Peace Action Statement on 72-11 Senate Vote to Table Senator Sanders’ Resolution to Investigate Israel’s Use of US Weapons

January 17, 2024 — Peace Action Executive Director Jon Rainwater issued the following statement after the Senate voted 72-11 to table Senator Sanders’ resolution calling for a U.S. investigation into how U.S. arms are being used in Israel’s military campaign in Palestine. 

“Anyone who cares deeply about human rights should be disappointed if not disgusted by the Senate’s vote tonight. This vote blocked a State Department investigation of how U.S. weapons are being used by Israel. Senator Sanders’ resolution should have been uncontroversial. It didn’t cut off a penny of aid. It simply asked that the U.S. find out how U.S. weapons are being used given the massive humanitarian catastrophe being caused by Israel’s war. Seventy-two senators stood up and said ‘we don’t want to know.’ They voted to keep their heads in the sand.

“Polls show that the majority of Americans want this brutal war to end. Congress is out of step with the voters and that’s not sustainable on such a high profile issue. We thank Senator Sanders and the ten senators who voted with him to start a needed Congressional debate over this war. That’s a critical first step in pushing Congress to do the job it is supposed to do: ensure that taxpayer funds are not being used in human rights violations. The pro-peace public must now continue the fight until this brutal war and the resulting killing, displacement, and dispossession of Palestinian civilians ends.”

Image: Ted Eytan/Creative Commons