Kamlager-Dove Discusses Israel, TikTok Legislation, Ongoing Crisis in Haiti with MSNBC's Alex Witt
LOS ANGELES—On Sunday, Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) joined MSNBC’s “Alex Witt Reports” to discuss Israel, legislation on TikTok, and the ongoing crisis in Haiti. Below are excerpts from her interview and a link to the video.
Watch the full interview here.
ON SEN. SCHUMER’S SPEECH CRITICIZING NETANYAHU
“Chuck Schumer said the quiet part out loud. He said there are four obstacles to peace: Hamas, Abbas, Israel's right wing government coalition, and Netanyahu. Here we have an Israeli Government negotiating right now for the release of hostages and Netanyahu is saying "that's unrealistic," he's saying he's going to invade Rafah, and he says he's totally opposed to a two-state-solution. [Netanyahu] is a peace antagonist.”
ON NETANYAHU’S PLAN TO INVADE RAFAH
“I am deeply concerned about Netanyahu's plan to invade Rafah. It will destabilize and erode diplomatic relations in that region. We know that over 1 million people are in Rafah. They have nowhere else to go—everywhere else has been bombed. We know that the hostages—it is presumed that they are in Rafah—it is putting their lives at risk, along with innocent civilians. We also know, as you said, there's been no plan that [the U.S. has] seen. Biden has said [he] need[s] a certified assurance that any country, including Israel, that is receiving military aid is abiding by international law; that we have an accounting of how [U.S. military aid] is used; and that he is going to give an accounting of [how that aid is being used] to Congress. But lastly, and maybe most importantly, Egypt has said invading Rafah is a third rail. This is a country that has been a regional partner and ally at the negotiating table from the beginning. And they are saying that invading Rafah could erode the Camp David Accords that they signed 45 years ago.”
ON THE TIKTOK BILL
“I voted no, along with the Ranking Member [of the Committee] on Foreign Affairs and also the Ranking Member [of the Committee] on Intelligence. I have issues with this bill. It will impact millions of creatives and content creators. It could shut down their businesses. It will impact free speech and free expression for 170 million Americans. But most importantly, it does not address the national security issues—and those involve influence operations, the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation, hackers, data brokers, the selling of Americans’ data, uprooting our privacy, and the bill doesn't address that. It's taking a small slice of a very large pie that we should be talking about as it relates to our national security.”
ON THE CRISIS IN HAITI
“Shame on Speaker Johnson for not releasing the $40 million that is necessary to help deploy the Multinational Security Support Mission to help create the security conditions necessary for Haiti to have free and fair elections. They need that mission. It should be deployed. That is in concert with the [transitional] council that will be designed and hopefully can include Haiti’s civil society so that they can play a role in what happens next for their government. But we need to get them that money.”
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