S. Res. 504

Floor Speech

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Mr. OSSOFF. Mr. President, the Senator from Vermont last week proposed to discharge the Foreign Relations Committee of S. Res. 504, his resolution to require the production by the Department of State of a report on Israel's human rights practices.

Senator Sanders' resolution is intended to serve the important purpose of ensuring robust Senate oversight of how U.S. security assistance has been deployed by the State of Israel in Gaza, where humanitarian conditions are catastrophic. However, Senator Sanders' measure as drafted is overbroad, with potentially significant unintended consequences.

Beyond its reporting requirements with respect to ongoing Israeli operations in Gaza, Senator Sanders' resolution requires within 30 days the affirmative certification by the Secretary of State that no individual unit of the Israel Defense Forces receiving U.S. security assistance over the past 5 years has committed any gross violations of human rights. The Department of State cannot feasibly undertake within 30 days the far-reaching analysis of IDF operations over half a decade that would be required to make such a certification.

The Department of State would therefore, in my view, be unable to comply with the reporting requirements in Senator Sanders' resolution, potentially triggering a mandatory cessation of U.S. security assistance to Israel before the Senate even had the opportunity to review its report.

Accordingly, I voted to table S. Res. 504.

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