Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D) is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and has chosen to break with his group by attending Bibi’s address to the Joint Session of Congress next week. I don’t agree with some of his commentary, but applaud his conclusion:

Thank you for your letter with respect to the upcoming speech scheduled to be delivered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a joint session of Congress.  There are strongly held views throughout the congressional district I am privileged to represent on all sides of this issue. The close relationship between the United States and Israel has traditionally been uniquely bipartisan, even in an often polarized Congress.  Yet, the Speaker of the House intentionally breached well-settled protocol with respect to foreign leaders, presumably as a result of opposition to President Obama’s “unilateral” action on immigration reform.  The use of a congressional invitation to a world leader in response to a domestic political dispute should never occur, particularly when some might also accuse the Congress of meddling in the parliamentary election of a close ally.

That said, Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.  The United States and Israel have a strongly shared interest in preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.  Accordingly, I will attend the speech on March 3 and place the substantive issue of the Iranian threat above the petty and partisan gamesmanship of the House Republican leadership.

Sincerely,
Hakeem Jeffries
Member of Congress
8th District, New York, NY