Report: Reps. Omar, Tlaib Could Prevent Anti-BDS Bill From Passing House

A recent report from Al-Monitor suggest that the legislation that cracks down on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, that the Senate passed on Feb. 7 could have some trouble passing the House of Representatives because of freshman Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

The Al-Monitor report mentions that Omar and Tlaib, both of whom openly support BDS, sit on two prominent committees that deal with the legislation: the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Financial Services committee, respectively.

The report also highlighted a recent quote from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) that the legislation hasn’t been thoroughly vetted and that it’s not clear that it properly delineates between “free speech and the right of anybody to advocate the policy that they want and actions to hurt an ally of the United States.”

The bill, which passed by a margin of 77-23 in the Senate, would protect the right of states to refuse to provide contracts to businesses that boycott Israel, as well as provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel and Jordan.

At the Israeli-American Council conference in November, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that she was “very pleased that our caucus has overwhelmingly been supportive of Israel” and that the pro-Israel community  shouldn’t worry about “a few people who may want to go their own way.” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) also said that the House Foreign Affairs Committee would be in good hands for the pro-Israel community under Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.).

A spokesperson from Engel’s office told the Journal in an email that the BDS provision of the bill would fall under the the Financial Service Committee’s jurisdiction.

Neither Pelosi’s office nor or Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who chairs the Financial Services Committee, office responded to the Journal’s request for comment as of publication time.