombs that have
killed so many civilians.
The first resolution, S.J. Res. 33, would block a sale of over $2
billion for 35,000 MK-84 2,000 bombs and 4,000 I-2000 penetrator
warheads.
The second resolution, S.J. Res. 26, would block almost $7 billion
for 2,800 500-pound bombs, 2,100 small-diameter bombs, and tens of
thousands of JDAM guidance kits.

All of these systems have been linked to dozens of illegal
airstrikes, including on designated humanitarian sites, resulting in
thousands of civilian casualties. These strikes have been painstakingly
documented by human rights monitors. There is no debate.
And none of these systems are defensive. None of them are necessary
to protect Israel from incoming drone or rocket attacks.
For those of my colleagues who may be ambivalent, not quite sure how
they want to vote on these resolutions, let me say a word about how the
Trump administration is ignoring the law in advancing these arms sales
in terms of the process.
Unlike Biden, whose policies on Gaza I strongly opposed--and I stood
right here, at this location, strongly opposing what Biden was doing in
terms of military aid to Israel. But unlike Biden, President Trump is
trying to circumvent Congress with these transfers, ignoring the
Foreign Assistance Act by issuing a bogus emergency declaration--an
emergency declaration to bypass congressional review.
There is no emergency to justify cutting Congress out of the process.
In fact, some of the systems the Trump administration claims are part
of this emergency sale have not yet been produced.
And this is also part of a broader Trump administration effort to cut
Congress out of the arms sales process.
It is no great secret that Congress is way out of touch with where
the American people are on issue after issue--whether it is the
economy, whether it is healthcare, whether it is climate--whatever it
may be. Everybody knows. Congress is way out of touch, and the billions
of dollars that we are providing to the Netanyahu extremist government
is just one more example of how

[[Page S2154]]

out of touch we are with the American people.
According to a recent Economist/YouGov poll in March, just 15 percent
of the American people support increasing military aid to Israel--15
percent--while 35 percent support decreasing military aid to Israel or
stopping it entirely.
To my Democratic colleagues, I would mention that in that same poll,
just 8 percent of Democrats support increasing military aid to Israel.
And, I think, as Democrats have held town meetings over the last year,
they have heard from those people. Eight percent of Democrats support
what we are doing now, more military aid for Israel. Forty-seven
percent support decreasing military aid to Israel or stopping it
entirely--8 percent, increasing, Democrats; 47 percent, decreasing
military aid.
Among Republicans, 9 percent are for decreasing military aid and 15
percent for stopping all--24 percent for stopping or decreasing all
military aid.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed this poll in
the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

[From the Economist/YouGov Poll, March 16-18, 2025--1618 U.S. Adult
Citizens]

MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL--DO YOU FAVOR THE U.S. . . .?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gender Race Age Income
Total ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Male Female White Black Hispanic 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ <50K 50-100K 100k +
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increasing military aid to Israel 15% 18% 13% 18% 8% 12% 8% 14% 17% 19% 15% 14% 17%--
-...............................
Maintaining the same amount of 28% 29% 27% 28% 28% 27% 23% 24% 29% 36% 27% 27% 32%
military aid to Israel..........
Decreasing military aid to Israel 14% 15% 14% 16% 11% 12% 13% 8% 16% 21% 14% 16% 17%
Stopping all military aid to 21% 24% 19% 21% 20% 24% 31% 29% 16% 10% 20% 26% 18%-
Israel-.........................
Not sure......................... 21% 14% 28% 18% 33% 25% 25% 24% 21% 14% 23% 18% 16%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals....................... 99% 100% 101% 101% 100% 100% 100% 99% 99% 100% 99% 101% 100%
Unweighted N................. (1,615) (739) (876) (1,090) (205) (206) (314) (348) (570) (383) (625) (477) (358)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024 Vote Reg Ideology Party ID Party ID with Leaners
Total ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harris Trump Voters Lib Mod Con Dem Ind Rep Lean D Ind Lean R
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increasing military aid to Israel 15% 7% 31% 19% 7% 11% 28% 8% 10% 27% 7% 4% 27%--
--..............................
Maintaining the same amount of 28% 24% 36% 30% 18% 32% 36% 23% 27% 33% 21% 30% 33%
military aid to Israel..........
Decreasing military aid to Israel 14% 23% 8% 14% 21% 16% 10% 19% 15% 9% 20% 15% 9%
Stopping all military aid to 21% 25% 11% 19% 37% 17% 14% 28% 21% 15% 29% 16% 16%-
Israel-.........................
Not sure......................... 21% 21% 14% 18% 18% 24% 12% 22% 26% 15% 22% 34% 14%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals....................... 99% 100% 100% 100% 101% 100% 100% 100% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99%
Unweighted N................. (1,615) (695) (573) (1,455) (505) (494) (506) (554) (591) (470) (718) (290) (607)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Mr. MORENO assumed the Chair.)
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, according to a J Street poll of Jewish
voters in November, 62 percent of American Jews support withholding
``shipments of offensive weapons like 2,000-pound bombs until Prime
Minister Netanyahu agrees to an American proposal for an immediate
ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for a release of Israeli hostages.'' And
71 percent of Jewish voters support increasing humanitarian aid to the
Palestinians.
Finally, as unbelievably horrific as the situation in Gaza is and has
been for the last year and a half, there is another development that
could make the situation even worse. It is hard to believe. It really
is, but it could. In recent months, President Trump and Israeli
officials have openly talked about forcing out--forcibly expelling--the
2.2 million people who live in Gaza, pushing them out to make way for
what Trump calls a riviera, some billionaire's playground.
Now, I think some people who may be watching this think: This can't
be true. You must be kidding. You must be lying. This is
inconceivable--pushing 2.2 million desperate people out of where they
live to create a playground for billionaires.
But a few years ago, as some may recall, Trump's son-in-law Jared
Kushner said that he felt--Jared Kushner--``Gaza's waterfront property
could be very valuable,'' floating the idea of redeveloping it. I think
that many people at the time thought that was a weird and terrible
joke. But it turns out that his father-in-law, Donald Trump, took it
seriously. Here is what Trump has said repeatedly in recent months:

The U.S. will take over the Gaza strip and we will do a job
with it.
We're going to take over that piece that we're going to
develop it.
I do see a long-term ownership position. . . . Everybody
I've spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning
that piece of land.

I guess he didn't speak to too many Palestinians who live on that
land.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote:

The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by
Israel at the conclusion of fighting.

What about the Palestinians who have lived in Gaza for their entire
lives? Trump said:

I don't think people should be going back to Gaza . . .
They lived like you're living in hell. Gaza is not a place
for people to be living.

Gaza could become, again, Donald Trump:

The Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something
that could be so [valuable] this could be so magnificent.

Yes, throw 2.2 million people who have suffered incalculably; throw
them out of the land in which they live in order to create a
billionaire's playground.
There is a name and a term for forcibly expelling people from where
they live. It is called ``ethnic cleansing.'' It is illegal. It is a
war crime.
Mr. President, the United States must not continue to be complicit in
the destruction of the Palestinian people. History will not forgive us
for this. The time is long overdue for us to tell the Netanyahu
government that we will not provide more weapons of destruction for
them. Instead, we must demand an immediate cease-fire, surge in
humanitarian aid, the release of the hostages, and the rebuilding of
Gaza for the Palestinian people.
For all of these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote yes on these
two resolutions which would prevent illegal and immoral arms sales to
Netanyahu, would uphold congressional power and the rule of law, and
would protect innocent life.
I will yield to the Senator from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I rise to support the Sanders
resolution and to oppose the transfer of over $8 billion of U.S.
taxpayer-financed bombs and other offensive weapons to the Netanyahu
government as it continues to block all humanitarian aid to civilians
in Gaza, which is a clear violation of international and American law,
and as it promotes the reprehensible Trump plan to push 2 million
Palestinians out of Gaza.
There is no doubt that Israel has the right to defend itself. In
fact, I would argue, the duty to defend itself in the aftermath of the
brutal Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, that murdered over 1,200
individuals and took over 250 hostages.

[[Page S2155]]

Hamas is a despicable terrorist organization and there must be no
more October 7s. This act of terrorism was the worst act of violence
and attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust. And that pain
endures, especially as not all of the hostages have returned. It has
been 544 days, and we must bring home every remaining hostage.
I have met with their families, both here and in Israel, and their
emotional pain and anxiety are unbearable. Israeli and Palestinian
families across the region face the reality--the brutal reality--of
this hostage crisis and the devastation that this war brings every day
in Gaza.
Yet through his actions, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his extremist
rightwing government have made it very clear that ending the fighting
and securing the release of the remaining hostages is not their
principal objective. It is very well understood in Israel that
Netanyahu's priority is not bringing them home; his priority is own
political survival. Like the mother of one of the hostages who was
protesting just last week said:

The hostages are held captive by Hamas, and the entire
Nation of Israel is held captive by Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has locked arms with the most extreme
elements of his coalition, people like Finance Minister Smotrich and
Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir, people who have made their
political careers based on inciting hatred against Palestinians,
against Arabs, against Muslims. And in Ben-Gvir's case, also
associating with groups that espouse the expulsion of Christians.
Together, they have readily embraced the twisted, shameful, illegal,
and immoral plan advanced by Donald Trump to push 2 million
Palestinians out of Gaza.
According to Trump, the United States would ``take over and own
Gaza.'' And at least, initially, he didn't rule out using military
force to do that.
Netanyahu and the far right in Israel embraced the Trump plan from
the start. Prime Minister Netanyahu called it ``remarkable'' and ``the
first good idea'' he had heard. On March 30, he said:

We will implement the Trump Plan. . . . This is our
strategy.

Shortly after the Trump plan was announced, Smotrich called it an
excellent idea, and he said:

With God's help, I will work with the Prime Minister and
the cabinet to develop an operational plan to implement this
as soon as possible.

Ben-Gvir echoed that support, noting:

We have a huge opportunity and we must not miss it. Even
before October 7, I encouraged emigration and they mocked me.
. . . It is time to implement and promote it.

Remember, Ben-Gvir left the cabinet in January because he was opposed
to the cease-fire and the return of hostages agreement. Now that
Netanyahu has abandoned the cease-fire agreement, Ben-Gvir has returned
to the cabinet, again, as Minister of National Security. And listen
very carefully to what Netanyahu's Minister of Defense Katz said
recently:

Gaza residents, this is a final warning. The first Sinwar
destroyed Gaza and the second Sinwar will bring its complete
ruin. Soon, the evacuation . . . from combat zones will
resume, and what follows will be far more severe.

He said, referring to the civilian residents of Gaza:

You will pay the full price. Return the hostages and remove
Hamas--the alternative is total devastation.

You should listen very carefully to those words because he is
threatening the civilian population of Gaza. That is collective
punishment, and that is the Trump-Netanyahu plan.
Mr. President, American taxpayers should not be paying for this
reprehensible plan. And let me be clear, that is what these bombs and
offensive weapons are supporting. It is not about providing for
Israel's defense, like Iron Dome, which I have and will continue to
support. Instead, these offensive weapons are furthering the extremist
goals of Donald Trump and Netanyahu. It surely is not ``America First''
to use billions of dollars of American taxpayer money to pay for bombs
and other weapons to facilitate such a grotesque, illegal, and immoral
plan.
You know, it is often said that Israel and the United States have a
set of shared values that bind us together. Those values have included
a belief in democracy, a respect for the rule of law, support for
freedom and universal political rights. I believe those remain the
shared values between the people of the United States and the people of
Israel.
But that cannot be said of either Donald Trump or Netanyahu. They
have zero respect for those values. They have a different world view.
They both see themselves as above the law. Trump and Netanyahu have
both demonstrated an utter contempt for an independent judiciary. Here
at home, Donald Trump is calling for the impeachment of judges that
uphold the rule of law and illegally bullying law firms and
institutions that don't bend to his will. In Israel, Netanyahu and his
rightwing government just implemented changes to weaken the
independence of the judiciary. And when Trump called for impeaching
judges here, this is what Netanyahu said:

In America and in Israel, when a strong rightwing leader
wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the
justice system to thwart the people's will. They won't win in
either place! We stand strong together.

Both Trump and Netanyahu have also worked to replace people of
independence and integrity with political puppets. Netanyahu is in the
process of trying to fire the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, while he was
presiding over an investigation into potential financial ties between
Netanyahu's office and Qatar.
Here at home, of course, Trump fired the head of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, installed a completely unqualified Secretary of Defense, and has
fired at least 17 independent inspectors general across the Federal
Government. Trump and Netanyahu don't believe in checks and balances.
They believe in unchecked power for themselves, like other autocrats,
Erdogan in Turkey or Orban in Hungary.
Let's be clear that Donald Trump is pursuing policies in Israel that
are not pro-Israel. They are pro-Netanyahu and pro-Smotrich and pro-
Ben-Gvir.
Donald Trump said on the campaign trail he was going to stop the war
in Gaza. He took credit for securing the January cease-fire and the
exchange of those hostages at the time. That was phase one--phase 1 of
the three-stage framework that the Biden team had negotiated. Prime
Minister Netanyahu waited until the eve of Trump's inauguration to
begin phase 1 so Donald Trump could claim that success. But ever since
then, Trump has backed off and stood back as Netanyahu and his
rightwing government resumed the bombing of Gaza, imposed an embargo on
humanitarian aid for civilians there, and put the lives of all the
remaining hostages at risk.
Indeed, it has now been 32 days since Netanyahu cut off all
humanitarian assistance and electricity to civilians in Gaza. That is a
blatant direct violation of Israel's duty under both international law
and under American law. Indeed, section 620I of the U.S. Foreign
Assistance Act, also known as the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act,
prohibits the transfer of any offensive weapons by the United States to
any country that fails to ``facilitate and not arbitrarily deny,
restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or
delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.''
Well, for 32 days, we have seen a blockade of humanitarian
assistance. It is also a violation of the assurances that the Netanyahu
government gave to the United States just last year--which I actually
witnessed the signatures--where it said that it would facilitate the
delivery of U.S.-supported humanitarian aid in Gaza.
So the Netanyahu government is flouting those commitments. Just this
week, the United Nations' World Food Programme, WFB, said all 25 of its
bakeries had been shuttered in Gaza. And meanwhile, the Trump
administration says nothing and does nothing. What happened to the man
who pledged to bring peace to the Middle East?
After cutting off humanitarian aid, the Netanyahu government resumed
its bombing campaign in Gaza and unleashed strikes where the initial
one killed 430 people in one of the most lethal days of the entire
world.
Here is the headline of a March 27 story in the Israeli newspaper
Haaretz:

In one of the Gaza war's most horrific nights, the Israeli
Army killed nearly 300 women and children.

[[Page S2156]]

A surgeon from the United Kingdom who was on the ground said:

What stunned doctors was the number of children. Just child
after child, young patient after young patient.

We all know that Hamas has no regard for Palestinian civilians and
puts civilians in danger. But that does not absolve the Netanyahu
Government of the duty to reduce civilian harm, and it is violating
that duty. Indeed, as I read, the Minister of Defense has said there
will be ``total destruction.''
The death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 50,000, and more than half
of those killed are women and children. Palestinian civilians--many of
them who recently put themselves at great risk to protest against
Hamas--are trapped.
The recent Netanyahu bombing campaign has also taken a severe toll on
medical and first aid workers inside Gaza. As the newspaper Haaretz and
others have reported, 15 Palestinian paramedics, including a U.N.
worker, were killed as they traveled in their ambulances within the
last 2 weeks. Jonathan Whittall, the head of OCHA, said the aid workers
had been killed ``one by one'' and that the IDF bulldozers then buried
them and the ambulances in the sand. To date, over 400 aid workers have
been killed since the war started.
Following the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers,
almost a year ago, the Netanyahu government said they would improve
efforts to protect aid workers, but those promises have been forgotten.
Just a few days ago, the IDF hit an International Committee of the Red
Cross, or ICRC, office in Gaza, and while that strike did not result in
casualties, it was another reminder of the Netanyahu government's total
disregard for the safety of these humanitarian operators.
Speaking of the ICRC, throughout the war, the Netanyahu government
has suspended all humanitarian visits by the ICRC to Palestinian
prisoners in both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and it has
yet to resume that access despite reports of the terrible abuses at Sde
Teiman. This is a prison. These abuses were revealed by Israel's own
security service, Shin Bet, as well as Israel's NGOs and media.
Now, Netanyahu has attacked virtually everyone who questions his
conduct in the war in Gaza as pro-Hamas. When his former Defense
Minister, Gallant, said that the Israeli military had done all it can
in Gaza, he was fired. Netanyahu has even criticized the protests by
hostage families, saying that they serve the interests of Hamas--
deplorable.
And the Netanyahu government has tried to punish and sanction Israeli
newspapers, specifically Haaretz, which I have been quoting from, for
reporting the facts about what is happening in Gaza. In fact,
Netanyahu's Communications Minister suggested that the law enforcement
in Israel should go after them for ``dangerous incitement by the
newspaper,'' as if people cannot be horrified about what happened on
October 7, care about the terrible plight of hostages, and care about
Palestinian civilians without being pro-Hamas. Of course, claiming that
newspapers and his political opponents are aiding and abetting Hamas is
a convenient and deeply dishonest rhetorical tactic. It is the same
kind of tactic that Trump uses here at home, threatening and
sanctioning newspapers that report inconvenient facts.
As we consider how Trump and Netanyahu are pushing forward their plan
in Gaza, we should also pay close attention to what is unfolding on the
West Bank, where extremist settlers have been fueling violence and
destruction. The Biden administration had put in place an Executive
order that sanctioned anybody destabilizing the West Bank. It applied
to militant Palestinian groups and to extremist Israeli settlers
involved in attacks against Palestinians. Trump revoked it. Last week,
in the South Hebron Hills, masked settlers attacked Hamdan Ballal, a
Palestinian filmmaker, who, alongside Israeli director Yuval Abraham,
produced the Oscar-winning documentary entitled ``No Other Land.'' The
film is about the life and struggles of Palestinians under Israeli
occupation in Masafer Yatta, the very place where he was attacked.
Over the last year, we have seen many, many people killed as a result
of this violence. You know, if you listen to President Trump's nominee
to be our Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, you would think that the
expulsion of Palestinians from their land and Israel's occupation is
not a problem. When asked during his nomination hearing what would
happen if Israel annexed the West Bank and whether Palestinians would
have equal rights as Israeli Jews on the West Bank, he couldn't say. He
just said, well, Palestinians would have some ``opportunity.''
Let's step back and take stock of where all of this leaves us. As I
said at the start, Israel has a right to defend itself. Of course, it
does, and the United States will always stand with Israel's right to do
so, and the United States has consistently provided Israel with the
weapons it needs to defend itself against its many enemies, including
Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. But there is a big
difference--a very big difference--between providing Israel with the
ability to vigorously defend itself and the goals of Trump and
Netanyahu, as well as those of Smotrich and Ben Gvir, which are
increasingly embracing the goals of building a greater Israel by
annexing the West Bank and reoccupying Gaza.
Smotrich and Ben Gvir made no secret of that objective. At a large
ultranationalist conference held on the border of Gaza, in October of
2024, Smotrich endorsed the idea of rebuilding settlements in Gaza,
stating on his way to the event that the strip was ``part of the land
of Israel'' and that ``without settlements, there is no security.''
It is very clear that Netanyahu has hitched his political survival to
Smotrich and his whim, and Trump's calls for the displacement of over 2
million Palestinians in Gaza only plays further into their hands.
Just yesterday, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz announced that
Israel would, as Defense Minister Katz said, ``seize large areas'' of
the Gaza Strip. The response of the Hostages and Missing Families
Forum, which represents most of the hostages' families, was swift and
clear. They said they were horrified by Katz' statement and asked:

Did you decide that we are sacrificing hostages for
capturing land? Instead of getting hostages out in a deal and
ending the war, Israel's government is sending more soldiers
to Gaza to fight in the same places that they already fought
over and over again.

And yet Trump continues to stand with the extremist Netanyahu
government and his own reprehensible plan and calls upon American
taxpayers to spend billions of dollars to support that plan.
Israel is now operating as the undisputed superpower in the Middle
East. It is a nuclear power. Hezbollah is on its back foot. Iran's air
defenses have been severely degraded. Assad is, thankfully, out of
power in Syria, and Israel has destroyed much of Syria's military
infrastructure. So the question is, What does Israel want to do with
this power? What are its long-term goals?
The answer from Smotrich and Ben Gvir is to build a greater Israel,
one that demolishes the possibility of a future two-state solution, and
Netanyahu is in their corner. The annexation of the West Bank and the
reoccupation of Gaza will not make Israel safer. To the contrary, it
will condemn it to perpetual conflict. The only sustainable way forward
is to ensure that the 5 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank
who have nothing to do with Hamas can live with dignity and have their
human rights respected. That is the only way to ensure the long-term
security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. That is the only way,
colleagues, to prevent the United States from being dragged into
permanent conflicts in the Middle East, and that should be painfully
obvious to anyone who has followed the history of this region.
I will close where I started. This is not about whether someone is
pro-Israel. I believe you can be pro-Israel and anti-the policies of
Netanyahu, just as you can be pro-America and oppose the policies of
Donald Trump, and that is what this is all about. This is about whether
you support the approach that Netanyahu and Trump are taking at this
time: Trump's vision of a Gaza cleansed of its Palestinian population
and Netanyahu's, Smotrich's, and Ben Gvir's vision of a greater Israel
without basic human and political rights for Palestinians.

[[Page S2157]]

I will not support that future. I will not vote to support American
taxpayer dollars to advance that future. It is not in America's
interest nor is it in the interest of Israelis, Palestinians, or anyone
else who lives in the Middle East.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be
permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes and Senator Risch for up to 5
minutes prior to the scheduled rollcall votes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I rise today and come here to strongly
oppose the two resolutions before the Senate at this moment.
These misguided resolutions, if adopted, would reinstate the failed
policies of the Biden administration. Worse, they would abandon Israel,
our closest ally in the Middle East, during a pivotal moment for global
security.
For years, President Biden wrung his hands and withheld American
support for Israel in its time of need. This inaction only prolonged
suffering for all sides and put America's commitment in doubt. Despite
this, Israel had the courage to confront Iran and its proxies, and it
decimated them.
Through President Trump's tough negotiations and Israel's courage,
Iran is at its weakest point in decades, and hostages are returning
home.
At the same time, Israel is contending with its operations against
Hamas, efforts to maintain a fragile cease-fire in Lebanon, and the
ongoing threats to Iran.
Now is not the time to deprive our ally of the tools it needs to
protect American interests.
I yield to Senator Sanders.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I think Senator Risch and I live in
parallel universes. The universe that I live in is a universe which
says, yes, of course Israel has a right to defend itself against the
horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. No one debates
that. But Israel did not and does not have the right to go to war
against the entire Palestinian people, in violation of international
and U.S. law.
It doesn't matter in one sense whether you don't care that 50,000
people in Gaza have been killed or 112,000 women--you don't care about
that? Fine. But you should care about American law. What the Foreign
Assistance Act says is that the United States cannot provide military
assistance to a country which is in violation of U.S. and international
law.
When you starve children, you are in violation of international law.
When you have a blockade that does not allow any humanitarian aid to
come into a desperate situation for 31 days, you are in violation of
international law.
When you kill 15,000 children and bring about malnutrition and
starvation for even more, you are in violation of international law.
What is going on right now is not some abstract horror show. We are
complicit. Those are our bombs that have destroyed or damaged 92
percent of the housing in Gaza, our bombs which have destroyed hundreds
and hundreds of schools in Gaza, our bombs which have attacked every
single one of the 12 universities in Gaza.
What we are standing here today discussing is not just Gaza. If the
United States remains complicit in this war, we are telling every other
country in the world that international law and human rights are
meaningless. You could do whatever you want, and no President will ever
be able to condemn any other country for their inhumanity. That is what
is at stake today. Do we try to maintain a shred of moral integrity in
the world or do we simply say to Netanyahu: Here are some more bombs.
Kill some more kids. Kill some more women. Bomb some more hospitals.
Is that what we do?
With that, I would yield to the Senator from Maryland, Mr. Van
Hollen.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Vermont.
Can I inquire how much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Five minutes and 45 seconds.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. All right.
Listen, I want to emphasize a couple of key points that the Senator
from Vermont made.
First of all, as we all know, Israel not only has the duty and the
right to defend itself, but it has to make sure that this never happens
again.
But I did not hear the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee respond to the key points the Senator from Vermont and I have
been making--No. 1, that what is happening right now is a clear
violation of American law.
Even if you want to throw international law out the window--and, in
my view, we do that at our great jeopardy because the United States has
many times invoked international law to advance what we consider to be
important rights and interests--it is a violation of the plain meaning
of U.S. law because under 620I of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, also
known as the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, offensive sales to any
country that is preventing the delivery of U.S.-supported humanitarian
assistance is not allowed. It says very plainly that we should not
transfer any offensive weapons to a country if they are not
facilitating and if they are arbitrarily denying and restricting or
otherwise impeding directly or indirectly the transfer of humanitarian
assistance.

It is indisputable here that for 32 days, all humanitarian assistance
to the civilian population in Gaza has been cut off. I haven't heard a
response to how that is not a violation of U.S. law.
Beyond that, it was just last year that the Netanyahu government
provided the U.S. Government with written assurances that they would
allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Apparently, it
doesn't matter anymore because Donald Trump is in the White House,
which, of course, brings us to the other point which both the Senator
from Vermont and I have emphasized--that the extreme right in Israel
has been emboldened even further by the comments made by Donald Trump--
the Donald Trump comments that we would essentially push 2 million
Palestinians out of Gaza. That has been cheered on by extremists like
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich and now adopted and embraced by Netanyahu and his
government.
I don't think the American people want to use their taxpayer dollars
to supply bombs and other offensive weapons to support that twisted,
illegal, and immoral vision of clearing Gaza of 2 million Palestinians.
Yet, as I quoted earlier in my remarks, just today--check it out in
the Washington Post and other newspapers--Israel is saying they are
going to seize more land in Gaza. The families of the hostages have
said that is a really bad idea. Focus on ending the war and getting
every hostage returned. That is what we should be focused on.
That is why I support the Sanders resolution, and I oppose spending
$8 billion on bombs and other offensive weapons to support the
Netanyahu-Ben-Gvir-Trump vision, which is a terrible future for
Israelis and Palestinians alike.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I thank Senator Van Hollen for his
extraordinary efforts today and for over a long period of time standing
up for justice and morality in the Middle East.
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
Mr. RISCH. Has all time expired except for the time I have left?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. No. The other side has 2 minutes.
Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, first of all, I agree with one and only one
thing that my friend from Vermont said, and that is that we do live--at
least think--in an alternate, parallel universe.
I am on the Intelligence Committee. I am the most senior Republican
on the Intelligence Committee. I have seen the film from what Hamas did
on October 7. These were animals. They killed hundreds and hundreds of
people. They took hostages. They cut babies out of their mothers. They
killed children in

[[Page S2158]]

front of their parents. They killed parents in front of their children.
They tortured people.
They knew exactly what they were doing, and that was that they were
going to get a response from Israel that would be what it is today.
All of this talk that my friends have laid out in front of us--no one
in the world is coming to the support of Hamas--no one--with the
exception of some misguided people in this organization.
The Middle East has an opportunity to free itself from Iran's grip,
and America will be safer for it. To promote stability in the region
and protect our national security, we need to continue to support
Israel's successful efforts.
President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and soon-to-be Ambassador Huckabee
will work day in and day out to make sure that American interests are
protected in Israel, and Congress must do its part. We really must
provide Israel with the force they need to resist and eliminate Hamas.
Just before I walked in here, I was handed an official written
position of the President of the United States, who urges us to defeat
these two resolutions.
In December, this body overwhelmingly opposed similar resolutions in
a bipartisan fashion. I hope we can do that again today. As such, I ask
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote no on these two
resolutions.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, very briefly, nobody is supporting Hamas.
Hamas is a disgusting terrorist organization that began the war.
Israel had a right to defend itself against Hamas, but it did not
have the right to kill 50,000 Palestinians and wound 112,000, 60
percent of whom are women, children, and the elderly. It did not have a
right to bomb every university in Gaza.
As Senator Van Hollen indicated, what we are talking about here is
whether or not we support U.S. law. And U.S. law is clear: We cannot
supply weapons to a country which is acting in violation of
international law. Starving children is a violation of international
law.
With that, Mr. President, I would yield the floor and ask for a
``yea'' vote on these resolutions.

Vote on Motion to Discharge

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on
the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 33.
Mr. SANDERS. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons) and
the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily absent.
The result was announced--yeas 15, nays 82, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 165 Leg.]

YEAS--15

Durbin
Heinrich
Hirono
Kaine
Kim
Lujan
Markey
Merkley
Murphy
Sanders
Schatz
Smith
Van Hollen
Warren
Welch

NAYS--82

Alsobrooks
Banks
Barrasso
Bennet
Blackburn
Blumenthal
Blunt Rochester
Booker
Boozman
Britt
Budd
Cantwell
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Curtis
Daines
Duckworth
Ernst
Fetterman
Fischer
Gallego
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hassan
Hawley
Hickenlooper
Hoeven
Husted
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Justice
Kelly
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
McConnell
McCormick
Moody
Moran
Moreno
Mullin
Murkowski
Ossoff
Padilla
Paul
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Risch
Rosen
Rounds
Schiff
Schmitt
Schumer
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Sheehy
Slotkin
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Warner
Warnock
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young

ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

Baldwin

NOT VOTING--2

Coons
Murray

The motion was rejected.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Budd). The yeas are 15, the nays are 82.
One Senator responded present. The motion is not agreed to.
The motion was rejected.

Vote on Motion to Discharge

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on
the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 26.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second?
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray)
is necessarily absent.
The result was announced--yeas 15, nays 83, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 166 Leg.]

YEAS--15

Durbin
Heinrich
Hirono
Kaine
Kim
Lujan
Markey
Merkley
Murphy
Sanders
Schatz
Smith
Van Hollen
Warren
Welch

NAYS--83

Alsobrooks
Banks
Barrasso
Bennet
Blackburn
Blumenthal
Blunt Rochester
Booker
Boozman
Britt
Budd
Cantwell
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Curtis
Daines
Duckworth
Ernst
Fetterman
Fischer
Gallego
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hassan
Hawley
Hickenlooper
Hoeven
Husted
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Justice
Kelly
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
McConnell
McCormick
Moody
Moran
Moreno
Mullin
Murkowski
Ossoff
Padilla
Paul
Peters
Reed
Ricketts
Risch
Rosen
Rounds
Schiff
Schmitt
Schumer
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Sheehy
Slotkin
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Warner
Warnock
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young

ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

Baldwin

NOT VOTING--1

Murray

____________________