Sens. Cruz, Hagerty Introduce Bill to Block Biden Administration’s Plan to Open a US Consulate Undermining Israeli Sovereignty over Jerusalem
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), along with 34 of their Republican colleagues, today introduced the Upholding the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Law Act of 2021, a bill to protect the full and faithful implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and block the Biden Administration’s efforts to subvert the law.
Cosponsors include Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
Upon introduction, Sen. Cruz said:
“When President Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, he rightfully acknowledged the undivided and eternal capital of Israel and unequivocally sent a message of our loyalty. Under President Biden’s watch, we have abandoned our friends and allies, including Israel, and emboldened our enemies. The U.S. should not be in the business of dictating to Israel what it should do with its sovereign territories or equivocating between Israel and its enemies. I am proud to join Sen. Hagerty and my Republican colleagues on this bill to ensure President Biden and his State Department lawfully uphold the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and counter their reflexive antipathy for our Israeli allies.”
Sen. Hagerty added:
“President Biden continues to push forward his inflammatory plan to establish a second mission in Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem—one for the Israelis and a second one for the Palestinians—despite the fact that this plan violates the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and is completely opposed by the Government of Israel. It is regrettable that the Biden Administration insists on making moves that divide the United States and Israel when our two nations should be laser-focused on stopping Iran’s terror-sponsoring regime from going nuclear, on countering growing threats from Hizballah, Hamas, and other Iran-backed terrorist groups, and on strengthening and expanding the historic Abraham Accords that truly have increased peace in the Middle East. The Trump Administration kept its promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish State, and Congress must do everything in our power to strengthen our posture.”
BACKGROUND
Under the Trump Administration, the United States implemented the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel on December 6, 2017, by moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, and by closing the U.S. Consulate General for the Palestinians and merging its functions into U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem’s new Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU) under the U.S. Ambassador to Israel’s Chief of Mission authority. Prior to the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995’s full and faithful implementation, the U.S. consulate for the Palestinians had previously operated completely outside of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel’s Chief of Mission authority.
Read the full text of the bill here.
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