Rep. Zeldin calls for House to take up anti-BDS legislation, 'forcefully condemn' anti-Semitism

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Attorney General Bill Barr set to address MS-13 gang violence

New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin says the Trump administration has focused on taking down MS-13 leadership.

Rep. Lee Zeldin and several of his House Republican colleagues are hoping to force a vote on a bill meant to oppose the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Republicans on Wednesday filed a discharge petition on H.R. 336, the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019.

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If the petition gets a majority of House votes – 218 – H.R. 336 will go back to the House floor. The legislation passed the Senate on a widely bipartisan vote in February.

Zeldin, R-N.Y., has been outspoken about what he sees as a rise of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred infiltrating U.S. politics, college campuses and the halls of Congress.

“We need to send a strong statement as a body that we stand against all this anti-Semitism, all of the anti-Israel hate,” Zeldin said on “America’s Newsroom” Thursday. “Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle East. And it’s a relationship we should be strengthening, not weakening.”

He said that Congress must do more than merely make a statement, they must pass legislation “with teeth.”

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H.R. 336 would authorize security assistance to Israel for 10 years and allow state and local governments to adopt laws to divest public funds from entities that boycott Israel, according to a press release from Zeldin’s office.

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“We should be uniting Congress in the effort to strengthen our relationship with our greatest ally, we should be uniting Congress to stand unequivocally, forcefully in condemning anti-Semitism,” Zeldin said.