Top News: House Dems Help GOP Target ICC Officials

 

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  US Senate Hearing Highlights Impacts of 'Horrific Anti-Abortion Crusade' Sen. Patty Murray described the event as "a close accounting of the trauma Republicans are inflicting on women and families across our country, and the damage they are doing to basic reproductive healthcare." By Jessica Corbett 42 House Dems Help GOP Pass Bill Targeting ICC Officials Over Israel The ACLU warned the legislation would "harm free speech protections" and "undermine the rule of law and the independence of the ICC." By Brett Wilkins Climate Groups Call for Rich to Pay More as International Meetings Begin "We have to put the social justice element upfront," an architect of the 2015 Paris agreement said as the world's climate delegates gathered in Germany. By Edward Carver ACLU Plans Lawsuit Over Biden's Trumpian Attack on Asylum Rights "It was illegal when Trump did it, and it is no less illegal now." By Brett Wilkins Nagasaki Mayor Withholds Israel's Invitation to Peace Ceremony "Given the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza and international opinion, there is a risk of unpredictable disruption occurring at the ceremony," Mayor Shiro Suzuki said. By Brett Wilkins Incessant IDF Strikes Making Gaza Aid Deliveries 'Virtually Impossible': Oxfam "When hunger claims many more lives, nobody will be able to deny the horrifying impact of Israel's deliberate, illegal, and cruel obstruction of aid." By Jake Johnson

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■ More News 'Victory': Gas Drilling Project Paused After Greenpeace Occupies Platform in North Sea YOU DEFINE YOUR HUMANITY IF YOU REFUSE TO CONDEMN THIS! Displaying Photos of Kids Starved by Israel, Sanders Explains Boycott of Netanyahu Speech Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivers a speech on June 3, 2024 explaining why he will boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's expected speech before Congress.  (Photo: C-SPAN/Screengrab) Sen. Bernie Sanders displayed photos of starving Palestinian children on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Monday to explain his decision to boycott an upcoming speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Democratic and Republican leaders formally invited to address a joint meeting of Congress amid Israel's catastrophic assault on Gaza. The monthslong military campaign has had appalling impacts on Palestinian children, Sanders (I-Vt.) emphasized in his floor remarks Monday, blasting U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for eating "fine steaks" at fundraising dinners with his "billionaire friends" while Israel's army blocks critical food aid from entering Gaza, causing kids to starve to death. "This is a photograph of a child in Gaza taken by Getty," said the Vermont senator as an aide displayed a picture of an emaciated Palestinian child. The photo was one of several that Sanders showed during his speech, stressing that there are thousands of children in Gaza suffering acute malnutrition as a "direct result of Netanyahu's policies—Netanyahu, the man Speaker Johnson has invited to address Congress." "No," Sanders said, "I will not be in attendance for that speech." Watch Sanders' remarks in full: Sanders is one of many progressive U.S. lawmakers expected to boycott Netanyahu's speech to Congress, the timing of which remains unclear after the Israeli prime minister's office denied reporting by Punchbowl and other outlets that the date was set for June 13—a day U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to be out of the country. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the roughly 100-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, toldAxios on Monday that she expects the boycott of Netanyahu's speech to be "large," noting there are "a lot of people who are extremely upset he is coming here." According to Axios, "Jayapal said she has spoken to several lawmakers who went to Netanyahu's 2015 speech [to Congress] but said they will not attend this time." Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) signaled that she would join the congressional boycott, saying the Israeli prime minister "shouldn't be here." "I don't think that it is productive for a Republican or a Democrat to invite him," she added. Netanyahu stands accused by the International Criminal Court of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including the "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare" and "willfully causing great suffering." Last month, the ICC's prosecutor formally applied for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as several Hamas leaders. Whatever the date of his speech to the U.S. Congress, protests are expected to greet the prime minister upon his arrival in Washington, D.C. Recent survey data has shown that a majority of Americans oppose Israel's war on Gaza and want the Biden administration to cut off U.S. arms sales to the country. "He's an indicted felon in Israel with an indictment as a war criminal at the ICC and they've invited him to speak here! Shame," James Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute, said of Netanyahu late Monday. 'What Dictators and Pariah States Do': Republicans Advance Bill to Sanction ICC Scalise Took $40K in Campaign Cash From PAC of CEO Accused of Oil Price Rigging U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise received a $40,000 campaign donation from the political action committee of a Big Oil CEO who allegedly colluded with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to drive up energy prices, the watchdog Accountable.US noted Monday. Scalise (R-La.)—who has made opposing efforts to protect public lands from fossil fuel drilling a top legislative priority—took the money from the Williams Companies PAC, whose board includes Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield, who was accused last month by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of holding private conversations with the OPEC cartel in which he allegedly assured members that his company would throttle production, creating an artificial scarcity in a bid to boost oil prices. The majority leader ranks fourth among all House lawmakers in 2023-24 campaign contributions from oil and gas interests, according to the watchdog OpenSecrets. His $325,833 in Big Oil contributions trails only Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who took $572,421; former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who received $335,399; and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who got $328,019. "If Congressman Scalise wants to protect American consumers he should start by holding accountable Big Oil price gougers." "Big Oil CEOs are out for themselves and the politicians who support their quest to drill for profit at the expense of the American people," Accountable.US spokesperson Chris Marshall said in a statement Monday. "So if Congressman Scalise wants to protect American consumers he should start by holding accountable Big Oil price gougers." The FTC alleges in a complaint that "Sheffield has, through public statements and private communications, attempted to collude with the representatives of [OPEC] and a related cartel of other oil-producing countries known as OPEC+ to reduce output of oil and gas, which would result in Americans paying higher prices at the pump, to inflate profits for his company." The regulator subsequently barred Sheffield from joining the board of ExxonMobil, which bought Pioneer, over the alleged collusion. "Mr. Sheffield's past conduct makes it crystal clear that he should be nowhere near Exxon's boardroom," FTC Bureau of Competition Deputy Director Kyle Mach said in a statement last month. "American consumers shouldn't pay unfair prices at the pump simply to pad a corporate executive's pocketbook." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the upper chamber's floor Monday to reiterate his call for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Big Oil collusion and price fixing. "It's not hard to feel the frustration—the sheer exasperation—felt by millions when America's biggest oil companies rake in record profits but still raise prices at the pump. It is deeply, deeply unfair—and now we have reason to believe that in some cases it may be unlawful," the senator said. Schumer called the FTC allegations against Sheffield "very, very troubling." "This is what frustrates Americans so much about Big Oil: Even when they're making money hand over fist they'll keep raising prices on us, they will keep squeezing us for everything we've got," he said. "And now they may—may—have crossed the line into unlawful behavior." "So the DOJ needs to step in and determine if any laws against collusion or price-fixing have been broken," Schumer added. "At minimum, the American people deserve to know if Big Oil executives are conspiring with each other or with OPEC behind our backs to illegally raise prices at the pump."

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■ Opinion Elon Musk Shows Us Why Individuals Can't Save the World "Live by public will, die by public will," is a mantra the faux libertarian techno billionaires should memorize. They are not our saviors, but rather obstacles to a better future for consumers and workers alike. By Manuel Pastor A Fascist Donald Trump and the Lawyer's Dilemma Trump’s assault on democracy’s essential institutions has always been open and notorious. Examples abound—and they are laced with lies. If you were an attorney committed to defending democracy, could you defend this man? By Steven Harper No, I Will Not Be Attending Netanyahu's Speech These children and thousands more are the direct result of Netanyahu’s policies—Netanyahu, the man Speaker Johnson has invited to address Congress. By Bernie Sanders

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