Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and 32 Republican senators in introducing the Upholding the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Law Act of 2021. This bill seeks to protect the full and faithful implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and block the Biden Administration’s efforts to subvert the law.
Rubio is a senior Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“It is outrageous that the Biden Administration continues to voice support for reopening a consulate in Jerusalem, which calls into question its status as Israel’s capital,” Rubio said. “In no other country does the United States operate both an embassy and a separate consulate in the same city. This would be a shameful violation of U.S. law and an affront to our Israeli allies. I’m proud to support this crucial piece of legislation, which would ensure that Jerusalem remains Israel’s united and historic capital.”
“President Biden continues to push forward his inflammatory plan to establish a second mission in Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem — one for the Israelis and a second one for the Palestinians — despite the fact that this plan violates the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and is completely opposed by the Government of Israel,” Hagerty said. “It is regrettable that the Biden Administration insists on making moves that divide the United States and Israel when our two nations should be laser-focused on stopping Iran’s terror-sponsoring regime from going nuclear, on countering growing threats from Hizballah, Hamas, and other Iran-backed terrorist groups, and on strengthening and expanding the historic Abraham Accords that truly have increased peace in the Middle East. The Trump Administration kept its promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish State, and Congress must do everything in our power to strengthen our posture.”
Under the Trump Administration, the United States fully implemented the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel on December 6, 2017, by moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, and by closing the U.S. Consulate General for the Palestinians and merging its functions into U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem’s new Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU) under the U.S. Ambassador to Israel’s Chief of Mission authority. Prior to the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995’s full and faithful implementation, the U.S. consulate for the Palestinians had previously operated completely outside of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel’s Chief of Mission authority.
In June, Rubio led a group of Republican colleagues in pressing the Biden Administration to adhere to U.S. law and refrain from reopening the Mission of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem for the Palestinians.
In addition to Rubio and Hagerty, original co-sponsors of the Upholding the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Law Act of 2021 include: Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), James Inhofe (R-OK), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), James Risch (R-ID), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Rick Scott (R-FL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN).