Washington D.C. – Earlier today on the House Floor, Foreign Affairs Lead Republican Michael McCaul (R-TX) offered a motion that would have amended S.J. Res. 7 to oppose the global movement to boycott the State of Israel, known as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Lead Republican McCaul issued the following statement in response to an accusation that the motion was offered solely to “kill” the resolution:

“The motion I offered is a regular part of the legislative process. If adopted, the bill as amended would then proceed to the Senate. Plain and simple. 

“The real issue is the Democrat Leadership’s unwillingness to bring an anti-BDS bill to the floor. It has been three months since they have been in charge and they have taken no action. They are turning a blind eye to this real problem. 

“I call on Leader Hoyer to immediately bring up either the House or Senate version of the “Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019,” to the floor so we can take swift action on BDS, better support Israel and Jordan, and sanction the brutal Assad regime and its backers.”

NOTE: S. 1 passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support on February 5, 2019. H.R. 336, the companion to S.1, was introduced in the House on January 8, 2019. There has been no House legislative action on these measures. In February, Lead Republicans McCaul and McHenry sent House Speaker Pelosi a letter urging her to bring S. 1 to the House Floor.

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