In the midst of a U.S. Government shutdown initiated before Christmas by the White House, Senator Marco Rubio has introduced, as the first order of the Senate’s business in the 116th Congress, a bill that will limit free speech of American individuals. Apparently, he and his three Republican co-sponsors ( Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Cory Gardner and Sen. Roy Blunt) deem the issues contained in the bill more important than getting our government functioning rationally again.
Senate Bill 1’s brief description states:
To make improvements to certain defense and security assistance provisions and to authorize the appropriation of funds to Israel, to reauthorize the United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2015, and to halt the wholesale slaughter of the Syrian people, and for other purposes.
Among the other purposes are the provisions of the bill’s Title IV, called the Combating BDS Act of 2019. It seeks to bring one of the main goals of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in limiting American free speech from the state level (where several states have passed anti-BDS bills and other states seek to pass them) to the national one. His government regards the Palestinian non-violent BDS movement, now fourteen years old, to be an existential threat to its legitimacy. In our country, the pro-Israel lobbying agency, AIPAC, seeks to further Netanyahu’s government’s anti-free speech goals in the USA as directly as they lawfully can through legislation which has in the past even sought to criminalize support for Palestinian rights if done through the long respected American civil rights tool known as boycott. I used boycott myself against South African products, and earlier, against Soviet made goods. Although the Bill Sen. Rubio is introducing is somewhat watered down in its approach to criminality, the American Civil Liberties Union has condemned the legislation’s Title IV:
The ACLU has long opposed the Israel Anti-Boycott Act through its multiple iterations because the bill would make it a crime to participate in political boycotts protected by the First Amendment. Now, the bill’s sponsors are attempting to avoid public scrutiny by including the bill’s unconstitutional criminal penalties in must-pass legislation scheduled for a vote just days before Congress’ holiday recess — likely because it will be harder to pass in the new Congress.
Earlier versions of the Israel Anti-Boycott Act would have made it a crime — possibly even subject to jail time — for American companies to participate in political boycotts aimed at Israel and its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories when those boycotts were called for by international governmental organizations like the United Nations. The same went for boycotts targeting any country that is “friendly to the United States” if the boycott was not sanctioned by the United States.
Last week, the ACLU saw an updated version being considered for inclusion in the spending bill (though this text is not publicly available). While Hill offices claim the First Amendment concerns have been resolved, and potential jail time has indeed been eliminated as a possible punishment, the bill actually does nothing to cure its free speech problems. Furthermore, knowingly violating the bill could result in criminal financial penalties of up to $1 million. Were this legislation to pass, federal officials would have a new weapon at their disposal to chill and suppress speech that they found objectionable or politically unpopular.
In the U.S. Senate, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. Bernie Sanders have expressed their opposition to earlier versions of this proposed legislation:
Two leading US senators on Wednesday urged Senate leaders not to include controversial legislation targeting boycotters of Israel in an end-of-year spending bill that must pass to keep the government running.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. Bernie Sanders, both Jewish, warned that including the “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” in the bill would infringe upon free speech and violate Senate officials’ commitment to “oppose controversial riders on appropriations bills.”
However, other Democrats are expected to support Rubio’s anti-free speech Title IV:
Although Rubio is the chief sponsor, his bill attracted broad bipartisan support, as is true of most bills designed to protect Israel and supported by AIPAC. Rubio’s bill last Congress was co-sponsored by several Democrats who are still in the Senate: Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
There is no updated U.S. House version of the newest Senate iteration of this punitive legislation. Two newly elected representatives, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, support BDS, and oppose legislation such as Title IV of Senate Bill 1:
Michigan Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar both made history during the 2018 midterm elections by becoming the first Muslim women elected to Congress — but they didn't stop there. Tlaib and Omar both also publicly support Palestine through the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, which, according to The Hill, marks a first for congressional officials.
The ACLU has suggested we write to our Senators if we oppose the Title IV provisions of proposed S. 1:
Congress plans to sneak a bill criminalizing boycotts of Israel into the end-of-year, must-pass omnibus spending bill. If passed, the bill would give federal officials a new weapon at their disposal to suppress speech they find objectionable or politically unpopular.
We have a short window to stop this bill before the budget gets approved. It's up to us to stop Congress from trampling on our First Amendment rights. We must urge Congress now to oppose the boycott ban.
Message Recipients:
Your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative
YOUR MESSAGE
Subject Protect our free speech - oppose any boycott ban in the spending bill
As your constituent, I urge you to oppose the move to attach the Israel Anti-Boycott Act to the end-of-the-year omnibus spending bill. Banning boycotts and political expression violates our First Amendment rights and defies American values.
Message Body
It's unacceptable that Congress would attempt to stifle our freedom of expression - especially by smuggling this ban into a last-minute spending bill. I urge you to oppose any effort to attach the Israel Anti-Boycott Act to the omnibus spending bill. Our First Amendment rights are at stake.
Sincerely,
[First Name] [Last Name]
If you do not support the Title IV provisions of Senate Bill 1, please take the time to write to your U.S. Senators.
I have.