Treaties and House Legislative Agenda

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, this week the Senate has attended to one of this body's unique responsibilities relating to foreign affairs--the ratification of treaties. We have ratified bilateral tax agreements with four trading partners: Spain, Switzerland, Japan, and Luxembourg. Measures like these bring clarity, certainty, and fairness to international commerce. They ensure U.S. citizens and businesses have a level playing field without duplicative tax burdens, and they make the United States a more inviting destination for foreign investment.

These newly ratified treaties will provide immediate and much needed relief to employers in every corner of our country. They will reinforce support for hundreds of thousands of jobs including many in my home State of Kentucky. This is a significant bipartisan accomplishment.

Now, standing in stark contrast to the Senate's productive, bipartisan week is what the Democratic House of Representatives has chosen to prioritize. We have seen plenty of partisan theatrics and high drama for the television cameras. We have seen the majority spend plenty of time attacking the President and members of the administration, but virtually nothing in the way of bipartisan legislation to actually make progress for the American people.

The problem seems to be that so many Democrats have moved so far to the extreme left that they literally could not pass commonsense legislation even if they wanted to.

A case in point is the chronic difficulties and consternation that we have seen over in the House when it comes to the seemingly straightforward task of condemning anti-Semitism and efforts to delegitimize the Jewish State of Israel.

Back in March, remember, House Democrats had their hands full dealing with one of their freshman members who had trotted out age-old anti- Semitic tropes--dual loyalties, support for Israel being driven by money, the kind of language you would think the House could have condemned pretty easily.

But instead, after days of internal Democratic strife, all the House leadership could drum up was a watered-down resolution that sort of-- sort of--gestured vaguely at the problem. All the while, Senate-passed legislation that would actually do something about anti-Semitism has been languishing over in the House without a vote.

For more than 5 months and counting, the House has refused to act on S. 1, the foreign policy legislation that we here in the Senate passed back in February. This bipartisan bill included a provision to take on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, an economic form of anti-Semitism that targets Israel.

Here in the Senate, taking action against BDS was a bipartisan goal. I am a passionate opponent of the BDS movement. I know my friend the Democratic leader opposes BDS as well, and S. 1 earned 77 votes here in the Senate back then.

But apparently it is a bridge too far for this Democratic House. Even a milder resolution simply condemning BDS--not doing anything about it, but condemning it--has become a lightning rod for the far left this very week.

Reports indicate that ``senior progressive Democrats are urging House leaders'' to walk away from the resolution condemning BDS--a resolution, not the thing that we passed, which is much stronger. So the House will not take action against it, and now it seems they can't even merely condemn it. They can't even condemn it. In fact, the far left wants to defend BDS. Let me say that again. The far left in the House wants to defend BDS.

I guess this is where we are. Elected members of the Democratic Party are openly urging their leadership not to make them vote on condemning anti-Semitism. Let me say that again. Elected members of the Democratic Party are openly urging their leadership not to make them vote on condemning anti-Semitism--a watered-down version of what we sent them back in February--because, for some reason, it is just too tough a vote. What a sad and bizarre situation we find in the House.

I urge the Speaker of the House to do the right thing. Don't let these far-left voices run the show. At long last, bring S. 1 up for a vote--the comprehensive legislation that sailed through the Senate with 77 votes. Bring it up for a vote, Madam Speaker. Let them vote. I bet we would see a pretty good outcome and show anti-Semitism the door.

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