By: Nick Pope, Daily Caller News Foundation
Two left-wing Democratic members of the House voted against a bill on Wednesday that would bar members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad involved in the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel from entering the U.S.
Democratic Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both vocal critics of Israel, voted against the “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act,” according to C-SPAN. They were the only two legislators to vote against the legislation, which passed the House by a 422-2-1 vote.
The bill, introduced by Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Tom McClintock, would mandate that “any alien who carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to, or otherwise facilitated any of the attacks against Israel initiated by Hamas beginning on October 7, 2023, is inadmissible” to the U.S., according to its text. Palestinian terrorists murdered approximately 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, raped numerous women and took hundreds of hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
Democratic Rep. Della Ramirez of Illinois was the only lawmaker to vote “present,” according to C-SPAN.
Tlaib, whose House colleagues voted to censure her for her anti-Israel rhetoric, and Bush, who is under federal investigation for alleged misuse of federal security money, have both called Israel an “apartheid state.” Both lawmakers have also suggested that Israel could be committing genocide in its military response to the terrorist groups operating in the Gaza Strip, and they have both repeatedly called for a ceasefire since Israel’s ground invasion of the territory commenced.
Tlaib has defended the use of the Palestinian rallying cry, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which critics posit is a slogan that explicitly calls for the erasure of Israel and its people. She considers the saying to be “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate.”
Tlaib’s office did not address specific questions about whether she believes it is a good idea to allow terrorists involved in the Oct. 7 attacks to enter the U.S. Her office referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a statement in which she described the bill as “unnecessary because it is redundant with already existing federal law” and “just another GOP messaging bill being used to incite anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hatred that makes communities like ours unsafe.”
Bush, meanwhile, has asserted that the Israeli military is perpetrating “ethnic cleansing” against Palestinians and has called for the U.S. to stop funding Israel.
Bush’s office did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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