As President Obama begins his trip to the Mideast, a large number of Members of Congress have signed the Cohen-Boustany-Carnahan letter to the President supporting his assertive US leadership in the region. Today, Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street Executive Director, released the following statement:
J Street applauds the many Members of Congress who have written to the President today in support of his intention to provide strong leadership to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian and broader Arab-Israeli conflicts. The large number of representatives signing is further evidence of the growing support in Congress for the President’s active approach to Middle East diplomacy. As the letter recognizes, peace between Israel and its neighbors is a paramount interest of the United States and essential to the long-term security of Israel. With the parties themselves having proven, after so many years, unable to resolve the conflict on their own, the letter sends an important signal that Congress is ready to support a more assertive U.S. role in resolving the conflict. The letter, authored by Congressmen Cohen, Boustany and Carnahan and delivered to the President as he departed for the Middle East, comes from a broad and bipartisan group of representatives, including members of the Foreign Relations Committee and Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses. A number of Jewish representatives have also signed the letter. As the President prepares to address the Muslim world tomorrow, he should know that he has significant backing both on the Hill and in the American Jewish community for the direction he is charting for U.S. Middle East policy.
The full list of 86 signatories is below the fold. Abercrombie, Neil (DEM, HI-1) Baird, Brian (DEM, WA-3) Baldwin, Tammy (DEM, WI-2) Bishop, Tim (DEM, NY-1) Blumenauer, Earl (DEM, OR-3) Boustany, Charles (REP, LA-7) Braley, Bruce (DEM, IA-1) Capps, Lois (DEM, CA-23) Capuano, Michael (DEM, MA-8) Carnahan, Russ (DEM, MO-3) Carson, Andre (DEM, IN-7) Clarke, Yvette (DEM, NY-11) Clay, Wm. Lacy (DEM, MO-1) Cohen, Steve (DEM, TN-9) Connolly, Gerry (DEM, VA-11) Conyers, John (DEM, MI-14) Cooper, Jim (DEM, TN-5) Davis, Danny (DEM, IL-7) Davis, Geoff (REP, KY-4) Davis, Susan (DEM, CA-53) DeFazio, Peter (DEM, OR-4) Delahunt, William (DEM, MA-10) Dingell, John (DEM, MI-15) Doggett, Lloyd (DEM, TX-25) Doyle, Mike (DEM, PA-14) Edwards, Donna (DEM, MD-4) Ellison, Keith (DEM, MN-5) Eshoo, Anna (DEM, CA-14) Farr, Sam (DEM, CA-17) Fattah, Chaka (DEM, PA-2) Filner, Bob (DEM, CA-51) Foster, Bill (DEM, IL-14) Fudge, Marcia (DEM, OH-11) Gordon, Bart (DEM, TN-6) Grijalva, Raul (DEM, AZ-7) Halvorson, Deborah (DEM, IL-11) Himes, Jim (DEM, CT-4) Hinchey, Maurice (DEM, NY-22) Holt, Rush (DEM, NJ-12) Honda, Michael (DEM, CA-15) Inglis, Bob (REP, SC-4) Issa, Darrell (REP, CA-49) Jackson Lee, Sheila (DEM, TX-18) Johnson, Henry (DEM, GA-4) Kagen, Steve (DEM, WI-8) Kaptur, Marcy (DEM, OH-9) Kilroy, Mary Jo (DEM, OH-15) Kucinich, Dennis (DEM, OH-10) Lee, Barbara (DEM, CA-9) Loebsack, Dave (DEM, IA-2) Maffei, Dan (DEM, NY-25) Markey, Betsy (DEM, CO-4) Markey, Edward (DEM, MA-7) Massa, Eric (DEM, NY-29) McCaul, Michael (REP, TX-10) McCollum, Betty(DEM, MN-4) McDermott, Jim (DEM, WA-7) McGovern, James (DEM, MA-3) Michaud, Michael (DEM, ME-2) Miller, George (DEM, CA-7) Moore, Dennis (DEM, KS-3) Moran, James (DEM, VA-8) Murphy, Christopher (DEM, CT-5) Murphy, Scott (DEM, NY-20) Neal, Richard (DEM, MA-2) Nye, Glenn (DEM, VA-2) Olver, John (DEM, MA-1) Ortiz, Solomon (DEM, TX-27) Pascrell, Bill (DEM, NJ-8) Payne, Donald (DEM, NJ-10) Perlmutter, Ed (DEM, CO-7) Perriello, Tom (DEM, VA-5) Pingree, Chellie (DEM, ME-1) Polis, Jared (DEM, CO-2) Price, David (DEM, NC-4) Rahall, Nick (DEM, WV-3) Rangel, Charlie (DEM, NY-15) Ryan, Tim (DEM, OH-17) Sestak, Joe (DEM, PA-7) Smith, Adam (DEM, WA-9) Stark, Pete (DEM, CA-13) Tierney, John (DEM, MA-6) Velazquez, Nydia (DEM, NY-12) Woolsey, Lynn (DEM, CA-6) Wu, David (DEM, OR-1) Yarmuth, John (DEM, KY-3)