America .. “Israel’s Iron Dome” raises controversy in Congress

The sharp debate continues in the US Congress, after the Democrats withdrew funding for the Israeli missile shield system (Iron Dome) of a draft law.

The leader of the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer, announced Tuesday evening that the House will vote before the end of the week on a bill that includes funding for the dome in response to its withdrawal from another law.

Hoyer told the council that he had spoken to the Israeli foreign minister, Yair Lapid, and told him that this text would be approved by the council, according to Agence France-Presse.

Also, the leader of the slim majority confirmed that he intends to put to a vote before the end of this week a bill that would fully fund Iron Dome, stressing that this system is defensive and absolutely essential to Israel’s security, he said.

Expedited Text Approval Mechanism

In addition, he made it clear that he would use an expedited mechanism for the adoption of this text, which would require it to be approved by a two-thirds majority of the members present or by a unanimous oral vote.

After it is passed in the House of Representatives, the Senate must pass the text in turn so that it can be referred to President Joe Biden for his signature and promulgation into law.

Hoyer stressed that President Biden wants this text to be approved, and so do all Democratic leaders in Congress.

angry responses

Earlier Tuesday, House Democrats provoked a storm of angry reactions after they withdrew from another bill the $1 billion intended to fund this anti-missile system.

Withdrawing the law after pressure

Democrats withdrew this amount from a bill intended to fund the federal government after pressure from lawmakers from the left wing of the party, who refused to link in a single text the Iron Dome and the funding of their government, according to American media.

Once this funding was withdrawn from the federal government funding bill, Democratic leaders were quick to stress that Iron Dome would be funded, but in the Pentagon’s annual budget bill, stressing that there would be no “interruption” in this funding.

But the democratic move was enough to irritate the Republican minority and anger some moderate Democrats.

Republicans accuse

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy accused his Democratic opponents of “acquiescing to the influence of their radical representatives,” while some centrist Democrats lamented their colleagues’ move.

Republican leaders had announced that they would not vote in the Senate in favor of the bill that stripped Iron Dome funding, in a decision that effectively meant nip this provision in the bud.

However, this did not prevent them from directing their anger on their Democratic opponents.