South Dakota--111th Congress (2009-2010)
Senator |
Boxer/Isakson Letter |
Boxer/Isakson Letter |
Total |
|||||
Tim Johnson (D) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1
|
-1 |
|
-1 |
-1 |
-6 |
John Thune (R) |
-1 |
-2 |
-1
|
-1 |
|
-1 |
-1 |
-7 |
Senate
1. S.Res.10. Title: “A resolution recognizing the
right of
2. Dodd
Letter. Comment: This AIPAC-initiated “Dear Colleague” letter to President
Obama urges him to “take into account the risks” Israel will take in signing a
peace agreement with the Palestinians, as if Palestinians face no risks in
signing an agreement with an Israeli government that consistently violates
human rights, international law, and even previous agreements it has
signed. The letter is also premised on
the biased notion that only Palestinians and Arabs bear responsibility for
bringing about peace, and that Israel is free of any responsibility to take
steps in that direction. The letter
reads as if these Senators are stuck in some parallel universe where
Palestinians are occupying
3. Bayh/Risch
Letter. Comment: This “Dear Colleague” letter urges President Obama
to pressure Arab
states to normalize relations with
4. Boxer/Isakson
Letter. Comment: This
AIPAC-inspired “Dear Colleague” letter attempts to exert pressure on the
Obama
Administration to paper over its policy differences with Israel and
solve them
“amicably” instead of correctly confronting it over continued settlement
expansion. The letter also blames
Palestinians for “a growing list of unprecedented preconditions” rather
than
Israel’s intransigence on illegal settlement activity for the impasse in
negotiations. Scoring: -2 sponsor,
-1 cosponsor. Last Major Action:
Sent to Secretary of State with 76 signatures, 3/29/10.
5.
S.Res.548. Title:
“A resolution to express the sense of the Senate that Israel has an
undeniable
right to self-defense, and to condemn the recent destabilizing actions
by
extremists aboard the ship Mavi Marmara.” Comment: This
outrageous
resolution attempts to justify Israel’s illegal attack on the Gaza
Freedom
Flotilla and its illegal blockade of the occupied Palestinian Gaza
Strip. It libelously refers to the Gaza
Freedom Flotilla as a “violent attack and provocation by extremists” and
condemns any civil society effort to break Israel’s collective
punishment of
Gaza Strip residents. Scoring:
-2 sponsor, -1 cosponsor. Last Major
Action: Resolution
agreed to in Senate with an amendment and an amended preamble
by Voice Vote, 6/24/2010.
6.
Reid/McConnell
Letter. Comment: This
extremely problematic “Dear Colleague” letter deems Israel blockade of
the
occupied Palestinian Gaza Strip—an act of collective punishment
considered to
be a war crime under the 4th Geneva Convention—to be “legal
under
international law.” It also
justifies Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, urges that
organizations participating in it be put on the terrorism list, and
urges the
Obama Administration to prevent any form of accountability in
international
forums for Israel’s illegal attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Scoring:
-2 sponsor, -1 cosponsor. Last
Major Action: Sent to President with 87 signatures, 6/21/2010.
7. Boxer/Isakson Letter. Comment: As direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were breaking down only weeks after their resumption, due to Israel’s refusal to extend its so-called partial ‘moratorium’ on settlements, this “Dear Colleague” letter falsely blamed Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran for derailing the talks, rather than Israel for its provocative and illegal actions. The letter also pressures the President to arm twist the Palestinians to remain at the negotiating table even as Israel continues to colonize land that supposedly will form an independent Palestinian state. Scoring: -2 sponsor, -1 co-sponsor. Last Major Action: Sent to President with 87 signatures, 9/27/2010
House First Session (2009)
Representative |
H.Res. 867 |
Moran/ Inglis Letter | McDermott/ Ellison Letter |
2009 Total |
||||||||
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-At Large) |
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
-1 |
-1
|
|
|
-2 |
House Second Session (2010)
Representative |
H.Res.
1391 |
H.R. 5501 |
Poe/Peters Letter |
H.Res.1765 |
2010 Total |
Overall Total |
|||||||
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-At Large) |
-1 |
-1 |
-2 |
-4 |
House
1. Capps
Letter. Comment: This letter
expresses concern about the breakdown of civilian infrastructure, including
electricity, medical care, water, and sewage treatment, in the Gaza Strip due
to
2. H.Res.34. Title:
“Recognizing
3. H.Res.66. Title: “Expressing the sense of the
House of Representatives concerning the humanitarian crisis in
4. H.Con.Res.29. Title:
“Expressing the sense of Congress that the United Nations should take immediate
steps to improve the transparency and accountability of the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the
5. Olver
Letter. Comment: This letter
acknowledges the acute humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and urges the
6. H.Res.130. Title:
“Expressing support for the appointment of former Senator George Mitchell as
Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and for other purposes.” Comment:
President Obama’s appointment of Senator George Mitchell was applauded by many
analysts who view him as an even-handed mediator, especially compared with many
previous Bush and Clinton appointments to similar positions. The resolution quotes Senator Mitchell on the
resolvability of conflicts and points to his experience in successfully
brokering peace in
7. H.Con.Res.111. Title:
“Recognizing the 61st anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel.” Comment:
Where should we start with this resolution chocked full of hyperbolic gushy sentiments
about how
8. Hoyer
Letter. Comments: This AIPAC-initiated “Dear Colleague” letter to President
Obama urges him to “take into account the risks” Israel will take in signing a
peace agreement with the Palestinians, as if Palestinians face no risks in
signing an agreement with an Israeli government that consistently violates
human rights, international law, and even previous agreements it has
signed. The letter is also premised on
the biased notion that only Palestinians and Arabs bear responsibility for
bringing about peace, and that Israel is free of any responsibility to take
steps in that direction. The letter
reads as if these Representatives are stuck in some parallel universe where
Palestinians are occupying
9.
H.Res.867. Title: “Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to
oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the ‘Report of
the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ in multilateral
fora.” Comment: This resolution condemns the Goldstone Report as
“irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy” and
instructs the Obama Administration to oppose consideration or endorsement of
the Goldstone Report. The resolution is
replete with inaccurate information about and misleading characterizations of
the Goldstone Report and undermines the commitment of the
10.
Moran/Inglis
Letter. Comment:
This
“Dear Colleague” letter
urges Secretary of State Clinton to pressure
11.
McDermott/Ellison
Letter. Comment:
This
“Dear Colleague” letter to
President Obama draws attention to the devastating humanitarian
consequences of
12.
H.Res.1191.
Title: “Urging
the
expedient relocation of the United States Embassy in Israel to
Jerusalem.” Comment:
This resolution attempts to pre-judge the negotiation over the final
status of
Jerusalem by insisting that the United States move its embassy there. It
also
declares Jerusalem “the undivided capital of the State of Israel,”
thereby
ignoring Israel’s disregard for the UN Partition Plan arrangement for
Jerusalem
as a “corpus separatum” and its illegal 43-year military occupation of
Palestinian East Jerusalem. Scoring:
-2 sponsor, -1 cosponsor. Last Major Action:
Referred to the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 3/18/2010.
13.
Hoyer/Cantor
Letter. Comment: This
AIPAC-inspired “Dear Colleague” letter attempts to exert pressure on the
Obama
Administration to paper over its policy differences with Israel and
solve them
“quietly, in trust and confidence” instead of correctly confronting it
over
continued settlement expansion. The letter also attempts to
downplay the Obama Administration’s policy
disagreements with Israel, referring to Israel’s intransigence on
expanding
settlements as a mere “misunderstanding”. Scoring:
-2 sponsor, -1 cosponsor. Last
Major Action: Sent to Secretary of State with 334 signatures,
3/26/2010.
14.
H.Res.1241.
Title: “Supporting
the
right of Israel to defend itself against terrorists and the Israeli
construction of new security fences along the border of Egypt.” Comment:
This resolution justifies Israel’s construction of apartheid
walls/fences both
in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip, even though the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) deemed Israel’s wall in the West
Bank to
be illegal. Scoring: -2 sponsor, -1
cosponsor. Last Major Action: Referred to
the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 4/13/2010.
15.
H.Con.Res.270.
Title: “Calling on the United States
Government to investigate the case of Tristan Anderson, a United States
citizen
from Oakland, California, who was critically injured in the West Bank
village
of Ni'lin on March 13, 2009, and expressing sympathy to Tristan Anderson
and
his family, friends, and loved ones during this trying time.” Comment:
This resolution calls on the Obama Administration “to undertake a full,
fair, and expeditious investigation” into Israel’s shooting of U.S.
peace
activist Tristan Anderson, and to work with Israel “to ensure that any
incident
of this kind never occurs again”. Scoring:
+2 sponsor, +1 cosponsor. Last Major
Action: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,
4/28/2010.
16.
H.Con.Res.271. Title:
“Commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.” Comment:
This resolution audaciously
“congratulates the residents of Jerusalem” on the 43 years of Israel’s
illegal
military occupation of East Jerusalem. Perhaps the Members of Congress
who
sponsored this resolution are so ignorant of reality that they don’t
realize
the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem would not want to be
“congratulated” for
being subjected to Israeli military occupation. Scoring: -2
sponsor, -1 cosponsor. Last Major Action:
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 4/29/2010.
17.
Kind/Delahunt
Letter. Comment: While the
choice of language in this “Dear Colleague” letter leaves a lot to be
desired
from the perspective of human rights and international law, it is
significant
in that it quotes Gen. David Petraeus, Commander of CENTCOM, as stating
that
U.S. and Israeli interests do not always align and that U.S. pressure on
Israel
is needed to achieve peace. Scoring: +2 sponsor, +1
cosponsor. Last
Major Action: Sent to the President with 61 signatures, 5/27/2010.
18.
H.R.5327.
Title: United States-Israel Rocket and
Missile Defense Cooperation and Support Act. Comment: This
resolution authorizes the expenditure of more than $200 million in
additional military aid to Israel for an anti-missile defense system,
despite
Israel’s repeated violations of the Arms Export Control Act and misuse
of U.S.
weapons. Although
technically a “defensive” weapon, the “Iron Dome” missile defense system
would
also increase Israel’s offensive capabilities, making it more cost-free
for it
to attack without fear of return missiles. Scoring: -2 sponsor,
-1
cosponsor or yes vote, 0 not voting, +1 present vote, +2 no vote. Last Major Action: Passed the
House 410-4 (Roll
Call
Vote #284), 5/20/2010.
19.
H.Res.1391.
Title: Congratulating Israel for its accession to
membership
in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Comment: Israel’s accession to membership in Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was unwarranted based on
its human
rights record, and a major blow to international efforts to isolate and
de-legitimate Israel’s military occupation and apartheid policies toward
Palestinians. This resolution
congratulates Israel for joining the OECD. Scoring:
-2
sponsor, -1 cosponsor. Last Major Action: Passed the
House
418-0 (Roll Call
Vote
#320), 5/28/2010.
20.
H.R.5501.
Title: America Stands with Israel Act. Comment: This
resolution brashly declares
support for “Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza”—an illegal act of
collective
punishment according to the 4th Geneva Convention. It
advances spurious and debunked
claims that the Gaza Freedom Flotilla organizers have ties to Al-Qaeda
(would
Israel really just let Al-Qaeda members go free after capturing them? C’mon.) The resolution also opposes any
international accountability
for Israel’s illegal attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Scoring: -2
sponsor, -1 cosponsor. Last Major Action: Referred to the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs,
6/10/2010.
21.
Poe/Peters
Letter. Comment: This “Dear Colleague”
letter
justifies Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and its illegal
blockade
of the occupied Palestinian Gaza Strip. It urges President
Obama “to thwart international condemnation” of
Israel, providing it carte blanche to violate international law as it
chooses. Scoring: -2 sponsor, -1
cosponsor. Last Major Action: Send to the President
with 329 signatures,
6/17/2010.
22. H.Res.1765. Title: Supporting
a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and condemning
unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state, and for other
purposes. Comment: Rushed to the floor of the House
for a vote before the text was even made public, this resolution
paternalistically sets a timeline for Palestinian freedom by condemning Palestinian
efforts to achieve statehood and insisting that Palestinian self-determination
be granted only with Israeli consent. Scoring:
-2 sponsor, -1 co-sponsor. Last Major Action: Passed the House by voice vote,
12/15/2010.