Most Americans Want a Cease-Fire in Gaza. Most of Congress Still Doesn’t.
Here is a very short list of every member of Congress who has called for a cease-fire amid Israel’s war on Gaza
Public support for Israel’s military barrage of the Gaza Strip is crumbling. The vast majority of Americans believe that their country should support a cease-fire in the escalating conflict, which so far has killed more than 12,000 Palestinians—more than half of them women and children—and 1,200 Israelis.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents agreed that Israel should call for a cease-fire and try to negotiate, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between November 13 and 14.
Meanwhile, just 32 percent of respondents said that the “U.S. should support Israel,” a 9 percent drop from October’s polling results.
But do U.S. politicians agree with the American people?
So far, only 55 representatives out of 435 members of the House of Representatives and four senators out of 100 Senate members have called for a cease-fire. They include:
House
- Representative Alma Adams (D-NC)
- Representative Becca Balint (D-VT)
- Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)
- Representative Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA)
- Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)
- Representative Cori Bush (D-MO)
- Representative Tony Cárdenas (D-CA)
- Representative André Carson (D-IN)
- Representative Troy Carter (D-LA)
- Representative Greg Casar (D-TX)
- Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX)
- Representative Judy Chu (D-CA)
- Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
- Representative Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)
- Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI)
- Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
- Representative Veronica Escobar (D-TX)
- Representative Valerie Foushee (D-NC)
- Representative Maxwell Frost (D-FL)
- Representative John Garamendi (D-CA)
- Representative Jesús García (D-IL)
- Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA)
- Representative Al Green (D-TX)
- Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ)
- Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA)
- Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA)
- Representative Jonathan Jackson (D-IL)
- Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
- Representative Henry Johnson (D-GA)
- Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA)
- Representative Daniel Kildee (D-MI)
- Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA)
- Representative Summer Lee (D-PA)
- Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN)
- Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA)
- Representative Kweisi Mfume (D-MD)
- Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
- Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
- Representative Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ)
- Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN)
- Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI)
- Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
- Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL)
- Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
- Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)
- Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
- Representative Terri Sewell (D-AL)
- Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
- Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
- Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL)
- Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-NM)
- Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)
- Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA)
- Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)
- Representative Nikema Williams (D-GA)
Senate
- Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
- Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
- Senator Peter Welch (D-VT)
The joint statement signed by Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, Bennie Thompson, Nikema Williams, Valerie Foushee, Sanford Bishop, Jr., Donald Payne, Jr., André Carson, Lloyd Doggett, and Terri Sewell on Friday means that 9.2 percent of Congress have now called for a ceasefire.
“We urge you to use your immense influence and the full power of your office to continue negotiations and extend the bilateral pause beyond tomorrow so that both sides can build towards a bilateral ceasefire and, ultimately, a two-state solution,” they wrote, one day before the truce was set to expire. “Too many innocent lives have been lost already. The bloodshed must end.”
More than 500 political appointees and members of President Joe Biden’s staff have signed a joint letter calling for an immediate cease-fire.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans support a cease-fire. Furthermore, Americans do not want the U.S. military to be drawn into another costly and senseless war in the Middle East,” read the letter.
This article was updated on December 4.