Hagerty's Legislation to Replenish IRON DOME Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives

Press Release

United States Senator Bill Hagerty's (R-TN) legislation, the Emergency Resupply for IRON DOME Act of 2021, has been introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Michael Guest (R-MS-03) and 21 other co-sponsors. This legislation, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week by Hagerty along with Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Ted Cruz (R-TX), would redirect funds appropriated for Gaza and other Hamas-dominated areas to replenish Israel's defense missile systems.

The Senate and House companion bills were introduced after Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Mark Pocan (D-WI) introduced legislation to block the sale of weapons to Israel.

"I just returned from Israel where I inspected IRON DOME defense systems and the tragic devastation caused by Iranian-backed terrorists' rockets, so I believe resupplying the life-saving IRON DOME interceptors must be a top priority for Congress. I'm pleased that Representative Guest has introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to the bill that Senators Rubio, Cotton, Cruz, and I introduced in the U.S. Senate to require the Executive Branch to redirect U.S. foreign assistance to help Israel replenish its highly-effective missile defense interceptors," Sen. Hagerty said.

"This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. This is about protecting innocent lives from the continued attacks by the terrorist group Hamas, which aims to kill Israeli citizens and cause destruction. The Iron Dome is the strongest asset that Israel has to defend against the targeting of innocent civilians by Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist groups, so until a lasting peace is achieved, we must support Israel's efforts to protect its people," Rep. Guest said.

The Iron Dome has a missile interception success rate of 90 percent since its deployment in 2011. More than 4,000 rockets were fired at Israel in a ten day period. As a strictly defensive military asset, rockets purposed for use by the Iron Dome would be used to protect Israeli citizens from missile barrages and are not intended for offensive military operations.

Hagerty and Cruz just returned from a CODEL to Israel where they met with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, and many Israeli Defense Force (IDF) commanders and troops.

Last month, Hagerty also sent a letter urging President Biden to stand with Israel during its conflict with Iranian-backed terrorist in Gaza, and not provide sanctions relief to Iran. Hagerty has introduced legislation that would require a Congressional vote on any effort by the Biden Administration to suspend or terminate U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime. 34 Senators--enough lawmakers to block the Iran deal if President Biden actually followed the U.S. Constitution and submitted the JCPOA as a treaty to the Senate--are co-sponsoring Hagerty's bill.

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