WASHINGTON — A Sun-Times analysis of U.S. House votes by Illinois Democrats on legislation dealing with the Israel-Hamas war and the rise in antisemitism reveals splits within the state’s congressional delegation as the conflict continues.
Palestinian civilian deaths in Hamas-controlled Gaza from Israeli military air and ground strikes are soaring as Hamas refuses to release hostages seized during its brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Democrats locally and nationally are grappling with a challenging dynamic being played out, as the progressive far left tries to pull Democrats — most liberals left of center — further left.
The Chicago area political turf includes the largest Palestinian and Palestinian-American population in the nation, with most living on the South Side and Southwest suburbs, according to Louise Cainkar, a Marquette University sociologist and Palestinian demographics expert. Chicago ranks fourth among the most Jewish cities in the U.S., according to Brandeis University.
Tragic events have been bringing this war home.
Two hostages taken in Israel, since released, were from Evanston. A third, whose parents are from Chicago, is still being held. And in Plainfield, Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy, was killed because of his ethnicity and Muslim faith, law enforcement officials said. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are becoming increasingly frequent in Chicago.
Of the 17 Illinois House members, 14 are Democrats. The entire Chicago area is represented by Democrats. A House bill has the potential to become a law if it gets a presidential signature after passing the Senate. A simple nonbinding resolution is intended to be symbolic and to send a political message. The Sun-Times analysis of various measures found:
House Resolution 786
The most progressive flank of Democrats coalesced around a resolution introduced Oct. 16 and sponsored by Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., “calling for an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire” in Israel and Gaza.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Chicagoan in her first year in Congress, has emerged as one of the highest-profile chief co-sponsors of the Bush measure, joined by, from Illinois, Reps. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Jonathan Jackson. The other initial co-sponsors include members known as “the Squad,” Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York; Rashida Tlaib of Michigan; and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
But this resolution, which will never get a vote in the GOP-run House, is unacceptable to most Democrats because it is backed by “the Squad” and their allies, the hard left wing of the Democratic Party, and there was no mention of Hamas or of getting the hostages back. And in October, it seemed one-sided, asking Israel to stop its incursion without making any demand from Hamas.
House Resolution 771
There was an overwhelming vote Oct 25 to pass a GOP-authored resolution “standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists,” with 412 voting yes; 10 no; six present; and five not voting. Only one Republican voted no.
On the Democratic side, there were 194 yes; nine no; six present; and three not voting.
Ramirez was one of the nine voting no. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia was one of the six voting present.
Ramirez said in a statement she voted no because the measure was “incomplete … We cannot unequivocally support or condone the Israeli government’s collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
Garcia said in a statement, “I cannot condone language that fails to acknowledge the overwhelming loss of Palestinian life as Israel intensified airstrikes.”
House Resolution 798
A Nov. 2 vote on a GOP-authored resolution, “condemning the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education, which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff,” passed with 396 yes votes, 23 no and 14 not voting.
Of the 23 no votes, four came from Illinois Democrats: Garcia, Ramirez, Jackson and Lauren Underwood.
Underwood’s no vote on the Jewish student measure surprised and angered some supporters. In the wake of the backlash, Underwood has met several times with longtime Jewish Democratic backers who were stunned by her vote.
Underwood’s district includes Plainfield, where the Palestinian American and Muslim youth was stabbed to death Oct. 14.
Underwood underscored in a Sun-Times interview what she said in a Nov. 29 statement. “Unequivocally,” she said, “antisemitism is wrong in all forms and all places.” Campuses “have a responsibility to make sure that they create a safe space for all students,” she added.
“I also believe that there is no room for Islamophobia and the hatred and bigotry that is being directed toward Muslim people in our community,” creating “real fear” of “discrimination and the real sense of physical threat,” Underwood said.
Asked why she voted no, Underwood said “this was a flawed Republican resolution” which was “written by individuals who are holding up aid to Israel, and that’s a political game. This resolution was written by people who are part of a Republican majority that are loyalists to Donald Trump and, you know, are affiliated with white supremacists who unleashed these attacks and these waves of antisemitism that we’ve seen around the country.
“And these are the same individuals who are affiliated with people who tried to overthrow the government,” said Underwood. This is not, she said, a “good faith articulation of what’s going on in the moment. And so I voted no.”
House Bill 838
The GOP-drafted Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act passed on a party-line Nov. 2 vote, providing $14.3 billion in emergency military aid for Israel. The catch — the funding came from a $14.3 billion IRS cut. A GOP House priority is reducing the number of IRS agents.
This was a painful vote for Brad Schneider, the staunchest pro-Israel Democrat in the delegation and the co-chair of the Israel Allies Caucus. He joined Democrats objecting to the IRS funding scheme and voted no.
House Resolution 845
The Nov. 7 vote on a GOP measure to censure Tlaib “for promoting false narratives” regarding the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and for “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel” passed 233-188, largely on party lines.
Schneider was one of only 22 Democrats to vote yes.
House Resolution 793
All Illinois members voted yes on the Nov. 28 measure, which passed with no opposition, “Calling on Hamas to immediately release hostages taken during October 2023 attack on Israel.”
House Resolution 888
All Illinois members voted yes on the Nov. 28 resolution approved overwhelmingly, “Reaffirming the State of Israel’s right to exist.”
House Resolution 894
The Dec. 5 vote on the GOP-authored resolution condemning antisemitism passed, 311-14, with one Republican voting no. The measure said the House “clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” an equivalency unacceptable to many Democrats.
Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman of New York and Jamie Raskin of Maryland urged Democrats to vote present, even as they knew it was hard for many of their colleagues to vote no on any measure dealing with antisemitism.
On the Democratic side, 95 voted yes; 13 no; 92 present; and 13 didn’t vote.
Among Illinois House members, Ramirez and Garcia voted no.
Voting present were Democratic Reps. Sean Casten, Danny Davis, Bill Foster, Jonathan Jackson, Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Jan Schakowsky and Lauren Underwood.
Voting yes were Democratic Reps. Mike Quigley, Brad Schneider, Nikki Budzinski and Eric Sorensen plus the three Republicans — Mike Bost, Mary Miller and Darin LaHood.
“As a proud Jewish member of Congress, representing a large and diverse Jewish community,” Schakowsky said in a statement explaining her vote, the resolution “does absolutely nothing to counter antisemitism, and it only seeks to divide us and weaponize Jewish lives for political gains.”
Schakowsky and Foster, in similar statements, said the measure “includes an overly broad definition of antisemitism that could deem any criticism of the Israeli government as antisemitic.”
House Resolution 927
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., one of Trump’s major defenders, was the chief sponsor of a resolution voted on Dec. 13 condemning antisemitism on university campuses and the testimony of three university presidents in a Dec. 5 hearing.
The resolution was Stefanik’s bid to leverage her grilling of the presidents of Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and MIT at the hearing where they declined to say if calls for the genocide of Jews violated campus codes of conduct. Penn’s president quit in the wake of her testimony, and the resolution said the other presidents should resign.
The measure passed 303-126, with only one Republican voting no.
On the Democratic side, 84 voted yes and 125 no.
Among Illinois Democrats, Budzinski and Sorensen voted yes.
Voting no were Casten, Davis, Foster, Garcia, Jackson, Kelly, Krishnamoorthi, Quigley, Ramirez, Schakowsky and Underwood.
Schneider, attending the funeral of his sister-in-law, did not vote.
In a floor speech, Casten slammed Republicans for being hypocrites when it comes to condemning antisemitism while at the same time supporting Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.
Republicans “have stood by in silent cowardice and defended hate speech as free speech, and yet they have the gall to ask college presidents to resign for emulating their cowardice.”
Said Casten: “If you are only calling it out when it’s politically convenient, you are not helping. You are a part of the problem.”
