[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 170 (Monday, November 18, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H6029-H6030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




USE EXECUTIVE ORDER TO IMPOSE FINANCIAL SANCTIONS ON EXTREMIST SETTLER 
                            MOVEMENT LEADERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Casten) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, last month, Congresswoman DeLauro and I, 
along with Senators Van Hollen and Durbin, led over 80 congressional 
Democrats to urge the Biden administration to impose financial 
sanctions on certain members of the Netanyahu

[[Page H6030]]

government--specifically, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and 
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for their role in the rise 
of settler violence, settlement expansion, and general destabilization 
of the West Bank.
  I represent one of the largest Palestinian populations in the United 
States. I have had constituents who have lost loved ones, have had 
family land seized, and even, as American citizens, have been detained 
in Israeli prisons simply for the crime of visiting their families.
  I am also a staunch supporter of Israel and categorically support 
their right to defend themselves and recover hostages taken during the 
horrific acts of October 7.
  Let us be very clear: There is no conflict between supporting the 
Nation of Israel and the dignity of the Palestinian people so long as 
you are committed to a permanent and durable regional peace in this 
lifetime. That peace will never be realized until people on both sides 
of the green line have equal property rights, security, and 
opportunity.

  That is not possible as long as Israeli hostages are being detained 
or as rockets continue to fly into Israel from Hezbollah, Hamas, and 
Iran, but it is also not possible as long as Palestinians on the West 
Bank are having their property confiscated, livestock killed, and their 
communities bulldozed.
  Violent settlers in the West Bank have carried out almost 1,300 known 
attacks against Palestinians since October 7. At least 25 new outposts 
have been established. Seventy illegal outposts were recognized and are 
eligible for funding by the Israeli Government. All of these actions 
are illegal under international law.
  Earlier this year, President Biden issued Executive Order No. 14115 
that authorized the imposition of sanctions on anyone determined ``to 
be responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly 
engaged or attempted to engage in . . . actions . . . that threaten the 
peace, security, or stability of the West Bank.''
  To date, President Biden has used this order to sanction Palestinian 
militant groups, organizations involved in violent extremist activity, 
instigators from the settler movement, and the outposts from which 
violent attacks are launched.
  Just as it is appropriate for Israel to target Hamas leadership in 
their response to October 7, it is necessary for the United States to 
target financial sanctions on the leaders of the extremist settler 
movement.
  This brings us to Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. They have 
distributed rifles to extremists. They have allowed those extremists to 
attack humanitarian aid convoys. They have prevented the Palestinian 
Authority from accessing the international banking network. These 
ministers' stated goal is the annexation of the West Bank, and they 
have acted in ways that violate both the spirit and letter of the 
President's executive order.
  Frederick Douglass famously said that ``the best friend of a nation 
is he who most faithfully rebukes her for her sins--and he her worst 
enemy who, under the specious . . . garb of patriotism, seeks to 
excuse, palliate, and defend'' those sins.
  It is out of love for the Palestinian people and a deep, abiding 
friendship with Israel that we must now rebuke Ministers Smotrich and 
Ben-Gvir for their sins.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge President Biden to heed the calls of over 80 
Members of Congress and use his executive order to issue these 
sanctions and to help put a stop to settler violence in the West Bank.

                          ____________________