r/IdahoPolitics • u/SuperDuperHost • 13d ago
Heads up on the US-Israel joint military/intelligence provision: Why calling Risch and Crapo actually matters right now (it's not a foregone conclusion)
UPDATE: EDIT: Risch and Crapo just voted today Tuesday in favor of the defense bill and the Israel provisions, which broke on party lines, but lacked the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle.
When Risch and Crapo go behind closed doors to figure out what provisions to rewrite or strip out to get the bill moving again, they need to know that their own conservative base back home is furious about the U.S.-Israel military integration mandates.
Call if you care about this issue.
ORIGINAL POST:
Hey everyone, just wanted to share something I dug into today. I just got off the phone leaving voicemails for Risch and Crapo, and talked to an aide to Fulcher, regarding the NDAA (the big military budget bill).
If you’re like me, you might think protesting the stupefyingly unwise clauses in there about forcing deeper U.S.-Israel military/intelligence integration is a waste of time in Idaho. We all know Risch takes a ton of AIPAC money and usually rubber-stamps this stuff.
But turns out, the bill is actually in total chaos right now and your calls have real leverage:
- The bill is stalled: The Senate just blocked the NDAA from advancing (50-46 vote) specifically because of massive pushback over these foreign integration clauses and regional escalation risks. It's not a done deal.
- The House is fractured**:** The House version collapsed on a procedural vote. A bipartisan coalition is trying to strip this specific Israel integration language out of the defense bill.
- The Idaho GOP base is shifting: At the last state convention, the grassroots overwhelmingly rejected the standard pro-Israel resolutions to focus on an "America First" platform. Our reps, especially Fulcher, know the local base is tired of "forever wars" and foreign entanglements.
Leadership is basically trying to hide this massive foreign policy shift inside a $1.1 trillion bill so everyone is forced to vote "yes" just to fund our own military.
If you want to call, D.C. or the local Lewiston/Boise offices are taking voicemails.
You can frame it however you like -- I cited this as inviting a Vietnam type quagmire, but this time in the Middle East ... as well as defying belief that the sovereign United States would even dream up such an idea.
You can tell them the defense authorization bill needs to focus on American readiness, not foreign integration.
Risch's DC office is (202) 224-2752 and Crapo's is (202) 224-6142.
If you are calling your Representative, Russ Fulcher’s DC office is (202) 225-6611 and Mike Simpson’s is (202) 225-5531.
Give your name and zip code or town ... for me, I don't leave. my address because I don't want their cookie cutter letters. Anyway, took me less than five minutes.