S.J.Res 20, 21, 22, 23 - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to Israel of certain defense articles and services
S.J.Res 20, 21, 22, and 23 were introduced on 20 February 2025 by SEN Bernie Sanders (I-VT). They are currently pending before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and have no cosponsors
Related legislation: Arms Export Control Act of 1976, as amended.
Bill Summary: These Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) would prevent the sale of certain lethal weapons by the United States to Israel.
Context: On 7 February 2025, the Trump Administration notified Congress of its intent to move forward with four sales under the Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales programs that, in combination, include but are not limited to the provision of:
10,000 155mm artillery shells
3,000 AGM-114 Hellfire Air-to-Ground Missiles
2,166 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs Increment 1 (SDB-I)
2,800 MK 82 General Purpose, 500-pound bomb bodies;
13,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Guidance Kits for the MK-84 2,000lb bomb
3,47 JDAM Guidance Kits for the BLU-109 bomb
1,004 JDAM Guidance Kits for GBU-38v1
17,475 FMU-152A/B bomb fuzes
615 additional SDBs
15,500 additional JDAM tail kits
Under the Arms Export Control Act, Congress has 15 days to vote to block such sales. Once introduced, a JRD that relates to Israel must sit before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for five days before it can be called up on the floor. Since passage of the underlying legislation in 1976, no JRD has ever blocked any arms transfer to any nation, and only 3 have ever passed both Houses of Congress before being vetoed by the President.
The U.S. has spent over $17.9 billion in U.S. taxpayer funding on weapons for Israel in the past 16 months, and tens of thousands of U.S. munitions have been used against civilian targets in Gaza to devastating effect, resulting in tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and entire cities flattened in what historians, human rights watchdogs, and a U.S. federal judge have found to be a “plausible case of genocide.”
American Values Analysis: These Resolutions directly align with American values by opposing the provision of weapons to a country that has used them, and will likely continue to use them, in violation of U.S. and international law, to commit atrocities.
American Interest Analysis: These Resolutions advance America’s interests by preventing our further complicity and public association with Israel’s globally unpopular and regionally-destabilizing attacks on Gaza.
A New Policy’s Recommendation: SUPPORT
A New Policy supports these Joint Resolutions of Disapproval because they would prevent the further provision of lethal weaponry to a country that has used American weapons in violation of international law, and by doing so has not only associated the slaughter of thousands of civilians with the stamp “Made in America,” but has also done deep and lasting harm to American’s regional and global interests.
A New Policy notes that JRDs require, in practice, support of veto-proof (i.e. ⅔) majorities in the House and Senate, and on that basis A New Policy supports the calling up of these Resolutions on the Floor of the Senate at a time that the Sponsor considers is most conducive to advancing the Congressional and public debate on the broader question of U.S. policy towards Palestine and Israel.
For more information please contact: Josh Paul, (202) 770-0055, info@anewpolicy.org
