Igo Anti-Boycott Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LAWLER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3016) to amend the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 to apply the provisions of that Act to international governmental organizations, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3016

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``IGO Anti-Boycott Act''. SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE ANTI-BOYCOTT ACT OF 2018.

The Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 is amended as follows:

(1) In section 1772 (50 U.S.C. 4841), by inserting ``, or international governmental organization,'' after ``foreign country'' each place it appears.

(2) In section 1773 (50 U.S.C. 4842), in subsection (a)(1)--

(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or international governmental organization,'' after ``foreign country,'';

(B) in subparagraph (A), in the first sentence, by inserting ``or international governmental organization'' after ``boycotting country''; and

(C) in subparagraph (D), in the first sentence, by inserting ``or international governmental organization'' after ``boycotting country''.

(3) In section 1773(a) (50 U.S.C. 4842(a)), by adding at the end the following:

``(6) Annual report.--The President shall submit to Congress and make available to the public on an annual basis a report that contains--

``(A) a list of those foreign countries and international organizations that foster or impose boycotts and with respect to which this section applies; and

``(B) a description of those boycotts.''.
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Mr. LAWLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3016, the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, a bill I introduced with my colleague and great friend from New Jersey, Congressman Josh Gottheimer, this past spring.

After Hamas' October 7 massacre of over 1,200 innocent people in Israel, including Americans, we need to do everything we can to stand with our friend and ally.

In the south, Israel is fighting a war to dismantle Hamas, whose leader said that October 7 was just a rehearsal. In the north, Israel is defending itself from missiles and rockets from Iran's deadly proxy Hezbollah.

However, there are many in the world who want to fault Israel, blame Israel, and delegitimize Israel for doing what is necessary to protect its citizens and its sovereignty.

One of the most egregious bastions of anti-Israel bias and bigotry is the United Nations. We are deeply concerned that the U.N. could weaponize its institutions against Israel.

Years ago, the U.N. Human Rights Council authorized the creation of a database of companies doing business beyond Israel's 1949 armistice lines. The implications of this were clear: Create a list of companies and then boycott them. That list is now published and updated by the United Nations.

Boycotts such as these are contrary to American values and foreign policy. It is critical that we protect U.S. companies from being coerced into providing information that would facilitate these boycotts.

For over 40 years, it has been illegal for U.S. companies to cooperate with foreign boycotts that the United States is not participating in. The reason is because foreign countries should not be able to use U.S. companies to undermine U.S. foreign policy. These laws were passed in response to the Arab League's boycott of Israel.

Now, the good news is that today, many fewer countries in the Arab League are adhering to the boycott of Israel. In fact, some of them have normalized relations with Israel, opening trade as well as diplomatic ties.

We are faced with the potential that U.S. companies might be pressured to cooperate with this U.N. list and subsequent boycott of Israel. If that were to happen, the U.N. would be using U.S. companies to undermine U.S. foreign policy. That is simply unacceptable.

This bill adds four words, ``or international governmental organizations,'' to existing anti-boycott law to include organizations like the U.N.

It is my sincere hope that the U.N. will not foster such a boycott against Israel as Israel is responding to the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

This bill is especially necessary with the constant anti-Israel bias emanating from the U.N. Just recently, we confirmed that UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, has deep ties to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli intelligence recently released reports that many UNRWA workers actually worked as Hamas operatives and assisted in the October 7 attacks. It is absolutely disgusting that employees of a U.N. agency had a role in this attack. We will see now what the U.N. does in response to these allegations.

We cannot stand idly by while our contributions to UNRWA potentially aid and abet terrorists. Our support must only go to organizations that uplift humanity, not those who undermine peace and security.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this bill today so that we can take a stand against the U.N. and other IGOs and the anti-Israel bias present at UNHRC and UNRWA. This bill is just a start. The American people stand with Israel.
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Mr. LAWLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, to my colleague from Texas, we accepted one of his amendments during the markup to address some of his accountability concerns.

Let's be clear. This is not an anti-First Amendment bill. This bill adds four words to existing law. It does absolutely nothing unprecedented. It only expands coverage of existing protections to include IGOs. The bill is not discriminatory against proponents of the BDS movement, rather it prevents discriminatory actions against Israel and other countries friendly to the United States so as not to undermine U.S. foreign policy.

IGOs, like the United Nations, continue to impose one-sided and biased policies against the State of Israel. Madam Speaker, you can't wait until after the fact to protect Israel and the Jewish people, as we saw on October 7.

While the E.U. doesn't maintain a similar blacklist, there have been E.U.-based efforts to create one and further other BDS initiatives at the E.U. For example, just last year in February of 2022, pro-BDS activists launched a campaign to call on the E.U. Commission to propose a new law to stop trade with settlements.

Luckily, the campaign didn't reach the number of signatures it needed to be brought before the E.U. Commission.

Now, let's be clear. The BDS movement is anti-Semitic. The BDS is one tactic in a long history of campaigns and efforts to delegitimize and isolate the State of Israel. It also applies a double standard to Israel. The BDS campaign does not support constructive measures to build Israeli-Palestinian engagement, nor does it promote peace negotiations or a mutually negotiated two-state solution to the conflict. Rather, BDS presents a biased and simplistic approach to the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict positioning this dispute over territorial and nationalist claims as the fault of only one party, the State of Israel, while ignoring other actors and dynamics such as Palestinian-shared responsibility for the continuation of the conflict.

BDS advocates for self-determination for Palestinians while denying to Jews that same right.

So many of our colleagues who have, for instance, called for cease- fires say nothing about Hamas' barbaric, horrific, and brutal attacks on October 7. The duplicity when I hear some of my colleagues talk about this issue is pathetic.

The BDS movement uses divisive and inaccurate terms like ``apartheid,'' ``genocide,'' ``settler colonialists,'' and ``supremacists'' to refer to aspects of Israeli action or policy they criticize. This language serves to demonize the Jewish State and those who support its very existence. So the intent here is to expand existing law to include IGOs. Four words are added to the existing law. That is all this bill does.
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Mr. LAWLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my Democratic co-lead, Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, who is the co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, and all of our bipartisan cosponsors for working with me on this important bill to update our anti-boycott laws and to respond to potential threats facing the United States and our ally, Israel. We must stand with our ally Israel and not allow rampant, institutionalized anti-Israel bias and bigotry at the United Nations to delegitimize the State of Israel.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of our Members to vote in favor of H.R. 3016, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my good friend Mr. Lawler for authoring the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, which amends the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 to apply its provisions also to international governmental organizations.

When this bill becomes law, it will prevent U.S. companies from supporting boycotts of U.S. allies if those boycotts are promoted or imposed by intergovernmental organizations.

What is at issue here are boycotts of Israel organized by the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement, has enlisted the United Nations and European Union into its attempt to blacklist Israel--really to make Israel into a pariah state.

I thank Mr. Lawler as this bill will be a very effective tool in the global fight against antisemitism.

As to the UN's blacklist, meant to be an authoritative guide to anti- Israel boycotters, it lists companies operating inside disputed territories--but the UN provides no similar list for any other disputed territory in the world. This is a clear double standard against Israel--it fails Natan Sharansky's ``3Ds'' test according to which we can see the antisemitism of actions toward Israel that apply a double standard against Israel, seek to delegitimize it, or demonize it.

In the last 9 months I have chaired or co-chaired three hearings on the United Nations and its pervasive antisemitism. We have heard the testimony and seen the documentation. Make no mistake, antisemitic bigotry is at the root of the UN's hostility to Israel, which is ugly, evil, and manifests in almost every UN entity.

The United Nations is unquestionably the world's foremost legitimizer of antisemitism, including in its most virulent and violent forms. The monstrous and genocidal atrocities we have seen pouring out of Gaza since October 7 are antisemitic hate crimes, the logical consequence of the unbridled antisemitism fomented and enabled by the United Nations.

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