Rep. Jayapal on the Israel Aid Bill: ‘This Is Sort of an Iraq War Moment’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
Sanders: “How you think the vote will play out today? How do you think it will pass and how will you vote on the separate bills?”

Jayapal: “I’m so happy we will be able to vote on the Ukraine aid bill that is a stand-alone bill. It will passably with every Democrat voting for it. It is important aid. And I think there will be some Republicans that vote for it. How many? I don’t know. I think all the bills will pass. On the Israel aid bill, I think you will see a good contingents of us that are voting no. I’m vote no on the bill because it does not include any conditions at all on aid to the Netanyahu government. It does not differentiate between offense of aid and defensive aid. Many of us that vote no on the bill have consistently supported iron dome funding and other defensive aid for Israel. We cannot continue to watch the carnage that is happening in Gaza and have United States military assistance be part of the carnage. For me and many of us voting no, this is sort of an Iraq war moment. A moment where I think the public is not with us. And during the Iraq war, the first vote, when there were 132 plus Democrats voting against going into Iraq at the time, this is a situation where we don’t even have the public with us. And we have not seen the kind of restrictions from the White House and from the administration. Whatever happens after this, this is the first time Congress will be voting on offensive aid to Israel and to the Netanyahu government, who has been callous about the lives of children in Gaza, women in Gaza—“