WASHINGTON -- With no objections, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a budget amendment sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., that would allow Congress to cut off funding to the United Nations if the international governing body forces a resolution between Israel and Palestinians on the West Bank.
The Senate voted 99-0 on the amendment at the end of a string of votes on the budget Wednesday evening. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who launched his campaign for president Monday, was absent for the vote.
The congressional budget is not legally binding. It is the advisory blueprint for when Congress appropriates, or gives spending authority to, agencies and programs.
The amendment would allow Congress to restrict funds to the U.N. and other international bodies if they take "unfair or discriminatory action" against Israel or force a settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, something the U.N. has considered in the past.
"I hope that we never need this mechanism, but I believe that it is critical that Congress reaffirm our commitment to U.S.-Israel alliance and preventing unfair, discriminatory treatment," Cotton said before the vote.
Cotton, who is from Dardanelle, spoke about the amendment on the Senate floor Tuesday, saying the United States should continue defending Israel in the U.N. and in other international forums. He said the U.N. has repeatedly singled Israel out for disapproval, attacking it more than any other nation on earth.
He said President Barack Obama's administration was wrong to say that it needs to rethink Middle Eastern policy after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments that as long as he led that country there would be no Palestinian state. Netanyahu, who made the comment days before an Israeli election, has since backed away from the statement.
During a news briefing Friday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration still would need to rethink its policy.
TUESDAY’S SPEECH is available on CSPAN at: http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4532532/cottonisrael-budget-amendment.
Metro on 03/26/2015