{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-files-joint-resolutions-of-disapproval-to-block-nearly-660-million-in-bomb-sales-to-israel/", "NEWS: Sanders Files Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to Block Nearly $660 Million in Bomb Sales to Israel", "2026-03-19", "2026", "2026-03", "Independent", "Senate", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", "sanders", "https://www.sanders.senate.gov/media/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, March 19 \u2014 Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today filed three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) that would block the sale of nearly $658.8 million in offensive U.S. weaponry to Israel amid President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional war with Iran. Joining Sanders as cosponsors of these resolutions are Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).\n\nEarlier this month, the Trump administration notified lawmakers of its intention to declare an \u201cemergency\u201d and bypass Congress to sell more than 20,000 bombs to the Israeli government. These bombs are directly implicated in tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.\n\nThe sales include:\n\n$298 million for 5,000 \u201cdefense articles\u201d relating to 250-pound small-diameter bombs\n\n$209 million for 10,000 500-pound bombs\n\n$151.8 million for 12,000 1,000-pound bombs\n\n\u201cGiven the horrific destruction that Israel\u2019s extremist government has wrought on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, the last thing in the world that American taxpayers need to do right now is to provide 22,000 new bombs to the Netanyahu government,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cNo more weapons to support an illegal war.\u201d\n\n\u201cDonald Trump launched an illegal, unjustified war of choice against Iran that is making our nation less, not more, safe and has set the region on fire. It has resulted in 13 Americans killed and hundreds more injured, as well as the deaths of thousands of civilians. It\u2019s also costing American taxpayers a billion dollars a day and driving up prices here at home. Trump not only disregarded Congressional authority to declare this war, he\u2019s now bypassing Congress by invoking an emergency authority to supply additional bombs to this war, a crisis of his own making. Congress must use all the tools at our disposal to end Trump\u2019s war, including stopping the transfer of over $658 million of taxpayer-funded bombs to the Netanyahu government. It is clear that prolonging this war by sending additional bombs to the Netanyahu government is not in America\u2019s interests,\u201d Van Hollen said.\n\n\u201cDonald Trump, working in lockstep with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a reckless and unconstitutional war,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cI do not support sending more offensive weapons to the Netanyahu government.\u201d\n\n\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s war of choice in Iran has been a catastrophe\u2013jeopardizing our national security and the lives of our troops, killing and wounding thousands of innocent civilians, and causing havoc in the global economy. The war needs to end today,\u201d Welch said. \u201cWith the bombs already provided to Israel by American taxpayers, Israeli forces are unleashing a campaign of total war in Iran with the clear and deliberate intention to eviscerate Iran\u2019s economy and society. I support these joint resolutions to make sure that we do not send another 20,000 bombs to Israel that will result in further destruction in Iran and Lebanon. We must end this war, and we must not send these bombs.\u201d", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"]], "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.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-files-joint-resolutions-of-disapproval-to-block-nearly-660-million-in-bomb-sales-to-israel/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6833910010755062, "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"}