Members of Congress are wrapping up August recess in their home districts and preparing to return to Capitol Hill. And if public polling is any indication, they’ve been facing constituents who want to know why their taxpayer dollars are enabling the carnage in Gaza, and what Congress is doing to put an end to it.
If they are smart, lawmakers can work to end U.S. complicity by supporting the “Block the Bombs” bill, a proposal to block sales of bombs and explosive shells to Israel.
Introduced by Reps. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) in May, the bill, H.R. 3565, is the best benchmark for House legislators’ commitment to stop arming atrocities in Gaza. It is the only House bill proposed to do so, and it is gaining momentum, with 30 other legislators already cosponsoring.
Block the Bombs would prohibit the U.S. government from selling Israel the weapons most implicated in the decimation of Gaza: bombs, bomb guidance kits, artillery shells, and mortar shells. When used in populated areas, these types of weapons kill civilians and destroy the vital infrastructure that keeps them alive. Extensive documentation by human rights groups and investigators ties these weapons to war crimes in Gaza.
The Israeli military has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians in its nearly two-year assault on Gaza. Thousands more are dying from starvation and disease caused by Israeli government restrictions on humanitarian aid and attacks on vital medical, water, and sanitation infrastructure. The latest alert from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — the world's leading body on hunger — warned that the “worst-case scenario of Famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip.”
All of this is made possible with U.S. weapons and funding. The Biden administration sent an enormous amount of weapons to the Israeli military in the first ten months of the war alone. Tens of billions of dollars in weapons sales have gone forward since, and the Trump administration removed the limited restrictions President Biden put in place. In February this year alone, the Trump administration notified Congress of over $11 billion more in lethal weapons to Israel.
These weapons kill and maim Palestinian civilians in Gaza. In March, the Israeli military dropped a U.S.-made bomb on a crowded cafe, killing at least 26 people. In April, Israeli forces used another American-made bomb to attack a displacement camp, killing dozens of Palestinians. U.S. weapons sales also send a clear political signal of American support for Israel’s conduct and the near total siege of Gaza.
The United States has the leverage to end this catastrophe and demand humanitarian access, the protection of civilians, and a ceasefire — but refuses to use it.
The U.S. Senate has taken multiple votes aimed at blocking arms sales to Israel using the Joint Resolution of Disapproval mechanism built into the Arms Export Control Act, the main body of legislation governing U.S. arms transfers. In July, 27 Senators voted to block a sale of rifles to Israel — the largest number of U.S. senators opposing arms to Israel to date — citing Israeli restrictions on aid as children in Gaza starve to death before our eyes.
But these sorts of votes aren’t possible in the House of Representatives due to differences in procedural rules. As a result, House members have had few clear-cut opportunities to vote to stop arms sales to Israel. A recent vote didn’t deal with the weapons used to kill civilians in Gaza, and past votes have centered on huge funding packages covering a wide range of purposes.
Without a record of votes, the key question constituents should ask their representatives is: have you co-sponsored the Block the Bombs bill?
Sixty percent of Americans oppose the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza. If that statistic is any indication, the Block the Bombs bill has ample room to build support in the House of Representatives. Cosponsorship of the bill sends a clear message that many lawmakers have been too slow to say: as Palestinian civilians die of starvation, under gunfire, and in near-constant bombings, American weapons sales to the Israeli government cannot continue.
A majority of Senate Democrats voted last month against a major arms sale to Israel. It’s time for the House to catch up, and Block the Bombs is a way to do that.
