Anti-Bds Labeling Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 5179, the Anti-BDS Labeling Act.

The Anti-BDS Labeling Act would codify the Trump administration's 2020 U.S. Customs and Border Protection rule titled: ``Country of Origin Marking of Products from the West Bank and Gaza.''

In 1997, the Palestinian Authority requested that the U.S. require all goods made in Judea and Samaria, and Gaza to be labeled as ``Made in West Bank/Gaza.'' This not only recognized Judea and Samaria, and Gaza as one territorial unit, which is inaccurate, but also failed to recognize that areas of Judea and Samaria are governed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The Trump administration's rule required goods made in Area C of Judea and Samaria, which is fully controlled by Israel under the Oslo Accords, to be labeled as ``Made in Israel.'' Under this rule, goods made in Palestinian Authority-controlled Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria to be labeled as ``Made in West Bank.'' This rule appropriately recognizes the different governing authorities of various areas of Judea and Samaria, as well as ensuring that Gaza and Judea and Samaria are recognized as two different political areas.

The Anti-BDS Labeling Act would codify the Trump-era rule and prohibit Federal funds to be used by the White House or executive branch to alter the rule that is already in place.

For years, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement has sought to cripple the Israeli economy and impoverish individuals living in Israeli-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, and Israel at large.

The BDS movement has long targeted goods made in Israeli-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, sometimes referred to by anti-Israel advocates as the ``occupied West Bank.'' I would like to remind individuals who use this ridiculous term that the Oslo Accords, as signed by Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, divided Judea and Samaria into three areas, with Israel administering security control over 82 percent of Judea and Samaria, and civil control of 60 percent of Judea and Samaria.

This bill ensures that there is no distinction in labeling between goods made in Israel and Israeli-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria. During this difficult time, Congress must stand with Israel and support our greatest ally in the region, the lone beacon of freedom and democracy.

I am grateful to Chairman Smith and all my Ways and Means Republican colleagues who are supporting this critical legislation, especially when it passed through the House Ways and Means Committee. We must stand with our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel, and demand accuracy in the labeling of goods imported to the United States, as required by law.

This legislation sends a very clear signal that we will not tolerate arbitrary differentiations in the labeling of goods from different parts of Israel. Whether a good is made in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Efrat, the Golan Heights, or Gush Etzion, it should be labeled as ``Made in Israel.''

This is not about political posturing as the ranking member in opposition says. This is about making sure that American citizens know that when they are purchasing a product in Israeli-controlled Judea and Samaria that they are purchasing a product that is made in Israel. There is nothing discriminatory about that. It is about preventing the erasing of the existence of Israel in this region of Israel.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation. It is not political posturing. It is something to protect Israeli products, Israeli individuals who are producing these products and also to protect American citizens who would be purchasing this product and who get to make a decision about what they would choose to buy, whether it was made in Israel or not. They make that choice. That is something that all Americans are entitled to under this labeling act.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation.

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