Israel boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate

December 19, 2018 3oliver

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is scrambling at the eleventh hour to include controversial language in a year-end spending bill prohibiting U.S. companies from joining boycotts of Israel launched by the United Nations or similar groups.

Sen. Ben CardinBenjamin (Ben) Louis CardinIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate Dem senator: McConnell does not want a shutdown but must stand up to Trump Overnight Defense: Senate moves toward vote on bill ending support for Saudi war | House GOP blocks Yemen war votes for rest of year | Trump throws uncertainty into Pentagon budget | Key Dem to leave transgender troop ban to courts MORE (D-Md.) and other members are pressing congressional leaders to attach his Israel anti-boycott legislation to a sweeping omnibus spending package — a move that could complicate efforts to prevent a government shutdown.

“There is bipartisan interest in this issue, but everything is still being negotiated and nothing has been decided,” said one senior House Republican aide.

Supporters of the measure say it would simply expand an existing prohibition on companies participating in anti-Israel boycotts led by foreign governments to those orchestrated by international governmental organizations (IGOs).

“We don’t want our companies to be forced into implementing other countries’ decisions to boycott U.S. allies,” said a Cardin spokesperson.

But the provision has been hammered by human rights and free speech groups, which contend the proposal prioritizes the concerns of a foreign government over constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment protections. Those protections, the critics maintain, include the right to participate in the so-called boycott, divestment, sanctions movement (BDS) — an international campaign designed to press Israel on human rights issues surrounding the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict — regardless who is coordinating those activities.

“This bill sets a precedent for penalizing First Amendment actions because they’re unpopular or because the government doesn’t agree with them,” said Manar Waheed, senior legislative and advocacy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“This is a step on a road to the erosion of First Amendment rights in a way that will impact movements and viewpoints for the future.”

A decision to attach the language to an enormous, year-end spending bill is sure to stir controversy, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, where a number of liberal lawmakers have accused Israel of human rights abuses amid the decades-long Palestinian conflict.

Rep. Betty McCollumBetty Louise McCollumIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate Key Dem lawmaker objects to building new Redskins stadium on federal land Dem lawmaker: Trump ‘trying to aid our adversaries at the expense of national security’ MORE (D-Minn.) sounded a warning last week that congressional leaders are working serendipitously “to slip language into a must-pass spending bill that criminalizes politically motivated boycotts against Israel.”

“The Israel Anti-Boycott Act violates our right to free speech,” McCollum tweeted.

The office of House Minority Leader Nancy PelosiNancy Patricia D’Alesandro PelosiIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate McConnell predicts no shutdown: Trump ‘flexible’ on border deal Ocasio-Cortez had highest percentage of small donors in midterms: report MORE (D-Calif.), who’s poised to take the Speaker’s gavel next year, declined to comment on the merits of the legislation.

A senior House Democratic aide suggested the issue will necessarily be punted to next year, if talks over an omnibus break down and Congress is forced to pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR).

“More likely is a CR so this wouldn’t have a place to go,” the aide said.

The office of Senate Minority Leader Charles SchumerCharles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerMake Trump own the shutdown over his ill-advised border wall More than a tantrum McConnell’s marijuana conundrum: Cory Gardner MORE (D-N.Y.) declined to comment on the record, while a spokesman for Sen. Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate Schumer blasts GOP request for immigration ‘slush fund’ Trump: ‘Too early to say’ if shutdown will be averted MORE (R-Ky.) said the majority leader has no intention of negotiating the spending bill through the press.

Co-sponsored by Sen. Rob PortmanRobert (Rob) Jones PortmanIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate Drug company to offer cheaper opioid overdose treatment after hiking price 600 percent The Hill’s Morning Report — Presented by T-Mobile — Congress to act soon to avoid shutdown MORE (R-Ohio), Cardin’s anti-boycott legislation is just one of many provisions lawmakers from both parties are clamoring to attach to the enormous spending bill, which is among the last pieces of legislation to be considered before the year’s end.

The legislation is a response to a resolution adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2016, when it sought to establish a database of international companies doing business in disputed territories occupied by Israel, including the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Supporters of the proposal say it marks a simple expansion of anti-boycott language adopted in 1977 as part of amendments to the Export Administration Act, which sought to protect U.S. companies from being forced to engage in foreign-backed boycotts against their better judgment. At the time, the concern was the Arab League boycott against Israel, which featured black lists designed to pressure international companies to join the cause.

Bill supporters say there’s an urgency to passing the legislation now, since the UNHRC is moving forward with its database.

“It’s that movement from the international governmental organizations — the UNHRC specifically — that is driving some of the increased urgency of trying to get this done sooner rather than later,” said Cardin’s spokesperson. “Because they’re not waiting for Congress. They’re just plowing ahead.”

The critics see another reason behind the push to move the legislation this month. Democrats are set to take control of the House next year, and several incoming freshmen on the Democrats’ side have been vocal supporters of the BDS movement, including Rep.-elects Rashida TlaibRashida Harbi TlaibIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate Liberal groups launch effort to get progressives on key House committees Democrats must stand up for Israel MORE (D-Mich.), the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, and Ilhan OmarIlhan OmarIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate Ilhan Omar: Every day Trump gets closer to being impeached Democrats must stand up for Israel MORE (D-Minn.), the first Somali-American ever elected to Congress.

“There’s very much a reason that members of Congress, leadership in Congress, is trying to push this through a spending bill without a debate before the new Congress comes in, and that’s because they know they’ll have less support for legislation that violates the First Amendment in this way in the new Congress,” said the ACLU’s Waheed.

Backing the critic’s argument, two federal courts have ruled this year against Israel anti-boycott laws passed by state lawmakers in Kansas and Arizona. Both of those suits were brought by the ACLU, which has launched a similar challenge in Arkansas and filed yet another in Texas on Tuesday.

“This is very clearly part of a larger effort to silence speech on this issue,” said Waheed.

The debate arrives as congressional leaders are scrambling to pass a series of seven federal spending bills before midnight Friday to prevent a partial government shutdown. The negotiations have been entangled in President TrumpDonald John TrumpREAD: Transcript of James Comey’s interview with House Republicans Klobuchar on 2020: ‘I do think you want voices from the Midwest’ Israel boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate MORE’s demand that funding for the Homeland Security Department include $5 billion for new construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall that was central to his 2016 campaign — a demand that’s a nonstarter with Democratic leaders.

Some supporters of the anti-boycott legislation said they’re in no hurry to rush the legislation through Congress this year.

Rep. Eliot EngelEliot Lance EngelIsrael boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate House lawmakers delay decision on Saudi Arabia pending investigation GOP-controlled Senate breaks with Trump on Saudi vote MORE (D-N.Y.), who’s in line to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the next Congress, said it will be extremely tough to get anything “of import” into an omnibus bill this month.

“We’re realistic in terms of what can be gotten and what cannot be gotten,” Engel said.

“I’m not so worried about it, because we’re going to take over next year,” he continued. “If we don’t get to it now, we’ll have plenty of time in January and February to hit the ground running.”