The legislators below have made the decision to skip Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to a joint-session of Congress on Tuesday, March 2nd. If your legislator is on this list, thank them for standing up for diplomacy. If you do not see your legislator on this list, click here to urge your legislators to skip this inappropriate speech and support U.S. diplomacy with Iran.
60 members of Congress confirmed they would not attend the speech.
Last Updated on March 3, 2015 at 2:59 PM
Arizona
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ)
California
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)
Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) — “I am disappointed Speaker Boehner chose to irresponsibly interject politics into what has long been a strong and bipartisan relationship between the United States and Israel. As President Obama has noted, it is inappropriate for a Head of State to address Congress just two weeks ahead of their election. I agree that Congress should not be used as a prop in Israeli election campaigns, so I intend to watch the speech on TV in my office.”
Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) — “Rep. McNerney is not planning to attend the speech. He’s got several previously planned commitments for that day.”
Colorado
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Connecticut
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Florida
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL)
Georgia
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
Hawaii
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) — “The U.S.-Israel relationship is too important to be overshadowed by partisan politics,” said Schatz in a statement. “I am disappointed in the Republican leadership’s invitation of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress with the apparent purpose of undermining President Obama’s foreign policy prerogatives.”
Iowa
Illinois
Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)
Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Indiana
Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN)
Kentucky
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) — “We know what he is going to say. Netanyahu’s position on the ongoing negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program is not a secret. Like many other members, I have been visited by the Israeli ambassador and understand what they want and how that differs from what U.S. negotiators are attempting to accomplish.”
Louisiana
Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA)
Maine
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
Maryland
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Massachusetts
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) — “This invitation came without consulting the President or State Department and with the false representation that it was a bi-partisan invitation. Speaker Boehner has poisoned a critical foreign policy discussion with partisan gamesmanship.”
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MD) — “I have been and will continue to be a strong supporter of Israel, but the timing and circumstances of this speech are deeply troubling.”
Michigan
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
Minnesota
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) — “I will respectfully abstain from attending Mr. Netanyahu’s campaign rally.”
Missouri
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Mississippi
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
New Jersey
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)
New Mexico
New York
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) — “The whole thing is a nightmare in diplomacy.”
North Carolina
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC)
Rep. David Price (D-NC)
Ohio
Oregon
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) — “For the sake of diplomacy, peace, and respect for our ally Israel, to say nothing of stability in the Middle East, Speaker Boehner must cancel the joint session of Congress with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. If he does not, I will refuse to be part of a reckless act of political grandstanding.”
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
South Carolina
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Tennessee
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) — “The Prime Minister’s use of the U.S. House chamber as a stage to argue against the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, which is currently being negotiated among Iran and the P5+1 — the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, is reckless.”
Texas
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) – “While success with Iran is far from assured, we must seek to overcome the misguided approach of those, like Mr. Netanyahu, who would reject any reasonable nuclear agreement. The only true alternative to an effective agreement is war with Iran. Scuttling nuclear negotiations with Iran would endanger every family in America and Israel.”
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) — “The Congresswoman has no plans to attend the speech at this time,” a spokeswoman said.
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX)
Virginia
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) — “There is no reason to schedule this speech before Israeli voters go to the polls on March 17 and choose their own leadership.”
Vermont
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) — “They have orchestrated a tawdry and high-handed stunt that has embarrassed not only Israel but the Congress itself.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — “I’m not thinking of not going. I am not going. I may watch it on TV.”
Washington
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) — “I do not intend to attend the speech of Bibi. The whole event is to shore up Bibi’s political campaign. It also may reflect an attempt to gum up the negotiations with Iran. Side benefit is to make the president look weak.”
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA)
Washington, D.C.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Wisconsin
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