Largest Caucus in House Endorses Bill to Block US Bombs to Israel

The Congressional Progressive Caucus over the weekend officially endorsed a bill that would block the sale of many offensive US weapons to Israel, a move that coincides with growing outrage from US voters from across the political spectrum who say they have seen enough of American complicity with the genocidal humanitarian blockade and bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

"The United States cannot continue to send bombs we know will be used to commit terrible atrocities in Gaza,” said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the CPC, the largest single caucus in Congress, with nearly one hundred members.

The Block the Bombs Act, first introduced in May by Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.) and now backed by 49 co-sponsors, calls for a prohibition on the sale of a variety of US weapons and a limitation on military services to the Israeli government, accused of committing a genocide in Gaza.

The vote by the caucus, which took place Saturday and was first reported by Zeteo, marks a historic shift—even for the most progressive group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill—that provides "a significant boost to efforts to hold Israel accountable for its genocidal war in Gaza."

While the CPC acknowledged that the legislation, H.R. 3565, "targets the most destructive and indiscriminate weapons systems, such as BLU-109 bunker buster bombs, 2,000-pound bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), 120mm tank rounds, and 155mm artillery shells," it does not put restrictions on what it terms "defensive systems," such the Iron Dome missile shield.

"Netanyahu and Trump are a lethal, unaccountable, extremist duo," said Ramirez in a statement on Sunday. “The Block the Bombs bill is the first step toward oversight and accountability for the murder of children with U.S.-made, taxpayer-funded weapons. In the face of authoritarian leaders perpetrating a genocidal campaign, Block the Bombs is the minimum action Congress must take. I am proud to be part of a caucus of progressive leaders who are challenging policies that destroy life, rob our children of futures, or dehumanize our neighbors."

Last week, despite a finding just earlier by the UN Commission of Inquiry that Israel is, in fact, perpetrating genocide in Gaza, the US vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, now undergoing a famine in which hundreds of people—young people and old—have died of starvation and otherwise preventable disease.

In a Saturday op-ed on Common Dreams, Peace Action president Kevin Martin said it's way beyond time for the US to end its arming of Israel, and he heralded Ramirez's bill, though not perfect, as the best vehicle in the moment for doing that.

"The bill is as close as we have to a de facto arms embargo on Israel," argued Martin, "as it would ban transfers of seven specific offensive weapons systems, from bunker-busting bombs to tank ammunition to white phosphorus artillery munitions.

"The Biden Administration’s support for Israel was bad, but predictably, Trump has been worse, accelerating transfers of bombs and guns with monolithic Republican," argued Martin, "and far too much Democratic, support, in spite of Israel’s clear violations of U.S. and international law in its mass killing of civilians and denial of life-saving humanitarian aid to Gaza."

DropSite News co-founder Ryan Grim emphasized the historic nature of the vote in a social media post following Saturday's news.

“Historically, the CPC had resisted weighing in at all on Israel because so many of its members were ‘progressive except for Palestine,'" said Grim.

"That era is fading," he added, "this endorsement is a major signal."