Providing for Consideration of H.J. Res. Removal of United States Armed Forces From Hostilities in Yemen That Have Not Been Authorized By Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions Reported From the Committee on Rules; and Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules

Floor Speech

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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of Mr. Cole's amendment so that the House may take up H.R. 336.

The House should immediately bring this legislation up, which is a bipartisan legislative package that would help others fight back against the BDS movement, protect U.S. security in the Middle East by strengthening our alliances with Israel and Jordan, and sanction bad actors like Assad.

The Senate version of this bill, S. 1, passed with strong bipartisan support, 77-23.

The major point of contention for some, regarding this package, is the Combating BDS Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill with over 100 cosponsors last Congress, that would help stop the BDS movement.

It is okay to have a reasonable, legitimate concern with any government, including Israel, as well as our own, but, keep in mind, the founder of BDS was blatantly anti-Semitic, and, on college campuses all across our entire country, we have college students who are being targeted by blatant anti-Semitism in the name of BDS.

The founder of the BDS movement was a raging anti-Semite, who once said: ``We are witnessing the rapid demise of Zionism, and nothing can be done to save it, for Zionism is intent on killing itself. I, for one, support euthanasia.'' That is not all he has said.

This bill would simply allow State and local governments to have the right to counter the BDS movement by ending contracts with companies that boycott Israel. This bill does not impede the right of any American to boycott or criticize Israel. Instead, this bill protects States' rights to divest from countries that boycott Israel and from lawsuits driven by the ACLU.

The BDS movement is designed to hurt Israel by encouraging companies to boycott Israeli goods. The BDS movement is consumed by efforts to delegitimize and demonize Israel.

Numerous incidents are highlighted in my resolution, H. Res. 72, condemning this behavior. For example, at NYU, after the student government passed a resolution supporting BDS, they had to close the Center for Jewish Life in response to threatening Twitter posts by a student who expressed ``a desire for Zionists to die.''

There are so many other examples on college campuses all across our country. Where the BDS grows, anti-Semitism follows. Yet some Members in the House openly support this movement. House Democrats are holding up this major bipartisan legislation.

This bill would provide $3.3 billion in security assistance to Israel and authorize the 2016 MOU to guarantee Israel's security for the next 10 years by providing advanced capabilities to protect our greatest ally.

This bill strengthens Jordan's ability to promote regional security and stability by enhancing Jordan's military capacity in the sale of defense articles.

This bill also sanctions those who provide financial assistance or support to prop up the Assad regime, which is responsible for chemical weapon attacks in Syria.

Madam Speaker, I thank, again, Mr. Cole for bringing this amendment, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it.

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