House Republicans Move Ahead with Effort to Force Dems to Vote on Pro-Israel Bill

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House Republicans are making a move to force Democrats into a potentially party-splitting pro-Israel vote on the House floor.

Wednesday morning, standing alongside a sign that said “We stand with Israel,” members of the House Republican conference discussed their latest procedural move to force a vote on a bill combatting the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestiture, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, the world’s only Jewish state: A discharge petition.

“As elected leaders we have a duty to address the rising trend of anti-Semitism we are seeing across the nation and around the world,” reads a statement from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “The BDS movement is a vile manifestation of anti-Semitism that seeks to isolate and shame an American ally; its fundamental motives run counter to our core American principles and ideals.”

H.R. 336, or the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019, is currently before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and contains provisions designed to protect the world’s only Jewish state from efforts to stymie and cripple it economically.

“The reason that BDS is such a concern,” explained House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., at Wednesday’s press conference, “is that it’s an attempt to delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state.”

Between a growing wave of anti-Israel sentiment on the political Left, media attention from multiple high-profile anti-Semitic statements from far-left Democratic freshmen Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and the watered-down resolution responding to some of those comments, the Democratic Party’s stance on Israel has come into serious question over the past few months.

The House is a majoritarian body by design, leaving very few options for the minority party to control the legislative schedule. A discharge petition, as Republicans are gathering signatures for here, allows for an end run around the majority party’s power, so long as the bill being discharged from committee can get signatures from a House majority.

“We have witnessed the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hate throughout the world, in our nation, on college campuses and within the halls of Congress, and whether this bigotry is brazen or it’s blatant anti-Semitism deceptively called ‘legitimate’ we must crush it wherever it exists,” said Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said in a statement about the discharge petition.

“Members of Congress can no longer hide behind procedural roadblocks. The American people deserve to know where each and every one of us stand and what we are willing to do about it,” Zeldin’s statement continues, “which is why we’re doing what House Democratic leadership won’t; unapologetically bringing legislation to the floor that not only condemns the BDS movement but helps stop it.”

This is not the first time this session that Republican leaders have attempted to force their Democratic colleagues to vote on a potentially divisive issue in the House chamber. Earlier this year, GOP members launched a discharge petition campaign to bring up a high-profile anti-infanticide measure after national attention to the issue led to a widely covered vote on the Senate version.

The anti-BDS petition was filed back in April but “ripened” for signatures this week. It will need 218 signatures to bring it out of committee and force a floor vote, which means that all 197 House Republicans would need 21 House Democrats to join them.

According to an emailed statement from the office of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, no fewer than 27 current House Democrats cosponsored similar legislation in the last Congress.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., however, told reporters Wednesday that he intends to move quickly on the pro-Israel measure.

“The committee is considering this, and I expect to be moving something out of the committee in the relatively near future,” Hoyer said during a press briefing elsewhere in the Capitol complex. “My inclination is to put it on the floor, yes, but I want to see what the committee does first before I make that decision.”

Full video of Wednesday’s Republican press conference can be found here.

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With Farmers Hit Hard by Chinese Tariffs, the Trump Admin Devises $15 Billion Agriculture Aid Plan

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As America’s trade fight with China escalates, the Trump administration is planning to provide even more assistance to farmers whose bottom lines have been affected by the increases in foreign tariffs.

Last year the federal government ended up paying farmers $12 billion to cover the loss of foreign sales to tariff increases, and this year it’s looking like the number is going to be $15 billion.

“We’re gonna take the highest year, the biggest purchase that China has ever made with our farmers, which is about $15 billion,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, “and do something reciprocal to our farmers so our farmers can do well, they’ll be planting, they’ll be able to sell for less and make the same kind of money until such a time as it’s all straightened out.”

The move comes after Trump faced considerable pushback from Senate Republicans whose state agricultural economies were hit by slumping foreign sales, the Washington Post reports.

In a Monday press release, Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee Chairman John Hoeven, R-S.D., praised the President’s idea and noted that the assistance would take the form of “Market Facilitation Program” payments and other agricultural assistance.

“We appreciate the Administration’s recognition of the challenges in farm country and their commitment to provide agriculture assistance. As chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Committee, I’ve been making the case to the Administration, both at USDA and the White House, that our producers need another round of MFP as well as other ag assistance,” the statement says. “At the same time, supporting our agriculture industry will send a clear message to China that the U.S. is going to do what it takes to get better trade deals.”

While agricultural commodities across the board have been hit hard by the standoff between Washington and Beijing, one of the hardest-hit crops is soybeans, which fell to record low prices on Monday amid a massive supply glut and stalled Asian purchases.

And that supply glut is hitting the president right in his geographic base of support, as several of the states with the highest soybean acreages are states that voted for him in 2016, as shown by the map below.

“We’ve been understanding during this negotiation process, but we cannot withstand another year in which our most important foreign market continues to slip away and soybean prices are 20 to 25 percent, or even more, below pre-tariff levels,” said John Heisdorffer, American Soybean Association Chairman and Iowa soy farmer, on Monday. “Our patience is waning, our finances are suffering, and the stress from months of living with the consequences of these tariffs is mounting.”

Early on Tuesday morning, the president tweeted that “Our great Patriot Farmers will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of what is happening now,” and that the funding for the new subsidies would be paid for by the “massive Tariffs” currently leveled against China and others. “The Farmers have been ‘forgotten’ for many years. Their time is now!”

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Watch: President Trump Asked About War With Iran, Here’s How He Responded

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President Donald Trump indicated that the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, is skating on very thin ice with its recent provocations in the Middle East and that if Iran does “anything, they will suffer greatly.”

“Are we going to war with Iran?” a reporter asked the president in the White House. “Are you seeking regime change?”

“We’ll see what happens with Iran,” Trump responded. “If they do anything it will be a very bad mistake, if they do anything. I’m hearing little stories about Iran. If they do anything, they will suffer greatly. We’ll see what happens with Iran.” . . .

“There was no immediate indication as to who may have been responsible or why the damage was inflicted, but the incidents occurred at the same time and place off the coast of the United Arab Emirates only days after the United States has dispatched warships and bombers to the area to deter alleged threats from Iran,” The Washington Post reported. “The location is near a sea lane critical to the world’s supply of oil, and the incidents followed a warning by U.S. maritime authorities that Iran might seek to disrupt commercial shipping in the area.” (Read more from “Watch: President Trump Asked About War With Iran, Here’s How He Responded” HERE)

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Here’s How a Massive Cookie Company Celebrated Mother’s Day

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Cookie company Chips Ahoy! celebrated Mother’s Day by posting a video of a drag queen to social media.

The video featured Jose Cancel, an actor using the stage name Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, who competed in the most recent season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

“#HappyMothersDay to your moms, your drag moms and everyone who celebrates you being YOU,” Chips Ahoy! captioned the video, which it posted to Twitter and Instagram.

(Read more from “Here’s How a Massive Cookie Company Celebrated Mother’s Day” HERE)

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Ocasio-Cortez Walks Back Her ‘End of World’ Claims – Here’s the Excuse

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claimed Sunday that people who believe the suggestion that the world will end in 12 years have the intelligence of a “sea sponge,” even though Ocasio-Cortez made that very claim in January.

Ocasio-Cortez suggested that Republicans too often mischaracterize her dry humor and “fact check” her jokes, claiming that they take them too literally. One of her alleged jokes includes a January claim that the world will end in 12 years if we do not address climate change, comparing it to a modern World War II-style struggle.

“Like the ‘world ending in 12 years’ thing, you’d have to have the social intelligence of a sea sponge to think it’s literal. But the GOP is basically Dwight from The Office so who knows,” Ocasio-Cortez said:

“I think that the part of it that is generational is that millennials and Gen-Z and all these folks that come after us are looking up and we’re like, ‘The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change,’ and your biggest issue is–your biggest issue is, ‘How are we going to pay for it?’” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And, like, this is the war; this is our World War II.”

(Read more from “Ocasio-Cortez Walks Back Her ‘End of World’ Claims – Here’s the Excuse” HERE)

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Resurfaced Video Reveals How Biden Used to Feel About the U.S. Border… Remind You of Anyone?

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Democrat presidential primary candidate Joe Biden once supported President Trump’s “America First” immigration agenda that builds a wall along the United States-Mexico border and bans employers from hiring illegal aliens over American citizens.

In a November 2006 appearance at a South Carolina rotary club, Biden touted the fact that he supported funding building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by voting for the Secure Fence Act of 2006. The legislation, at the time, promised to fund 700 miles of new fencing at the southern border to end illegal immigration.

Aside from supporting barriers at the southern border to end illegal immigration to the country, Biden cited his support for mandatory nationwide E-Verify, which would ban employers from hiring illegal aliens over American citizens, in the unearthed clip.

Biden said a border fence and mandatory E-Verify were necessary to stop illegal immigration, both of which are a part of Trump’s immigration platform:

Folks, I voted for a fence, I voted, unlike most Democrats — and some of you won’t like it — I voted for 700 miles of fence. But, let me tell you, we can build a fence 40 stories high — unless you change the dynamic in Mexico and — and you will not like this, and punish American employers who knowingly violate the law when, in fact, they hire illegals. Unless you do those two things, all the rest is window dressing. [Emphasis added]

(Read more from “Resurfaced Video Reveals How Biden Used to Feel About the U.S. Border… Remind You of Anyone?” HERE)

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WATCH: Violent Assault on Pro-Lifer at U.S. College

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Video has recently surfaced depicting a violent assault on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill last month. The video shows a female student attacking a young man after she apparently became angry over anti-abortion signage, according to a report by Campus Reform.

The young man, Austin Beigel, is an intern with the pro-life group Created Equal. Biegel said in a Facebook post that he was attacked while “peacefully talking to students about abortion,” adding that “violence from abortion supporters is becoming more common.” . . .

[Video contains explicit language:]

Created Equal was reportedly on the UNC campus in order to display “large signs depicting the gruesome reality of abortion” and engage in conversations with students on April 2, a Tuesday press release from the group said. The appearance was part of a bigger tour across 14 college campuses, located in three different states.

“Footage of the outburst begins with a woman asking our team, ‘Did you put these [signs] up?’” the press release stated, according to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “When they respond affirmatively, she proceeds to repeatedly punch and kick a member of our staff.” . . .

Created Equal President Mark Harrington reportedly said Tuesday that the university had still not reached out to the group, but that police had charged the assailant with non-aggravated assault. Campus Reform was not able to independently confirm those charges with the UNC police. (Read more from “WATCH: Violent Assault on Pro-Lifer at Chapel Hill” HERE)

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Ridiculous: Leftist Nadler Declares a Constitutional Crisis

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By Breitbart. During a press conference after the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt on Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) stated that we “are now in a constitutional crisis.”

(Read more from “Ridiculous: Leftist Nadler Declares a Constitutional Crisis” HERE)

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Nadler: Trump Claim of Executive Privilege Could Delay Mueller Testimony

By Politico. President Donald Trump’s sweeping effort to block congressional access to the Mueller report could complicate Democrats’ efforts to bring special counsel Robert Mueller in as a witness, a top Democrat told POLITICO on Wednesday.

Noting that Mueller is still an employee of the Justice Department, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said Trump’s claim of executive privilege could succeed in delaying the House’s efforts to access Mueller’s report and hear his testimony. . .

Nadler said he hasn’t received a definitive assurance about when Mueller intends to leave the Justice Department but that “by all accounts it’s very short.” He indicated that he’s banking on Mueller’s departure to ease his path to testifying to the Judiciary Committee.

It’s unclear whether that could set back the committee’s efforts to call Mueller on May 15, a tentative date that House Democrats have eyed. But there’s no indication Mueller has consented to testifying or that he’s operating on the committee’s tentative schedule. (Read more from “Nadler: Trump Claim of Executive Privilege Could Delay Mueller Testimony” HERE)

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Why This Rifle Maker Keeps Its Base of Operations in One of the Most Anti-Gun Parts of the Country

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Indianapolis- It’s right there for all to see—and with pride: Henry—Made In America, or Not At All. That’s the mantra of Henry Repeating Arms, a gun manufacturer based out of Bayonne, New Jersey. Yes, I know. What’s the gun maker doing sticking around in one of the most anti-gun states in the country? It’s a question that the company’s president, Anthony Imperato, answered and it made total sense. We’ll get to that in a bit, but what kind of firearms does this company make? They’re lever action rifles and shotguns commonly seen in any Western film. Think Battle of the Little Big Horn. Okay—bad example, but the Clint Eastwood classic film “Unforgiven,” or “Pale Rider,” would feature rifles that Henry doles out on a daily basis. All parts are made in America, a phrase that’s become perilously close to ornamentation as more companies ship their production overseas. For Henry, that’s not an option. And it likes to be seen as a beacon, an example of an American company that’s thriving while still making its product in the good U.S. of A.

Townhall caught up with Mr. Imperato at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, where we got to learn a little more about his company. . .

As for Henry itself, it’s not Proctor and Gamble, but it employs 535 people in Wisconsin and New Jersey. Imperato said it’s not massive, but it’s “535 jobs that the state of Wisconsin and NJ are happy to have…well, maybe not the state of New Jersey,” he added with a chuckle. Of the 535 employees, 300 are based in Wisconsin, while 235 work out of the Garden State.

So, why stay, to put it bluntly, in an anti-gun hellhole? It’s very simple. It’s a family history. It’s also the fact that 235 people would probably have to find new jobs. That’s not acceptable either.

“I’m in the gun business because my grandfather had a police equipment gun shop in Lower Manhattan that dates back to 1911,” Imperato said of why he remains in the Tri-State area. “So, we’ve been on the east coast in the gun business for over 100 years, and with that–that whole region Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc. is considered gun valley, and if you want to lump New Jersey into it, now you can,” he added. (Read more from “Why This Rifle Maker Keeps Its Base of Operations in One of the Most Anti-Gun Parts of the Country” HERE)

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Joe Biden Thinks We’re Obligated to Give Illegal Aliens Healthcare

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Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden said during a campaign stop in California on Wednesday that the United States has an “obligation” to give healthcare to illegal aliens.

“I think that anyone who is in a situation where they’re in need of healthcare, regardless of whether they are documented or undocumented, we have an obligation to see that they are cared for,” Biden said in Los Angeles. “That’s why I think we need more clinics around the country.”

Biden dismissed the notion that many illegal aliens come into the United States illegally through the southern border despite the fact that immigration arrests along the border are at a 12-year high.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained 109,144 migrants along the boundary with Mexico last month, a 6 percent increase from March, as monthly arrests reached their highest point since 2007,” The Washington Post reported. “Unauthorized border crossings have more than doubled in the past year, and they are on pace to exceed 1 million on an annual basis, as Guatemalan and Honduran families continue streaming north in record numbers with the expectation they will be quickly processed and released from custody.”

“Our apprehension numbers are off the charts,” Carla Provost, chief of the Border Patrol, told the Senate on Wednesday. “We cannot address this crisis by shifting more resources. It’s like holding a bucket under a faucet. It doesn’t matter how many buckets we have if we can’t turn off the flow.” (Read more from “Joe Biden Thinks We’re Obligated to Give Illegal Aliens Healthcare” HERE)

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