With the majority of Americans supporting an immediate ceasefire and a growing number of House Democrats opposing any new U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, take action with CAIR by urging your House Representative to reject any new military aid packages to Israel and support an immediate ceasefire as Congress reconvenes on Tuesday, April 9, following a two-week recess.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION: TELL CONGRESS NO MORE MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL
“CAIR is calling on all Americans to demand that Congress immediately stop providing new weapons or aid to Israel to carry out its genocide. Given the ongoing political uncertainty surrounding competing factions and parties attempting to approve an aid package for Israel, we must make it clear to our elected representatives that we will not be complicit in Israel’s war crimes. The use of U.S. weapons in Israel’s genocide of over 33,000 Palestinian men, women, and children underscores the urgency of this demand,” said CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw.
Speaker Johnson has announced that the House of Representatives will move forward with a new aid package “when we return after this work period,” underscoring the need for all Americans to double down in sending a new round of constituent messages to Congress. That package could either see combined military funding for Ukraine and Israel or two stand-alone bills.
Speaker Johnson’s Republican party holds a narrow 218-213 majority in the House of Representatives, with a significant number opposing any new aid packages, including Ukraine.
In December, Democrats in the Senate adopted an aid package for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel, which would supply Israel with over $14 billion in military aid. However, this package, along with a failed $17 billion Republican military aid package for Israel in the House, has failed to gain traction or approval.
The recent Israeli military targeted killing of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza has spurred a growing number of Democrats to reconsider their stance on military aid.
In an April 5th letter to the Biden administration, 37 Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stated, “In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers.”
Before the two-week congressional recess, 191 Democrats had signed onto a separate Democratic-led discharge petition opposed by CAIR and other groups aiming to force a vote on the $14 billion military aid package to Israel. With Democrats holding 213 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, there is also potential for disaffected Republicans to collaborate with Democrats, achieving the 218 votes needed to initiate a procedural discharge petition and bypass Speaker Johnson’s block.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com