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S. 720: Israel Anti-Boycott Act

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S. 720: Israel Anti-Boycott Act

115th Congress · introduced 2017-03-23 · Foreign Trade and International Finance · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (consideration: CR S7453; text: CR S7436)

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2017-03-23 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (consideration: CR S7453; text: CR S7436) Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Israel Anti-Boycott Act

Plain summary

Israel Anti-Boycott Act This bill declares that Congress: (1) opposes the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution of March 24, 2016, which urges countries to pressure companies to divest from, or break contracts with, Israel; and (2) encourages full implementation of the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 through enhanced, governmentwide, coordinated U.S.-Israel scientific and technological cooperation in civilian areas. The bill amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to declare that it shall be U.S. policy to oppose: requests by foreign countries to impose restrictive practices or boycotts against other countries friendly to the United States or against U.S. persons; and restrictive trade practices or boycotts fostered or imposed by an international governmental organization, or requests to impose such practices or boycotts, against Israel. The bill prohibits any U.S. person engaged interstate or foreign commerce from supporting: any request by a foreign country to impose any boycott against a country that is friendly to the United States and that is not itself the object of any form of boycott pursuant to United States law or regulation, or any boycott fostered or imposed by any international governmental organization against Israel or any request by any international governmental organization to impose such a boycott. The bill amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to include as a reason for the Export-Import Bank to deny credit applications for the export of goods and services between the United States and foreign countries, opposition to policies and actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations specifically with citizens or residents of Israel, entities organized under the laws of Israel, or the government of Israel.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Israel Anti-Boycott Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] · 59 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Susan M. Collins (R-ME), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Todd Young (R-IN), John Boozman (R-AR), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Roger F. Wicker (R-MS), John Hoeven (R-ND), John Cornyn (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), James Lankford (R-OK), Tim Scott (R-SC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Thune (R-SD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Kennedy (R-LA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), James E. Risch (R-ID), Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Resolution
A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.
Rulemaking
The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong115-s720 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115