Block the Bombs!

Statement from CA-19 Congressional Candidate Sean Dougherty

I support the Block the Bombs Act (HR3565) and urge Rep. Panetta to do the same.

On June 5th of this year, Congressional Representatives Delia Ramirez, Sara Jacobs, Pramila Jayapal, and Mark Pocan, along with 18 colleagues, announced the introduction of a historic bill in Congress to block the Trump administration from delivering major US weapons to Israel–bombs, tank rounds, and artillery shells–which it has used in its mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza. (Please see all national-level, organizational and congressional sponsors here.)

Since October, 2023, the US has given more than $21.7 billion in taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel to enable its atrocities. This makes the US–and all of us as taxpayers–complicit in Israel’s murder of more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them non-combatants.

It’s time to Block the Bombs!

As a congressional candidate in the 19th district, I support this bill. Indeed, I launched my first run against our district incumbent, Jimmy Panetta, primarily because of his inaction and equivocation around the horrific civilian death toll in Gaza, along with the near-total destruction of that occupied territory–including its cities, libraries, schools, places of worship and even hospitals and clinics. A genocide is meant to wipe out a people–in whole or in part–along with its culture and history, to erase collective memory and break the spirit of a people. We cannot continue to allow this to happen. The current “ceasefire” is tenuous, and the death toll in Gaza continues to mount.

More than 300 community leaders and constituents have signed a letter to Panetta asking him to co-sponsor Block the Bombs. An estimated 75 percent of Democrats are opposed to sending more military aid to Israel. In addition, roughly 60 percent of the overall US population, regardless of party, is opposed to Israel’s military actions. Despite this overwhelming opposition, Panetta has been mostly unmoved.

I stand in solidarity with the many Jewish people in District 19 who support this act. And I truly believe that the safety and well-being of the Jewish people around the world is tied to the safety and well-being of the Palestinian people. Further violence against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank will not make Israel safer, but continue a deadly cycle of dehumanization and attack that must end.

By introducing Block the Bombs, members of Congress are proactively trying to stop continued bloodshed and chaos in Gaza, the West Bank and even neighboring countries. If passed, this bill would block the following weapons from being sent to Israel: BLU-109 bunker busting bombs, MK80 series bombs, GBU-39 small diameter bomb variants, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), SPICE gliding bomb assemblies, 120mm tank ammunition, and 155mm artillery ammunition, including white phosphorus munitions.

We cannot wait until I am elected to take action. Israel continues to kill civilians in Gaza and to encourage and support horrific settler violence in the West Bank. Members of Congress, including my opponent, Jimmy Panetta, must hear from constituents now. Please speak up and tell them you oppose giving more weapons to Israel. Indeed, the time for this bill was two years ago, but let us now do everything we can to prevent further unspeakable human suffering.

I ask you to write to Jimmy Panetta or your Representative and ask them to cosponsor H.R.3565, the Block the Bombs Act.

Full text of H.R.3565