PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders Speech On Senate Vote to Block Offensive Arms Sales to Israel

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 - After filing Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) in September to block the sale of certain offensive arms to Israel, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today rose to bring the JRDs up for a vote by the full Senate.

The JRD is the only formal mechanism available to Congress to prevent an arms sale noticed by the Administration from advancing. To read the fact sheet, click here.

Sanders' remarks introducing the vote today, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched live HERE:

M. President,

Let me thank the leadership for their cooperation in setting up this debate.

Today, we will be voting on three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, or JRDs, to block the sale of certain offensive weapons systems to Israel.

These resolutions are S.J.Res.111 to block the sale of 120mm tank rounds. S.J.Res.113 to block the sale of 120mm high-explosive mortar rounds. And S.J.Res.115 to block the sale of JDAMs, the guidance kits attached to many of the bombs dropped in Gaza.

I would note to my colleagues that these resolutions are strongly supported by more than 100 civil society groups, including pro-Israel groups like J Street; some of the largest labor unions in the country, including the SEIU, the United Auto Workers, and the United Electrical Workers; humanitarian groups like Amnesty International and Doctors of the World; and religious groups like the United Methodist Church, the Friends Committee, and many others.

M. President, I ask unanimous consent to enter the list of supporting organizations into the Record.

M. President, I would also point out that poll after poll shows that a strong majority of Americans oppose sending more weapons and military aid to fuel Netanyahu's war machine. And I would also mention that, interestingly enough, according to a poll commissioned by J Street, 62 percent of Jewish Americans support withholding weapons shipments to Israel until Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees to an immediate ceasefire.

M. President, these resolutions are aimed at offensive weapons that have been used to devastating effect against civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. They would not affect any of the systems Israel uses to defend itself from incoming attacks.

M. President, from a legal perspective, these resolutions are not complicated. They are cut and dry. The United States government must obey the law. Unfortunately, that is not the case right now, and every member of the Senate who believes in the rule of law should vote for these resolutions.

The Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act are very clear: the United States cannot provide weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S. humanitarian aid. Let me repeat that: the United States cannot provide weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S. humanitarian aid. That is what the law says.

According to the United Nations, much of the international community, and every humanitarian organization on the ground in Gaza, Israel is clearly in violation of these laws. Under these circumstances, it is illegal for the U.S. government to provide Israel with more offensive weapons. These Joint Resolutions of Disapproval are Congress' tool to enforce the law.

M. President, it has been more than 13 months since the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages, including Americans. As I have said many times, Israel had a right to respond to the Hamas attack, as any country would. I don't think anybody in the U.S. Senate disagrees with that.

But Prime Minister Netanyahu's extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged all-out war against the Palestinian people. Within Gaza's population of just 2.2 million, more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 103,000 injured - 60 percent of whom are women, children or elderly people. According to satellite imagery, two-thirds of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. That includes 87 percent of the housing, 84 percent of health facilities, and 70 percent of water and sanitation plants. Every one of Gaza's 12 universities has been bombed, as have hundreds of schools. For 13 months, there has been no electricity in Gaza.

During the last year, millions of desperately poor people in Gaza have been repeatedly driven from their homes, forced to evacuate again and again with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Families have been herded into so-called "safe zones," only to face continued bombardment. The children of Gaza have suffered a level of physical and emotional abuse that is almost beyond comprehension and that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They are hungry, thirsty, denied healthcare, and have witnessed death and destruction all around them.

As horrific as that situation is, what is taking place today is even worse. As a result of Israel blocking desperately needed humanitarian aid, the volume of aid getting into Gaza in recent weeks is lower than at any point since the war began. More aid is needed, less is getting through. The result: many thousands of children are facing malnutrition and starvation.

This is not my observation, this is what the leaders of the 19 most important humanitarian organizations on the ground in Gaza, including the American head of UNICEF, Cathy Russell, and the American head of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, say. According to their very recent report, "the situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic." "Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need." And as a result: "The entire population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence."

And Israel's recent decision to ban UNRWA, the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, will only make a horrific situation even worse.

M. President, I have met with doctors who have served in Gaza, treating hundreds of patients a day without electricity, anesthesia, or clean water, including dozens of children arriving with gunshot wounds to the head. I've seen the photographs and the videos. UNICEF estimates that ten children lose a leg in Gaza every day. There are more than 17,000 orphans.

M. President, let me quote from a New York Times article of October 9, 2024, where American doctors and nurses in Gaza describe what they saw on the ground:

Merril Tydings, a nurse from New Mexico said: "These people were starving. I learned very quickly to not drink my water or eat the food I had brought in front of the health care workers because they had gone so many days without."

Dr. Ndal Farah from Ohio said: "Malnutrition was widespread. It was common to see patients reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps with skeletal features."

Abeerah Muhammad, a nurse from Dallas said: "Everyone we met showed us pictures of themselves before October. They had all lost 20 to 60 pounds of weight. Most patients and staff looked emaciated and dehydrated."

Dr. Nahreen Ahmed from Philadelphia said: "Every patient I treated had evidence of malnutrition. For example, poor wound healing and rapidly developing infections."

Dr. Aman Odeh from Texas said: "Mothers on the maternity ward delivered prematurely because of malnutrition, stress and infection. Milk production was poor due to lack of hydration and adequate food supply."

And Dr. Mike Mallah from Charleston said: "All of my patients were suffering from malnutrition, 100 percent."

M. President, what we have today in Israel is not the Israel of Golda Meir or Yitzhak Rabin. This is a government now controlled not only by right wing extremists, but by religious zealots.

National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, has been convicted in Israeli courts on terrorism charges. Finance Minister Smotrich, in charge of the occupied West Bank, is also an extreme racist and has called for the expulsion of Palestinians from the land. That is the current Israeli finance minister.

In January, Netanyahu said of Gaza, "we provide minimal humanitarian aid if we want to achieve our war goals." At the start of the war, the Israeli Defense Minister said "we are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. Everything is closed."

And that, by in large, is exactly how this war has been waged.

M. President, what this extremist government has done in Gaza is unspeakable, but what makes it even more painful is that much of this has been done with U.S. weapons and American taxpayer dollars. In the last year alone, the U.S. has provided $18 billion in military aid to Israel and delivered more than 50,000 tons of military equipment.

In other words, the United States is complicit in these atrocities.

That complicity must end, and that is what these resolutions are about. It is time to tell the Netanyahu government that they cannot use U.S. taxpayer dollars and American weapons in violation of U.S. and international law and our moral values.

Despite receiving $18 billion from U.S. taxpayers in the last year and being the largest historical recipient of U.S. foreign aid, the Netanyahu government has completely ignored the repeated requests of President Biden and the U.S. government.

It is time to make clear to Netanyahu that he cannot continue to undermine U.S. foreign policy goals: the U.S. government wants a ceasefire for hostage deal; Netanyahu has prevented a deal to preserve his coalition. The U.S. government wants more humanitarian aid to reach desperate people in Gaza; Netanyahu is blocking it. The U.S. government wants to contain regional escalation; Netanyahu has refused diplomatic off-ramps and launched several reckless attacks without consulting the United States. The U.S. government wants to stop settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank; Netanyahu and his ministers have driven record settlement expansion and armed extremist settlers. The U.S. government wants a plan for postwar governance in Gaza; Netanyahu will not engage.

And, by the way, blocking these sales would also be in keeping with actions taken by some of our closest allies. The UK suspended 30 arms export licenses after concluding there was an unacceptable risk they could be used in violation of international law. Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands have taken similar steps. UN bodies have called for an end to the arms shipments fueling the conflict.

M. President, time and again, I have heard members of the U.S. Senate come to this floor to denounce human rights violations taking place around the world. I've heard well-founded concerns about China's brutal repression of the Uyghur ethnic minority. I have heard rightful outrage about Vladimir Putin's brutal attacks against Ukraine and bombing of civilian installations. I have heard genuine concerns about Iran's outrageous crackdown on peaceful protestors. I've heard repeated condemnations of Saudi Arabia terrible treatment of women and political dissidents.

And on and on it goes.

But I want everyone here to understand that all of these legitimate critiques will not be taken seriously on the world stage. Because other countries will look at us and say, "don't lecture us about human rights, look at your own hypocrisy. You funded a government that was starving thousands of children."

So, M. President, we must pass these resolutions from a legal perspective. The United States government must obey the law. We must pass these resolutions from a moral perspective. The United States must not provide support to a government which has created one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history. We must pass these resolutions for our own best foreign policy interests. If we do not demand that the countries we provide military assistance to obey international law, we will lose our credibility on the world stage.