All Democrats in Congress should be preparing to skip this speech. Doing so has nothing to do with Israel or the relationship that country has with America, skipping the speech will however emphasize the blatant disrespect shown by Boehner and his Republican party, and the disrespect Netanyahu is showing apparently has for the American political process.
So far, only certain high ranking members of the Congressional Black Caucus plan to skip the speech.
Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon, and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the chairman of the CBC, said they won’t attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech before Congress to protest Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) decision to invite the prime minister without first consulting President Obama and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill.
Butterfield said that move marked an “unprecedented overreach of the Speaker’s authority” that “goes beyond the traditions of his office.”
“It is baffling that Speaker Boehner, who incessantly proclaims executive overreach by the president, would buck long standing diplomatic protocol to extend such an invitation,” Butterfield said in a statement.
“His actions unnecessarily politicize our steadfast relationship with Israel, and potentially subvert U.S. foreign policy,” he added. “The United States is and will remain Israel’s strongest ally. However, I refuse to be a part of a political stunt aimed at undercutting President Obama.”
In an interview with the Associated Press, Lewis delivered a similar message.
“I think it’s an affront to the president and the State Department what the speaker did,” Lewis told the AP.
Both lawmakers emphasized that they are not organizing a formal boycott, but had made the personal decision to steer clear of the speech.
“The only thing I can control is my attendance,” Butterfield told the AP.
