@RepBarbaraLee During debate on this very authorization in 2002, @RepBarbaraLee said: “It does not take leadership to go drop bombs & go to war. It takes real leadership to negotiate & to develop peaceful resolutions to our security needs.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu has been a destructive force and a barrier to peace. Instead of attending his address, I spent time meeting with hostage families and listening to Palestinian and Israeli Jewish activists who are working together for peace and security in the Middle East.
We had real conversations about how to end this conflict — no divisive and politicized rhetoric like Netanyahu, just important and productive discussions.
First, at a moving event, I met with hostage families and heard the deep pain they are experiencing. They spoke about wanting “life over revenge” and expressed anger and frustration that Netanyahu has not prioritized the return of the hostages, but instead has sabotaged a deal.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: @POTUS is the most progressive president on domestic economic policy that we have ever had. Last night in his interview, he showed us that once again.
Let’s run through some of the major things that he and Democrats have accomplished.🧵
President Biden has been THE jobs president! Well over 15 million jobs have been created since he took office and unemployment has now been below 4% for a record 27 months in a row. We’ve also seen over 16 million new business applications. The Biden Economy is delivering.
.@POTUS has also taken on junk fees, requiring companies to show full prices upfront and capping fees from credit cards, live event tickets, auto dealers, apartment rentals, and more — saving Americans BILLIONS.
🧵1. What happened yesterday at @KCCouncil when asylum seekers showed up to testify about how they would be w/o a place to sleep in one of the richest areas in the country was extraordinary. Councilmembers Perry, Mosqueda, Baron, Zahilay welcomed them & ensured they cld speak.
2. After everyone had spoken but asylum seekers were not leaving b/c they had nowhere to sleep that night, council members began calling around to help fill the 2-week gap before county money could get disbursed. Perry called Muslim leader Mubarak El-Amin as one of her calls.
3. Mubarak immediately jumped into action. He is former board member of @weareoneamerica when I was ED, immigrant from Sudan who understands displacement (read more about Sudan & his own story here (), & Muslim leader in pain w/what is happening in Gaza.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/w…
America must call for a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities. After forcing people in north Gaza to go south, Israel just launched enormous set of strikes on the south. This is now collective punishment. 5000+ Palestinians now dead, at least 40% children. washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/…
We have 500+ US citizens + families in south Gaza, trying to get out. Hamas reportedly blocking efforts to get them out, but Israel is bombing in the very area that people have been told to go to for shelter. Israel also blocking fuel & attacking basic infrastructure.
The US rightly called the attacking of the power grid and blocking of food and water in Ukraine by Russia a war crime. We must be consistent here also, despite the horrific nature of Hamas’s attack on Israel. This war is escalating. This is not the answer.
🧵Two years ago today, the American Rescue Plan was passed into law. This was a transformative piece of legislation that got shots in arms, money in pockets, and did so much more, including:
✅ Expanding the Child Tax Credit to cut child poverty in HALF
✅ Lowering health care premiums by $800 for 13 million Americans
✅ Giving states an easier pathway to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage for a full 12 months
✅ Helping over 100,000 restaurants, bars, and food trucks stay open through the Restuarant Revitalization Fund
✅ Providing emergency rental assistance to keep people in their homes
✅ Establishing funding to keep more than 200,000 child care centers open
🧵The IRS just reported that thanks to the $$ we put into the Inflation Reduction Act to boost IRS officers, 89% of taxpayers calls are now being answered….by agents! Why is this important? A primary way that GOP undermines faith in govt is to make it unable to respond to YOU.
The best way to make govt unable to respond to you is to cut the funding so there’s no people to do the critical work that they are supposed to do. Please understand: this is a strategy of the right. The GOP regularly cuts the budgets for critical programs like IRS, Soc Security
Veteran’s Affairs and many other areas. If Americans get frustrated that they can’t navigate the bureaucracy, that they can’t get help when they need it, they start to have their faith in govt undermined. Trump made a sport of this. He decimated IRS, Natl Labor Relations Board…