The Democratic Majority for Israel PAC slammed Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Wednesday for voting against H.R.5917, the “Strengthening Tools to Counter the Use of Human Shields Act.”
“All people of good conscience should be appalled that Congresswoman Cori Bush was one of just four members of the House who voted to protect a savage terrorist organization from U.S. sanctions,” stated Mark Mellman, chair of the DMFI PAC.
The bill, which passed the House on Tuesday, states that “It shall be the policy of the United States to fully implement and enforce sanctions against terrorist organizations and other malign actors that use innocent civilians as human shields.”
The bill would amend the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act, which became law on Dec. 21, 2018.
It also calls for the U.S. defense secretary to issue a report, in no later than 120 days, which in part describes “the lessons learned from the United States and its allies and partners in addressing the use of human shields by terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestine Islamic Jihad and any other organization as determined by the secretary of defense.”
Bush was one of four members of Congress to vote against the bill, which passed 419-4, with eight members not voting. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian who typically opposes all foreign policy legislation, was the lone Republican to vote against the bill. The other two “nay” votes were Bush’s fellow “Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
“Protecting the leaders of terrorist groups who use human shields is simply unconscionable and indefensible,” Mellman stated. “Four hundred and nineteen members of Congress understood that. Sadly, Cori Bush did not.”
