Motion to Discharge--S.J. Res. 111

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, 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. 111, relating to the disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of certain defense articles and services.

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Mr. SANDERS. I would ask unanimous consent to dispense with further reading of the resolution.

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Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, thank you very much, and let me thank the leadership for their cooperation in setting up this debate.

Today, we will be voting on three joint resolutions of disapproval, or JRDs, to block the sale of certain offensive weapons to Israel. These resolutions are S.J. Res. 111, to block the sale of 120- millimeter tank rounds; S.J. Res. 113, to block the sale of 120- millimeter high-explosive mortar rounds; and S.J. Res. 115, to block the sale of JDMs, the guidance kits attached to many of the bombs dropped in Gaza.

I would note to my colleagues that these resolutions are strongly supported by more than 100 civil society groups, including pro-Israel groups, like J Street; some of the largest labor unions in this country, including the SEIU, the United Auto Workers, and the United Electrical Workers; humanitarian groups, like Amnesty International and Doctors of the World; and religious groups, like the United Methodist Church and the Friends Committee; and many, many other organizations.

Res. 111, S.J. Res. 113, and S.J. Res. 115 are Supported by More Than 118 Civil Society Groups.

That includes labor unions like the SEIU, the United Auto Workers and the United Electrical Workers; pro-Israel groups like J Street; humanitarian organizations like Amnesty International, ActionAid USA and Doctors of the World; and religious groups like the United Methodist Church, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Emgage Action. full list of endorsing organizations

1. Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

2. United Auto Workers (UAW)

3. United Electrical Workers (UE)

4. J Street

5. About Face: Veterans Against the War

6. Action Corps

7. ActionAid USA

8. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)

9. Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action)

10. Amnesty International USA

11. Arab American Institute

12. Association of US Catholic Priests

13. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)

14. Center for Economic and Policy Research

15. Center for International Policy

16. Center for Jewish Nonviolence

17. CommonDefense.us

18. DAWN

19. Doctors of the World

20. Emgage Action

21. Friends Committee on National Legislation

22. Human Rights Watch

23. IfNotNow Movement

24. Indivisible

25. Just Foreign Policy

26. Justice Democrats

27. MADRE

28. Oxfam America

29. Oxfam America Action Fund

30. Peace Action

31. People's Action

32. Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

33. Refugees International

34. ReThinking Foreign Policy

35. The Episcopal Church

36. The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)

37. The United Church of Christ

38. The United Methodist Church--General Board of Church and Society

39. The United Methodist Church--General Board of Church and Society

40. Uncommitted National Movement

41. United We Dream

42. US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action (USCPR Action)

43. Win Without War

44. Working Families Party

45. Doctors Against Genocide

46. 18 Million Rising

47. Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Mankind

48. American Baptist Churches USA

49. American Friends Service Committee

50. Arab Resource & Organizing Center Action (AROC Action)

51. Arms Control Association

52. Avaaz

53. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

54. Center for Constitutional Rights

55. Center for Victims of Torture

56. Center National Council of Churches

57. Charity & Security Network

58. Children Not Numbers

59. Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy

60. Civic Shout, Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT)

61. CODEPINK

62. Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes

63. Control Arms

64. Defending Rights & Dissent

65. Demand Progress

66. Democracy for America Advocacy Fund

67. Democratic Socialists of America

68. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

69. Extend

70. Faith Strategies

71. Franciscan Action Network

72. Freedom Forward

73. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)

74. Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ

75. Hindus for Human Rights

76. Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project

77. Israel/Palestine Mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

78. Jewish Voice for Peace Action

79. Law For Palestine

80. Leadership Team of the Felician Sisters of North America

81. Legacies of War

82. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

83. Medglobal

84. Medical Mission Sisters, Justice Office

85. MENA Rights Group

86. Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

87. Middle East Children's Alliance

88. Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)

89. Migrant Roots Media

90. MPower Change Action Fund

91. Muslim Peace Fellowship

92. National Council of Churches

93. National Iranian American Council Action

94. Nonviolence International

95. Nonviolent Peaceforce

96. Our Revolution

97. Pax Christi USA

98. Peace Direct

99. Presbyterian Church (USA)

100. Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)

101. Quixote Center

102. RootsAction.org

103. Saferworld (US)

104. Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross

105. Society of Helpers

106. The Borgen Project

107. The Human Dignity Project (THDP)

108. The Religious Nationalisms Project

109. Transnational Institute

110. United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network

111. United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)

112. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

113. Women for Weapons Trade Transparency

114. Women's March

115. Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)

116. World BEYOND War

117. Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation

118. Yemeni Alliance Committee

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Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I would also point out that poll after poll shows that a strong majority of the American people oppose sending more weapons and military aid to fund Netanyahu's war machine. I would also mention, interestingly enough, that according to a poll commissioned by J Street--this is a pro-Israel organization--62 percent of Jewish Americans support withholding weapon shipments to Israel until Netanyahu agrees to an immediate cease-fire.

These resolutions are aimed at offensive weapons that have been used to devastating effect against civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. They would not affect any of the systems Israel uses to defend itself from incoming attacks.

From a legal perspective, these resolutions are simple, straightforward, and not complicated. Bottom line: the U.S. Government must obey the law--not a very radical idea--but unfortunately that is not the case now.

Every Member of the Senate who believes in the rule of law, that our government should obey the law, should vote for these resolutions.

The Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act are very clear. The United States cannot provide weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S. humanitarian aid.

Let me repeat that because that is the essence of this entire debate. Not complicated. The U.S. Government cannot provide weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S. humanitarian aid. That is not my opinion; that is what the law says.

According to the United Nations, according to much of the international community, according to virtually 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 weapons. These joint resolutions of disapproval are Congress's tool to enforce the law, and that is exactly what we must do.

It has been more than 13 months since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, an attack which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, including Americans.

As I have said many, many times, Israel had the absolute right to respond to that horrific Hamas attack, as any other country would. I don't think anybody here in the U.S. Senate disagrees with that. But Prime Minister Netanyahu's extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas; it has waged an all-out war against the Palestinian people.

Within Gaza's population of just 2.2 million people--and I want people to conceptualize that that is about the size of New Mexico, 2.2 million people--more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 103,000 injured, a population of about the size of New Mexico. And 60 percent of those who have been killed and injured are women, children, or elderly people.

According to satellite imagery, two-thirds of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed--two-thirds of all structures. Think about that. Two-thirds of all structures have been damaged or destroyed. That includes 87 percent of the housing, 84 percent of health facilities--84 percent of health facilities--and 70 percent of sanitation plants. Right now, there is raw sewage running through the streets of Gaza, and it is very difficult for the people there to obtain clean drinking water.

Every one of Gaza's 12 universities has been bombed. They have got 12 universities; every single one of them has been bombed, as have many hundreds of schools. For 13 months, there has been no electricity in Gaza.

During the last year, millions of desperately poor people in Gaza have been repeatedly driven from their homes and forced to evacuate time and time again with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. So let's imagine millions of people driven from their homes, told to go here, told to go there, and going from one place to another. Families in Gaza have been herded into so-called safe zones, only to face continued bombardment. They are told to go to this area, and the bombs start falling, and the children start dying.

The children of Gaza have suffered a level of physical and emotional abuse that is almost beyond comprehension, abuse that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. These children today--as we speak, right now--are hungry, they are thirsty, they cannot access healthcare. And all around them, they have witnessed death and destruction. That is what the children of Gaza have experienced, and Gaza is a very young population.

And as horrific as that situation is, what has happened over the last year, what is taking place today, right now, this moment as we discuss this issue, it is even worse, if that is imaginable. As a result of Israel blocking desperately needed humanitarian aid, the volume of aid getting into Gaza in recent weeks is lower than at any point since the war began. More aid is needed; less aid is getting through. The result? Many thousands of children are facing malnutrition and starvation. Let me repeat that: Many thousands of children today are facing malnutrition and starvation. This is not my observation; this is what the leaders of the 19 most important humanitarian organizations on the ground in Gaza, including the American head of UNICEF, Cathy Russell, and the American head of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, wife of our former colleague John McCain--that is what they say, according to their recent report:

The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic . . . Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need.

And they continue:

[As a result,] the entire [Palestinian] population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine, and violence.

These are the 19 major humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza right now, including several of the major ones led by Americans. And Israel's recent decision to ban UNWRA, the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, will only make a horrific situation even worse.

Madam President, I have met with doctors who have served in Gaza treating hundreds of patients a day without electricity, without anesthesia, without clean water, including dozens of children arriving with gunshot wounds in the head. I have seen the photographs and the videos. And we have some of them here. I have seen--I have heard from UNICEF who estimates that 10 children lose a leg in Gaza every single day. There are now more than 17,000 orphans in Gaza.

Let me quote from a New York Times opinion piece of October 9, 2024-- a little more than a month ago--where American doctors and nurses in Gaza--these are Americans working in Gaza--describe what they saw on the ground.

Merril Tydings is a nurse from New Mexico, and she said, ``These people were starving.'' She is talking about healthcare workers, her colleagues.

These people were starving. I learned very quickly to not drink my water or eat the food I had brought in front of the health care workers because they had gone so many days without.

Without food. Without water.

Dr. Ndal Farah from Ohio said:

Malnutrition was widespread. It was common to see patients reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps with skeletal features.

Abeerah Muhammad, a nurse from Dallas, TX, said:

Everyone we met showed us pictures of themselves before October. They had all lost 20 to 60 pounds of weight. Most patients and staff looked emaciated and dehydrated.

Dr. Nahreen Ahmed from Philadelphia said:

Every patient I treated had evidence of malnutrition. For example, poor wound healing and rapidly developing infections.

Dr. Aman Odeh from Texas said:

Mothers on the maternity ward delivered prematurely because of malnutrition, stress and infection. Milk production was poor due to lack of hydration and adequate food supply.

Dr. Mike Mallah from Charleston said:

All of my patients were suffering from malnutrition, 100 percent.

What is important to understand--and I am not sure that many of my colleagues do--is that the Israel of today that we are dealing with is not the Israel of Golda Meir or Yitzhak Rabin. This is a government now controlled not only by rightwing extremists but by religious zealots. National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, has been convicted in Israeli courts on terrorism charges. He is the head of the police. Finance Minister Smotrich, in charge of the occupied West Bank, is also an extreme racist and has called for the expulsion of Palestinians from the land. That is the current Israeli Finance Minister.

In January, Prime Minister Netanyahu said of Gaza: We provide minimal humanitarian aid if we want to achieve our war goals.

At the start of the war, the Israeli Defense Minister said--and I hope people hear this. The Israeli defense minister--ex-minister:

We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly . . . there will be no electricity, no food . . . no fuel. Everything [is] closed.

Former Israeli Defense Minister. That is what he said and, in fact, by and large, that is exactly how this war has been waged.

What this extremist government has done in Gaza is unspeakable, but what makes it even more painful is that much of this has been done with U.S. weapons and American taxpayer dollars. In the last year alone, the United States has provided $18 billion in military aid to Israel--$18 billion dollars. And, by the way, a few blocks from here, people are sleeping out on the street. And we have also delivered more than 50,000 tons of military equipment to Israel--50,000 tons.

In other words, the United States of America is complicit in all of these atrocities. We are funding these atrocities. That complicity must end, and that is what these resolutions are about. It is time to tell the Netanyahu government that they cannot use U.S. taxpayer dollars and American weapons in violation of United States and international law and our moral values.

Despite receiving 18 billion from U.S. taxpayers in the last year and being the largest historical recipient of U.S. foreign aid, the Netanyahu government has completely ignored--completely ignored--the repeated requests of President Biden and the U.S. Government.

It is time to make clear to Netanyahu that he cannot take American money, take American arms, and continue to blind U.S. foreign policy goals.

The U.S. Government wants a cease-fire for a hostage deal. Netanyahu has prevented a deal to preserve his coalition.

The U.S. Government wants more humanitarian aid to reach the desperate people in Gaza. Netanyahu is blocking that aid.

The U.S. Government wants to contain regional escalation. Netanyahu has refused diplomatic off-ramps and launched several reckless attacks without consulting the United States.

The U.S. Government wants to stop settlement expansion and settle the violence in the West Bank. Netanyahu and his Ministers have driven record settlement expansion and armed extremists settlers.

The U.S. Government wants a plan for postwar governance in Gaza. Netanyahu will not engage.

And by the way, blocking these sales would also be in keeping with actions taken by some of our closest allies. The United Kingdom suspended 30 arms export licenses after concluding there was an acceptable risk they could be used in violation of international law. Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands have taken similar steps. U.N. bodies have called for an end to the armed shipments fueling the conflict.

Time and time again, I have heard Members of the U.S. Senate come to this floor to denounce human rights violations taking place around the world. I have heard well-founded concerns about China's brutal reception of the Uighur ethnic minority. I have heard rightful outrage about Putin's brutal attacks against Ukraine and bombing of civilian installations. I have heard genuine concern about Iran's outrageous crackdown on peaceful protestors. I have heard repeated condemnations of Saudi Arabia's terrible treatment of women and political dissidents.

And on and on it goes. A lot of folks come to the floor to talk about human rights and what is going on throughout the world. But what I want to say to all those folks: Nobody is going to take anything you say with a grain of seriousness. You cannot condemn human rights around the world and then turn a blind eye to what the U.S. Government is now funding in Israel. People will laugh in your face. They will say to you: Are you concerned about China? Are you concerned about Russia? Are you concerned about Iran? Well, why are you funding the starvation of children in Gaza right now?

We must pass these resolutions from a legal perspective. The U.S. Government must obey the law. We must pass these resolutions from a moral perspective. The United States must not provide support to a government which has created one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history.

We must pass these resolutions for our own best foreign policy interests. If we do not demand that the countries we provide military assistance to obey international law, we will lose our creditability on the world stage.

With that, I would like to yield to Senator Merkley of Oregon.
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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, let me begin by pointing out--although it may not be obvious here in the Senate--that poll after poll shows that a strong majority of the American people oppose sending more weapons and military aid to fuel Netanyahu's vicious and destructive war machine. I would also add, because some of this has come up, that according to a poll commissioned by J Street, a pro-Israel Jewish organization, 62 percent of Jewish Americans support withholding weapons shipments to Israel until Netanyahu agrees to an immediate cease-fire.

Let me just mention a few of the organizations that think the time is now to stop giving money to Netanyahu, who ignores America's laws and our values--some of the major trade unions in America: the SEIU, the United Auto Workers, United Electrical Workers; Amnesty International; the Arab American Institute; the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests; the Friends Committee on National Legislation; Oxfam America; the Episcopal Church; the United Church of Christ; the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society; the American Baptist Churches USA; the Global Ministries of the Christian Church.

These resolutions have strong support all across this country by people who understand that we cannot continue to fund the horrific war machine and the atrocities Netanyahu is committing.

These resolutions come down to a few basic points. First of all, should the U.S. Government obey the law? And the law is very clear that we as a government cannot fund other countries that are in violation of international human rights or that are blocking humanitarian aid.

Now, somebody here wants to come down and say: I don't like that law. The U.S. Government should give money to any government it wants no matter what they do, no matter how atrocious their behavior is.

Come down and change the law, but that ain't the law now. The law is based on moral principles that say: When the United States provides military arms, those countries that receive those weapons cannot violate international human rights and cannot block humanitarian aid. And that is precisely what Israel is doing. That is not me who says that; that is what virtually every humanitarian organization working in Gaza right now says.

So if you believe we should obey the law, you have to vote for these resolutions.

No. 2, from a moral perspective, we cannot turn a blind eye to one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the modern history of this world--a humanitarian disaster we are significantly funding.

My colleagues, as we speak, thousands and thousands of children in Gaza are starving to death.

In an area of 2.2 million people, 43,000 are dead. Over 100,000 have been injured. We cannot turn a blind eye to that humanitarian disaster, caused in part by U.S. financial support to Netanyahu.

Thirdly, I heard about the U.S. role in the world. Well, I will tell you that our role is significantly diminished if we continue to support Netanyahu and this humanitarian disaster that is currently taking place.

What is the moral standard that we have to critique other countries? How do you critique Iran for their terrible human rights record? How do you critique China or Russia for their terrible human rights records? Because you get here on the floor of the Senate and you make that critique, and people around the world will laugh at you, and they will say: Don't give us advice. Don't criticize us when you have supported the mass starvation of children with your taxpayer dollars.

This is a very important vote. It is an important vote because it tells the world that we will not continue supporting a government which violates American law, which violates international law, and which violates the humanitarian standards that I would hope every Member of this Senate upholds.

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Mr. SANDERS. I would ask for the yeas and nays.

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