Aiken Times

Washington, D.C. – Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, Subcommittee Ranking Member Dean Phillips (D-MN), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-NY), joined House Foreign Affairs Committee colleagues James Baird (R-IN), and Colin Allred (D-TX) in releasing the following statement regarding the introduction of the U.S.-Israel Partnership and Abraham Accords Enhancement Act of 2023. This bill reauthorizes key cooperative programs between the United States and Israel and fosters the utilization of existing programs to help expand the ground-breaking Abraham Accords.

     “As champions of the U.S.-Israel relationship, we are grateful to introduce the U.S.-Israel Partnership and Abraham Accords Enhancement Act of 2023. The U.S. and Israel are strongest when we work together to achieve shared goals and respond to shared challenges. As we celebrate 75 years of Israel’s existence, we hope this bill charts a course for what the next 75 years of our friendship will bring.”

     Specifically, this bill affirms it is the policy of the U.S. to:

1. Support the democratic, Jewish state of Israel’s right to self-defense.
2. Seek a successor to the current U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding reflecting the unshakeable commitment of the U.S. to Israel’s security.
3. Encourage the expansion and strengthening of the Abraham Accords, in accordance with the Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2022.
4. Support Israel’s full participation as an equally treated member of the community of nations.
5. Continue to expand the U.S.-Israel relationship to deepen existing economic and people-to-people ties, including through cooperative programs.

Read the full bill here.

Original source can be found here