Bipartisan lawmakers introduce Iron Dome appropriations act

Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), Max Miller (R-Ohio) and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would appropriate $2 billion to help Israel with its Iron Dome defense system.

The Iron Dome is a system that intercepts rockets being fired at Israel.

“Radical Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists are kidnapping, torturing, raping, burning alive, and brutally murdering innocent babies, children, women, men, and grandparents in Israel — parading their bodies through the streets,” Gottheimer said in a release announcing the legislation.

“The ‘Operation Swords of Iron’ Iron Dome Appropriations Act is critical to increasing American security assistance for Israel’s missile defense system, which is saving millions of innocent lives. The U.S.-Israel relationship will remain, as it has for decades, ironclad,” Gottheimer continued. 

The bill’s introduction comes amid deadly fighting between Israel and the militant group Hamas. The fighting has reportedly left 1,000 Israelis and 900 people in Gaza dead.

Lawmakers from both parties in the House have vowed to find ways to support Israel. But the House for now is without a Speaker, meaning business is essentially at a standstill.

Republicans are set to meet Wednesday behind closed doors to vote on a Speaker, but it is not clear they will emerge from the meeting unified enough to back a candidate in a later vote on the House floor.