FMEP Legislative Round-Up January 17, 2025

Resource

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Selected Members on the Record
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

New:

1. Bills & Resolutions

(IHRA//TARGETING CAMPUS FREE SPEECH/PROTEST FOR PALESTINIAN LIVES/RIGHTS) HR 406 (text): Introduced 1/15/25 by Yakym (R-IN) and Scholten (D-MI), “To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education, as a condition of participation in programs under title IV of such Act, to include a prohibition of antisemitic conduct in all documents relating to student or employee conduct.”  Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. Also see press release – Reps. Yakym, Scholten Reintroduce Legislation to Combat Antisemitism on College Campuses [NOTE: This bill would enforce the IHRA definition of antisemitism on US campuses, without mentioning that it is the IHRA definition and without mentioning the Israel-focused examples of “contemporary antisemitism” that accompany the IHRA definition; the text differs from the 2024 version, which explicitly cited the IHRA definition by name.]

(TARGETING FOREIGN STUDENTS WHO PROTEST FOR PALESTINIAN LIVES/RIGHTS)  HR 414:  Introduced 1/15/25 by Bilirakis (R-FL), “To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to strengthen student visa background checks and improve the monitoring of foreign students in the United States, and for other purposes. Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

(TARGETING THE HOUTHIS) S. 70 (text): Introduced 1/13/25 by Cruz (R-TX) and 7 cosponsors (all Republicans), “A bill to require the imposition of sanctions with respect to Ansarallah and its officials, agents, or affiliates for acts of international terrorism.” Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Also see: Sen. Cruz Reintroduces Bill to Reimpose Terrorism Sanctions and Designate Iran-Controlled Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization

(TARGETING THE HOUTHIS) S. 145: Introduced 1/16/25 by Risch (R-ID) and 14 cosponsors (all Republicans), “A bill to require the redesignation of Ansarallah as a foreign terrorist organization.” Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Also see: Risch, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Designate Houthis as an FTO, Dismantle Iran’s Proxy

(NO US $$ FOR UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL) HR 400 (text): Introduced 1/14/25 by Roy (R-TX) and 6 cosponsors (all Republicans), “To prohibit contributions to the United Nations Human Rights Council, and for other purposes.” Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Also see Roy press release – Rep. Roy reintroduces bill to prevent taxpayer dollars from going to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council

(TARGETING IRAN) HR 348 (text): Introduced 1/13/24 by Kustoff (R-TN) and Gottheimer (D-NJ), “To require a report on oligarchs and parastatal entities of Iran, and for other purposes. Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Financial Services. Also see press release – Reps. Kustoff, Gottheimer Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Expose Corruption of Iranian Regime

(ACCOUNTABILITY FOR GENOCIDE/TERRORISM, WHEN IT SUITS US) HR 462: Introduced 1/15/25 by Steube (R-FL), “To prevent allocations of Special Drawing Rights at the International Monetary Fund for countries that are perpetrators of genocide or state sponsors of terrorism, and to prevent United States tax dollars from directly going to the Taliban or other terrorists or terrorist-harboring nations.“Referred to the Committees on Financial Services, and Foreign Affairs.

(NO FOREIGN FLAGS ON HOUSE FLOOR) H. Res. 49 (text): Introduced 1/16/25 by Cammack (R-FL) and having 12 cosponsors (all Republicans), “Prohibiting Members of the House of Representatives from bringing or displaying a flag of a foreign nation on the floor of the House, and for other purposes.” Referred to the House Committee on Rules. Note that Cammack’s press makes clear that the impetus for this bill was the display by some members of Ukrainian flags on the House floor. Speaking of Cammack and foreign flags… Cammack: Israeli flag outside her office shows her commitment to maintaining a strong relationship between the two nations (WCJB 2/18/21); Republican vows to fly Israel flag outside Congress office next to Rashida Tlaib (Times of Israel 1/7/21). Also see: GOP lawmaker wears Israeli military uniform to Capitol Hill (The Hill 10/13/23); X-post 1/9/25 from Josh Reubner, “Rep. Randy Weber wears an Israeli flag tie on the floor of the House as he argues for Israel to be allowed to continue its genocidal violence against Palestinians in Gaza without facing any accountability for its heinous acts.“; Fetterman waves Israeli flag at protesters demanding cease-fire (ABC 27 11/11/23)

(TARGETING ACADEMIA) HR 542: Introduced 1/16/25 by Torres (D-NY) and Garbarino (R-NY), “To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit institutions of higher education from receiving gifts from certain countries, and for other purposes.” Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

(MIDDLE EAST NORMALIZATION) HR XXX: Jewish Insider reports that Rep. Bacon (R-NE) “introduced a bill requiring an assessment of potential cooperative opportunities with Middle East partners to protect space and satellite assets from Iran…” As of this writing that bill does not appear in the Congressional Record  (the link provided by Jewish Insider is to a HR 10353, introduced in the 118th Congress)

2. Letters

3. Hearings

Confirmation-hearings-palooza!

January 21, 2025: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Elise Stefanik as US Ambassador to the UN. Also see: Just Security 1/15/25: Stefanik’s Senate Confirmation Hearings Bring Mix of Worry and Opportunity at UN

January 20, 2025: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a business meeting to consider the nomination of Marco Rubio as U.S. Secretary of State.

January 15, 2025: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will held an extremely friendly, largely convivial hearing to consider the nomination of Marco Rubio as U.S. Secretary of State. Full video of the hearing (with auto-transcript) is here. A huge focus of the hearing was on Israel and Israel-related issues, and included (among other things), Rubio in effect agreeing with referring to the West Bank and “Judea and Samaria”; promising to remove sanctions on terrorist settlers in the West Bank; and promising to revoke visas of people of any foreigner in the US who is a “supporter of Hamas” (a term that initiatives like the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther use to describe literally anyone advocating for Palestinian lives/rights, or criticizing Israel’s actions toward Palestinians).

January 14, 2025: The Senate Armed Services Committee held a sh**-show of a hearing (video here) to consider the nomination of Mr. Peter B. Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. Also see: Hegseth: Israel should kill ‘every last member of Hamas’ (Jewish Insider 1/14/25); Pete Hegseth in confirmation hearing: ‘I’m a Christian and I robustly support the state of Israel’ (The Forward 1/14/25); Emmer (R-MN) X-post 1/14/25“On January 20th, Americans will FINALLY have leaders in the White House who unapologetically support our ally, Israel, and stand up to barbaric terrorists. @PeteHegseth: ‘I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas.’” [with video clip]

News from other confirmation hearings

4. Selected Members on the Record

Gaza Ceasefire

  • Many, many Democrats issued press releases and/or posted on social media in support of the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire agreement and giving credit to Biden and in some cases, also Biden and Trump. Many, many Republicans issued press releases praising the ceasefire as a Trump accomplishment, with many taking the opportunity to criticize the Biden Admin. Check websites/social media accounts to find specific statements. On both sides, this includes many members who for more than a year have argued that supporting/calling for a ceasefire is antisemitic, anti-Israel, and pro-Hamas. Also see:
  • Cotton (R-AR) 1/15/25: X-post – “Why is lame duck Joe Biden trying to cram down a bad deal on Israel on his way out the door? The only “deal” should be unconditional surrender by Hamas—which is already nearly destroyed—and return of ALL hostages. Instead, we hear reports that Biden is demanding that Israel withdraw from key terrain in Gaza, release dozens of hardened terrorists for every one hostage, and get back only SOME hostages? Here’s the ‘deal’ to offer Hamas and its patron, Iran: you have five days to release ALL the hostages or we ‘unleash hell’.

Targeting Free Speech/Academia/Protest via Weaponization of Fight Against Antisemitism

  • Wahlberg (R-MI) 1/15/25: Education and Workforce Committee Adopts Rules, Oversight Plans for 119th Congress. Note that in the 119th Congress Oversight Plan of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, literally the first “priority” identified by the Committee is: “Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Americanism in the Education System: The Committee will continue to conduct oversight on the explosion of virulent antisemitism and anti-Americanism at our educational institutions across the United States and widespread failures by these institutions to meaningfully address and correct these problems. The Committee will examine institutions’ failures to uphold their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and other federal laws, institutions’ failures to enforce their own rules and to maintain safe and uninterrupted learning environments, and how colleges, universities, and K-12 schools receiving substantial federal support have become incubators of antisemitism and anti-Americanism.
  • Smith (R-MO) 1/14/25: Chairman Smith Opening Statement – Ways and Means 119th Congress Organizational Meeting [text of 119th Oversight Plan; excerpt: “Tax-Exempt Organizations. Oversight of Federal tax laws, regulations, and filing requirements that affect tax-exempt organizations, particularly charities, foundations, and political groups operating as social welfare organizations. Evaluate overall IRS efforts to monitor tax-exempt organizations, identify areas of non-compliance, prevent abuse, and ensure timely disclosure to the public about tax-exempt organization activities and finances. Review IRS tax-exempt application process and agency oversight of new exempt organizations. This review comes in the context of the involvement of tax-exempt groups in the troubling explosion of antisemitism in the United States following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists.“]

Other stuff

  • Quigley (D-IL) 1/14/25: Quigley Delivers Floor Speech Reiterating Call for Arab-led Peacekeeping Force in Gaza
  • Cotton (R-AR) 1/13/25: X-post – “60 Minutes (which recently hid Kamala’s transcript and doctored her interview to help her) runs a disgraceful hit job against Israel. 60 Minutes forgot that Hamas started the war, Hamas still holds American hostages, and any damage in Gaza is the sole fault of Hamas.
  • Torres (D-NY) 1/10/25: X-post – “Katherine Frank, a former professor from Columbia University, was found to have engaged in discrimination against Israeli students. She did not leave voluntarily. She was all but fired. Good riddance!

5. Selected Media

House Launches Pro-Settlement/Greater Israel Caucus

  • YNet 1/17/25: Initiative launches West Bank support caucus in US Congress [“Congressional Friends of Judea and Samaria aims to lift sanctions from Jewish settlers in the West Bank and address the area with its Israeli naming convention”
  • Jewish Press 1/17/25: Tenney Launches Congressional Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus
  • The Washington Stand 1/16/25: Congresswoman Launches Historic ‘Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus’
  • Jewish News Syndicate 1/16/25: Tenney launches congressional Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus [“‘We gotta start telling the truth,’ the New York congresswoman told JNS. ‘We need to be the catalyst.'” and “More than a dozen members of Congress, all Republicans, attended the event or were listed by Tenney as members of the new caucus. Tenney said that she hoped that the caucus would gain bipartisan support and said that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had expressed interest in joining. Other attendees included Knesset member Ohad Tal and Tony Perkins, a pastor and head of the Family Research Council.“].
  • Lawler (R-NY) X-post 1/16/25: “I was honored to speak at this week’s kickoff event for the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus. I am excited join the caucus and look forward to working with them to advance pro-Israel policies in the 119th Congress.” [Reminder: Lawler is the new Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa – X-post accompanied by photos with backdrop and crossed flags on the dais displaying the name of the new caucus alongside the logo of the Shomron Regional Council (the Israeli settlement body of the northern West Bank), and with members of the new caucus posing with plaques showing a map of Greater Israel]
  • COL Live 1/12/25: Shomron Delegation Visits Ohel Ahead of Trump Inauguration [“Dagan, alongside Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (Republican – NY-24), will launch the Congressional Caucus for Judea and Samaria in Washington, D.C., later this week. The caucus, dedicated to strengthening settlement efforts and garnering international support for Judea and Samaria, is set to provide a vital platform for bolstering ties between Israel, its supporters in Congress, and the American public. The delegation’s visit includes meetings with members of Congress and the Senate, Jewish leaders across the U.S., and senior figures in the new administration, aiming to deepen connections and rally support for settlement initiatives. Dagan is scheduled to deliver speeches at various conferences and meet with senators, congressmen, prominent pastors, evangelical leaders, senior Republican officials, and representatives of the new administration. These efforts are part of a broader initiative to strengthen settlement ties within the U.S. political and diplomatic landscape.”]

Other Priorities of the 119th Congress

  • Newsweek 1/16/25: Our New Government Must Stand Definitively Against Antisemitism [“From the legislative side, despite the unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents across the country—including everything from harassment to hate crimes—Congress has utterly failed to pass any meaningful legislation to help protect the Jewish community. In May, the Republican led House did pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act, with broad bipartisan support. When it got to the <href=”https://www.newsweek.com/topic/senate”>Senate however, former Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sat on it for six months before halfheartedly attempting to drop it into a larger legislative package, an effort which flamed out in a flurry of predictable politics. Reports indicate that the bill would have passed the Senate with wide bipartisan support, but was not called out of fear that a vote might have exposed some antisemitism on the progressive left. And so instead of protecting Jewish people, legislators protected themselves. Moving forward, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) should make lemonade from lemons, and build off the bipartisan momentum created by the AAA to pass an even broader version of the bill. The AAA simply codified Trump’s executive order requiring authorities to consider the IHRA definition when assessing unlawful discriminatory behavior under Title VI, and while it would have gone a long way towards solving an equal protection problem that has long plagued the Jewish community, it would not have gone far enough. Since the time that the AAA was filed it has unfortunately only become clearer that the Jewish community needs their protections clarified in other contexts as well. An excellent model for the new Congress to follow is the Define to Defeat Act, which was introduced in the House by outgoing Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY). That bill simply extends the AAA to include other federal anti-discrimination laws under the exact same framework, and it should benefit from the exact same wide bipartisan support: It is hard to imagine, for example, lawmakers supportive of Jewish people being properly protected under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (which deals with higher education), but not, for example, under the employment provisions in Title VII of that very same law.”]
  • Jewish Insider 1/16/25: House Republicans urge Trump to immediately nominate an Abraham Accords ambassador
  • Jewish Insider 1/16/25: Gov. Ron DeSantis taps Florida AG Moody to succeed Rubio in the Senate [“As attorney general, Moody expressed unwavering support for Israel in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and has prioritized cracking down on rising statewide antisemitism in her job — with a focus on scrutinizing Florida’s college campuses.“]
  • Atlantic Council 1/15/25: Representatives Brian Mast and Gregory Meeks on the role of Congress in US foreign policy as Trump takes office
  • The Hill 1/14/25: Johnson appoints Virginia Foxx as Rules Committee chair
  • Jewish Insider 1/14/25: Top progressive Jayapal to join House Foreign Affairs Committee
  • Foreign Policy in Focus 1/13/25: Washington Doubles Down on Arming Israel
  • Washington Examiner 1/12/25: Trump calls Fetterman impressive after Mar-a-Lago meeting [“Trump said his impression of Fetterman early on was that he was very liberal, but that impression started to change as he has watched the Pennsylvania senator navigate his support for Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, and, of course, after sitting down to meet him face to face and have a conversation.”]
  • Washington Free Beacon 1/10/25: ‘Disgraceful’: House Ed Chair Slams Biden’s Lame Duck Anti-Semitism Settlements With Rutgers, California, Hopkins [“The Trump administration should closely examine these agreements and explore options to impose real consequences on schools,’ says Rep. Tim Walberg“]

Gaza – Ceasefire & More

Getting Set for NEXT elections

The ICC

Other