The U.S. Capitol building.
WASHINGTON — No one from Colorado’s congressional delegation plans to boycott Tuesday’s speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – though that doesn’t mean everyone is happy about or plans to attend.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, won’t be there. But unlike who are skipping the speech to make a statement, DeGette said she had a prior commitment that deals with her this year — a bipartisan initiative aimed at speeding up the time to develop medical drugs in the U.S.
Asked whether she would have attended if she didn’t have plans, DeGette wouldn’t say.
“I don’t do thought exercises,” she said.
Democrats are upset with Netanyahu because he accepted an invitation to address Congress without informing a White House — a move seen as a major breach of protocol, especially since Netanyahu has an election soon.
That dynamic was why U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, didn’t make a decision on whether to go until the last-minute. He was on the fence last week and only decided yesterday to attend.
“I don’t agree with the timing or the way House Republicans handled the invitation to Prime Minster Netanyahu, but I feel it is important for me to attend as a Member of Congress,” he said in a statement. “Israel is one of America’s closest and most important allies in the world, and my support of the Israel and U.S. alliance is strong.”
Every Republican in the delegation plans to be there, as well as U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. — who also wasn’t pleased about the situation.
“The way this has been handled has made things more difficult,” Bennet said. “We have to get through this and and maintain this strong U.S.-Israeli relationship that we have.”
