{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-ban-anti-semitic-country-of-origin-labels", "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Ban Anti-Semitic Country-of-Origin Labels", "2021-07-29", "2021", "2021-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: James Arnold or Mary Collins Atkinson (202) 224-2353\n\nJuly 29, 2021\n\nCotton, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Ban Anti-Semitic Country-of-Origin Labels\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) introduced the Anti-BDS Labeling Act to prohibit the Biden administration from reversing current guidelines that require Israeli goods produced in areas where Israel exercises the relevant authorities to be labeled as \u201cMade in Israel.\u201d Such a change would help the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement to target particular Israeli companies and goods. Text of the bill may be found here.\n\n\u201cLeft-wing activists abuse county-of-origin labels in order to stigmatize products made in Israel. Our bill will defend the integrity of the Jewish State by ensuring that Israeli products may proudly bear the label \u2018Made in Israel,\u2019\u201d said Cotton.\n\n\u201cAs our most strategic and important ally in the Middle East, Israel should be assured that the U.S. government will not reverse course and take part in the campaign to delegitimize its authority and punish its economy,\u201d said Boozman. \u201cThis legislation would ensure our support for the Jewish state, which reached new heights under the Trump administration, remains steadfast and rejects anti-Semitic movements attempting to undermine it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe cannot allow the disgusting rise of anti-Semitism to continue to permeate our country and the halls of Congress. I\u2019m proud to join this effort and continue my strong support of our great ally Israel. I will always stand with our Jewish community and fight the BDS movement and anti-Semitism wherever it is found,\u201d said Scott.\n\n\u201cAs the co-author of the bipartisan Combating BDS Act of 2021, I\u2019m proud to join this legislative effort that would prohibit President Biden and his administration from reversing a common-sense Trump-era policy,\u201d said Rubio. \u201cAs the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement continues with its destructive anti-Israel campaign, we must ensure products made in Israel aren\u2019t the prime targets of economic warfare.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is engaged in discriminatory economic warfare targeting the Jewish state of Israel. Last year, President Trump dealt a serious blow to the BDS movement when he ended the U.S. government\u2019s discriminatory treatment of Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria, and required these imported goods to be labeled as \u2018Made in Israel.\u2019 I\u2019m proud to support Senator Cotton\u2019s important legislation to counter efforts by the BDS movement and its anti-Israel supporters to pressure the Biden Administration into reversing President Trump\u2019s pro-Israel policy change,\u201d said Hagerty.\n\n\u201cTennesseans are proud to stand with Israel. We must not allow the Biden Administration to roll back existing policy and allow the singling out and discrimination against products made in Israel,\u201d said Blackburn. \u201cIt is a double standard that is not applied to other sovereign nations involved in territorial disputes.\u201d\n\n\u201cCampaigns to boycott or discriminate against Israel and Israeli Jews are driven by antisemitic hate. I am proud to join Sen. Cotton on this bill blocking the Biden administration from reversing current guidelines that allow the State of Israel to exercise their sovereignty when marking goods made in their own country,\u201d said Cruz.\n\n\u201cIsrael is a pluralistic democracy in a repressive region, and one of America\u2019s closest allies. Amid rising hate crimes and increasing anti-Israel rhetoric, we should not be supporting policies that promote anti-Semitism,\u201d said Tillis. \u201cI am proud to co-sponsor this legislation to allow Israel to maintain appropriate country-of-origins labeling for goods produced in areas they exercise relevant authority.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nIn 1995, the Clinton administration changed longstanding U.S. policy and required \u201cMade in West Bank\u201d country-of-origin (COO) labels for Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria, even though the U.S. government treats these products as \u201carticles of Israel\u201d for trade purposes.\n\nIn 2016, the Obama administration republished these labeling guidelines as part of a broader effort to oppose the Israeli government.\n\nIn November 2020, Senator Cotton led a letter to President Trump urging the administration to change U.S. customs policy and guidelines to allow Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria to be labeled \"Made in Israel.\"\n\nFollowing Senator Cotton\u2019s letter, the Trump administration created new guidelines that required Israeli goods produced in areas where Israel exercised the relevant authorities to be labeled as \u201cMade in Israel.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:03:51Z"]], "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.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-ban-anti-semitic-country-of-origin-labels"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2302901595830917, "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"}