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Scott, Cotton, 46 Senate GOP Colleagues to Biden-Harris Admin: Delaying Weapons to Israel Undermines Our Ally, Accommodates Iran

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) today led nearly all of their Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to the Biden-Harris administration, protesting its partial arms embargo against Israel. The senators urged the White House to cease accommodating Iran, stop jeopardizing the lives of American servicemembers, and to deliver the necessary weapons systems to Israel.

Also co-leading the letter were Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Additional signatories included Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), and Todd Young (R-Ind.). 

In part, the senators wrote:

“When Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly raised the weapons hold in June, your administration adamantly denied the accusation. You ignored Congressional inquiries, including a May 6, 2024, letter from Senator Marshall, a May 6, 2024, letter from Senator Ernst, a May 14, 2024, letter from Senator Risch and a June 20, 2024, letter from Senator Cotton. All the while, you were deliberately delaying the delivery of weapons, ammunition, and equipment to Israel. These include 120 mm tank ammunition, 120 mm mortar ammunition, light tactical vehicles, air-to-air missiles, F-15s, F-35 engines, joint direct attack munition kits, 2,000 pound bombs, rifles, and guided missile systems.”

Full text of the letter may be found here.

In the 118th Congress, Senator Scott has been a leader in pushing for a tougher U.S. posture toward Iran and its proxies and unequivocally supporting our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel, by:

  • Championing legislation to ensure congressional oversight of any proposed changes to arms sales to Israel;
  • Introducing a resolution that condemns any action by the Biden administration to withhold or restrict weapons for Israel;
  • Demanding that President Biden strongly oppose the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) efforts to politically target Israel and introducing a bill to sanction the ICC for such action;
  • Introducing a resolution reiterating Israel’s right to self-defense and condemning certain statements from U.S. lawmakers that interfere in Israel’s sovereign electoral process;
  • Leading several efforts calling on the Biden administration to censure Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following a report showing Iran’s nuclear enrichment activity tripled by the end of last year;
  • Championing S. Res. 417, a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel in the wake of the October 7th attack, which passed the Senate with near unanimous support;
  • Voting in support of the FY24 NDAA, which included numerous provisions to increase U.S. security cooperation with Israel;
  • Meeting with victims of Hamas and members of victims’ families, hearing first-hand about the brutality inflicted by Hamas on innocent civilians, including innocent children;
  • Supporting passage of the 2024 supplemental appropriations bill, which provided over $26 billion to support Israel and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
  • Authoring the Stop Support for Hamas Act with Senator Ricketts to cut U.S. funding for UNRWA and prevent bilateral U.S. assistance from winding up in the hands of Hamas terrorists;
  • Introducing the Preventing Terrorism at the U.N. Act to restrict U.S. funding to the United Nations until UNRWA is abolished; and
  • Voting against and condemning Senator Bernie Sanders’ anti-Israel resolution.

In his capacity as Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over economic sanctions, Senator Scott has led the charge in pushing back on the Biden administration’s disturbing pattern of sanctions non-enforcement and sanctions relief to Iran, which have made funds more accessible for the Iranian regime and its terror proxies to attack U.S. servicemembers and our allies. His efforts include:

  • Pushing for passage of his Solidify Iran Sanctions Act, which passed the House by a vote of 407-16. This timely, commonsense bill would extend sanctions on funding for Iran’s energy and weapons sectors and curtail the regime’s ability to develop its nuclear program and finance destabilizing activities;
  • Calling on the Treasury Department to block Iran’s access to funds and demanding an accounting of all international high-value Iranian assets around the world that are currently blocked by U.S. sanctions;
  • Leading efforts to hold the Biden administration accountable following the authorization of yet another Iran sanctions waiver;
  • Immediately following the Biden administration’s August decision to release $6 billion to Iran, leading his colleagues in demanding answers from the administration;
  • After the October 7th attack, being the first leader of the Senate Banking Committee to demand accountability from the Biden administration on the release of the $6 billion, and calling for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to testify and for the Senate to investigate the matter;
  • Introducing the Revoke Iranian Funding Act to permanently freeze the $6 billion released by the Biden administration to Iran and direct the Treasury Secretary to provide an accounting of all high-value Iranian assets around the world that are currently blocked by U.S. sanctions as well as identify all Iran-related waivers and sanctions relaxation policies; and
  • Partnering with Senator Cotton to introduce a bill sanctioning Palestinian leadership for their pay-for-slay policies that incentivize terrorism.
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