Amid Government Shutdown, 116th Congress Opens With AIPAC-Supported Bill

The 116th Congress opened Jan. 3 during the partial government shutdown brought about by President Donald Trump's insistence on funding for his promised wall along the Mexican border. The first measure introduced in the Senate was S. 1, titled Strengthening America's Security in the Middle East, introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio, Roy Blunt, Cory Gardner and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Of the four Titles, the most controversial is the Combating BDS one, which would encourage states to adopt anti-BDS measures. The ACLU and other civil liberties groups have criticized it as an attack on the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech. According to the ACLU, the BDS measure sends a message to Americans who engage on issues of global importance that if they dare to disagree with their government, they will be penalized. New Iran sanctions bills were introduced. On January 3 McCaul, with no co-sponsors, introduced H.R. 194 to impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human rights abuses of the Government of Iran.