{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases/capito-colleagues-announce-intent-to-introduce-stand-with-israel-act", "Capito, Colleagues Announce Intent to Introduce Stand with Israel Act", "2024-10-24", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "WV", "Shelley Moore Capito", "C001047", "www.capito.senate.gov", "capito", "https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "CHARLESTON, W.Va. \u2013 U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and more than half of the Senate Republican Conference announced their intent to introduce the Stand with Israel Act when the Senate and House reconvene in November.\n\nThe legislation, which is led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho), would cut off U.S. funding to United Nations (UN) agencies that expel, downgrade, suspend, or otherwise restrict the participation of the State of Israel. This is companion legislation to bipartisan House bill HR 9394 led by Congressman Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).\n\n\u201cThe UN and its agencies have increasingly become a platform for anti-Israel forces to target the world\u2019s only Jewish state. At the same time, countries like Iran and Russia have been free to maintain their status while launching ballistic missiles at their neighbors. If this ridiculous project to downgrade the membership of Israel\u2014a free, democratic country and rightful member state\u2014moves forward in the UN, the U.S. has no choice but to finally withdraw all support from a failed institution,\u201d Senator Capito said.\n\n\u201cAny attempt to alter Israel\u2019s status at the UN is clearly anti-Semitic,\u201d Ranking Member Risch said. \u201cThat said, if the UN member states allow the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to downgrade Israel\u2019s status at the UN, the U.S. must stop supporting the UN system, as it would clearly be beyond repair. I am disgusted that this outrageous idea has even been discussed, and will do all we can to ensure any changes to Israel\u2019s status will come with consequences.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nReports indicate that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will attempt to downgrade Israel\u2019s status at the UN.\n\nThe PA is able to do this after the UN General Assembly passed a biased resolution, which enhanced the PA\u2019s status at the United Nations on May 10, 2024.\n\nThe Stand with Israel Act would cut off U.S. funding to UN agencies that expel, downgrade, suspend, or otherwise restrict the participation of the State of Israel. The bill is modeled after the current prohibition of funding to any UN entities that elevate the status of the PA to a member state.\n\nSenator Capito has supported other efforts to hold the UN accountable for targeting the State of Israel, including a joint statement in response to anti-Israel efforts at the recent UN General Assembly.\n\nSenator Capito also joined a December 2023 letter to UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres after the UN\u2019s failure to condemn and investigate Hamas\u2019s acts of sexual violence on Oct. 7.\n\nText of the Stand with Israel Act can be found here.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases/capito-colleagues-announce-intent-to-introduce-stand-with-israel-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.47342961281538, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}