53 House Dems Vote ‘No’ on Declaring Iran a ‘State Sponsor of Terrorism’
A significant number of Democratic lawmakers voted “no” on declaring the Islamic Republic of Iran a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
Sponsored by Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the resolution passed the House of Representatives on Thursday by a vote of 372 to 53. Two Democrats voted present. While team members like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) were expected to vote “no,” a total of 53 proved somewhat surprising. Their names, according to Fox News:
- Donald S. Beyer Jr.
- Suzanne Bonamici
- Andrew Carson
- Greg Casar
- Joaquin Castro
- Yvette D. Clarke
- Steve Cohen
- Danny K. Davis
- Maxine Dexter
- Lloyd Doggett
- Dwight Evans
- Lizzie Fletcher
- Valerie Foushee
- Maxwell Alexandro Frost
- Robert Garcia
- Jesus “Chuy” Garcia
- Al Green
- Raúl M. Grijalva
- Val Hoyle
- Jared Huffman
- Sarah Jacobs
- Pramila Jayapal
- Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.
- Robin Kelly
- Ro Khanna
- Raja Krishnamoorthi
- Summer Lee
- Sarah McBride
- Morgan McGarvey
- James P. McGovern
- The Monica McIver
- Christian D. Menefée
- Robert Jacobsen “Rob” Menendez Jr.
- Gwen Moore
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- Ilhan Omar
- Chellie Pingree
- Marc Pocan
- Ayanna Pressley
- Delia Ramirez
- Emily Randall
- Luz Rivas
- Linda T. Sanchez
- Janice D. “Jan” Schakowsky
- Lateefah Simon
- Marc Takano
- Rashida Tlaib
- Lori Trahan
- Lauren Underwood
- Nydia M. Velázquez
- Maxine Waters
- Bonnie Watson Coleman
- Nikema Williams
The resolution says nothing about President Trump’s strikes against Iran, while asserting that the regime “remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world and provides substantial financial and military support to groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” adding that it “poses a direct and persistent threat to the United States and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American citizens.”
It also cites Pentagon comments that “Iran-backed proxy militias are responsible for the deaths of at least 603 U.S. service members in Iraq, or about one in six U.S. combat deaths.”
“According to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafeal Grossi, Iran has accumulated a large stockpile of enriched uranium and continues to block access to undeclared sites in Iran affiliated with its ‘large and ambitious nuclear weapons program,'” the statement continued.
“…let the House of Representatives declare that it is the policy of the United States…that Iran continues to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism,” he concludes.
Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) said in a Facebook post that the resolution contained “inaccuracies and was intended to justify the president’s actions in Iran.”
“Republicans in Congress are not only abandoning their constitutional duties – they are also playing politics with a resolution reaffirming Iran as a leading state sponsor of terrorism,” Simon wrote. “It’s already American policy.”
“I have made clear my opposition to the Iranian regime’s brutal and devastating actions against those protesting for freedom,” Simon continued. “This resolution does nothing to advance their freedom and, instead, makes clear to Congress that it gives the Administration yet another pretext for a war that should not have been started in the first place. »
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