Rep. Blake Moore: House must elect speaker so it can aid Israel

As news continues to come out about the atrocities committed in Israel, Utah Rep. Blake Moore says urgent action is needed to overcome the House GOP’s paralysis and provide aid to the Jewish nation.

In an interview with the Deseret News, Moore spoke about how a year-and-a-half ago he stood in one of the villages that is now at the epicenter of Hamas’ bloodshed.

“It would be horrifically tragic whether I’m a congressman or not, but the fact that I was in one of these kibbutzes that got terrorized less than 18 months ago? It makes it real,” Moore said. “I don’t get to just say I stand with Israel. In this role, I get to vote for Israel, and I will.”

But Moore’s vote will have to wait. The U.S. House of Representatives has been all but incapacitated for the last two weeks after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy narrowly avoided a government shutdown by passing a bipartisan funding extension, leading a small group of Republicans to side with Democrats to oust him in response.

The move created an uproar among the majority of House Republicans who wanted McCarthy to keep the position during what they saw as a crucial time for domestic spending and foreign policy issues.

“There is no stronger voice for Israel than Kevin McCarthy. And for this to happen two days after he was removed really frustrated people,” Moore said.

The days since McCarthy’s removal have seen Republican Party infighting reach new lows, with conference members threatening to expel each other and failing to unite around the nominee who won Wednesday’s GOP election to replace McCarthy, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise.

But among a majority of House Republicans “there is a sense of urgency” to settle on leadership and address the issues that are currently being delayed, said Moore, who represents Utah’s 1st Congressional District.

“We don’t want to make a rushed decision on something as important as speaker of the House, but we’ve got to find a way to move forward,” he said.

Moore’s experience in Kfar Aza

That sense of urgency is all the more acute for Moore, who remembers being on a bipartisan trip to Israel speaking with the residents of Kfar Aza, a small southern Israeli town two miles from Gaza, and the site of some of the most unspeakable crimes from Saturday’s massacre.

“I literally was just standing in some of these areas that children have been beheaded, burned. The most egregious and the most horrific acts done to other humans is happening in a place that I’ve recently been,” Moore said.

A widely repeated report from an Israeli journalist alleged around 40 babies were found murdered, some beheaded, in Kfar Aza following Saturday’s attack. While the Israel Defence Forces has not confirmed the finding, The Jerusalem Post said that they had verified the truth of the reports and that photo evidence of the killings was shown to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.

During Moore’s visit to Kfar Aza in 2021, he recalls touring the town’s bomb shelters and being shown explosive devices disguised as toys that were dropped near the town to target children. Moore said he and other members of Congress were briefed by both Israeli government officials and Palestinian leaders to better understand the conflict.

A paralyzed House

Moore said he and many of his Republican colleagues feel frustrated about the conference’s inability to act in support of Israel. The Middle Eastern country has requested supplemental funding and missile ammunition for its days-old war to eliminate Hamas from Gaza and defend against terrorist incursions from Lebanon in the north.

“We shouldn’t be in a situation right now where we can’t do anything. We’re completely paralyzed right now in the House of Representatives because of the actions of a tiny few,” Moore said.

As of Thursday afternoon, it appeared unlikely Scalise, who won Wednesday’s internal GOP nomination, could secure the 217 needed votes to become speaker. Several House Republicans have declared they will never vote for the Louisiana congressman, saying he is part of the same problematic House leadership as McCarthy. This has made a full-House vote for speaker this week unlikely.

Some GOP members have floated the idea of approving additional authority for speaker pro tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to preside over the next several weeks of must-pass legislation, including advancing spending bills before the Nov. 17 government funding deadline and allocating funding for Israel and Ukraine.

“There’s still frustration, but I think there’s been good healthy discussion over the last couple of days,” Moore said. “But I don’t see it being a quick cut and dry one vote in conference and then we go to the floor and everything falls into line.”

What does Congress need to do?

Moore says once the House has a speaker, hopefully sometime next week, the first order of business should be to pass an aid package that includes humanitarian relief and armaments to replenish Israel’s missile defense system, the Iron Dome, something Israeli officials have requested.

If something happens that requires urgent action from the House before a speaker is selected, like an attack on American soil, Moore said the House will have to decide whether to give more authority to McHenry to bring bills to the floor.

Symbolic gestures in support of Israel are already underway in the House. A proposed resolution reaffirming America’s solidarity with Israel and condemning Hamas’ attacks has been signed by an “unprecedented” 400 members of Congress.

Moore said President Joe Biden must prioritize rescuing American citizens being held hostage by Hamas and that Congress must get to a place where it can support those efforts. He also said he appreciated Biden’s move to send an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

“I look forward to the chance to soon exercise my congressional influence and show my support for (Israel),” Moore said. “And I hope we can do that sooner than later.”