A significant number of House Democrats voted “no” on declaring the Islamic Republic of Iran a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
Sponsored by Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the resolution passed the U.S. House on Thursday by a 372-53 vote. Two Democrats voted present. While squad members like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) were expected to vote “no,” a full 53 proved somewhat surprising. Their names, per Fox News:
Donald S. Beyer Jr.
Suzanne Bonamici
André Carson
Greg Casar
Joaquin Castro
Yvette D. Clarke
Steve Cohen
Danny K. Davis
Maxine Dexter
Lloyd Doggett
Dwight Evans
Lizzie Fletcher
Valerie Foushee
Maxwell Alejandro Frost
Robert Garcia
Jesús “Chuy” García
Al Green
Raúl M. Grijalva
Val Hoyle
Jared Huffman
Sara Jacobs
Pramila Jayapal
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.
Robin Kelly
Ro Khanna
Raja Krishnamoorthi
Summer Lee
Sarah McBride
Morgan McGarvey
James P. McGovern
LaMonica McIver
Christian D. Menefee
Robert Jacobsen “Rob” Menendez Jr.
Gwen Moore
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Ilhan Omar
Chellie Pingree
Mark Pocan
Ayanna Pressley
Delia Ramirez
Emily Randall
Luz Rivas
Linda T. Sánchez
Janice D. “Jan” Schakowsky
Lateefah Simon
Mark Takano
Rashida Tlaib
Lori Trahan
Lauren Underwood
Nydia M. Velázquez
Maxine Waters
Bonnie Watson Coleman
Nikema Williams
The resolution said nothing about President Trump’s strikes on Iran, while saying the regime “remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and provides substantial financial and military support to groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” adding that it “poses a direct and persistent threat to the United States and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American citizens,”
It also cited the Pentagon as saying that “Iranian-backed proxy militias are responsible for the deaths of at least 603 U.S. service members in Iraq — roughly one in every six American combat fatalities.”
“According to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafeal Grossi, Iran has amassed a large stockpile of enriched uranium and continues to block access to undeclared sites in Iran affiliated with their ‘big, ambitious nuclear weapons program,’” it continued.
“…that the House of Representatives declares it is the policy of the United States… that Iran continues to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism,” it concluded.
Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) said in a post on Facebook that the resolution contained “inaccuracies and is designed to justify the President’s actions in Iran.”
“Republicans in Congress are not only surrendering their constitutional duties – they are also playing politics with a resolution reaffirming Iran as a leading state sponsor of terrorism,” Simon wrote. “That is already U.S. policy.”
“I have been clear about my opposition to the brutal and devastating actions of the Iranian regime against those protesting for freedom,” Simon continued. “This resolution does nothing to advance their freedom and instead, puts Congress on record as giving the Administration further pretext for a war that should not have been started in the first place.”
