U. S. Rep. Chris Deluzio recently signed on to two pieces of legislation that, if passed, would put limits on U.S. weapons sales to Israel.
Deluzio, an Iraq War veteran who represents Pennsylvania’s 17th District — which includes several of Pittsburgh’s South Hills suburbs — is one of 25 original cosponsors of the Ceasefire Compliance Act of 2026 (H.R.7645). The bill was introduced by Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois in February with the aim of banning “the use of US-origin weapons in Gaza and the West Bank if Israel violates the October 10, 2025, ceasefire agreement and 20-point plan, annexes the West Bank, or fails to combat settler violence against Palestinians,” according to Casten’s website.
Last week, Deluzio also signed on to the Block the Bombs Act (H.R.3565), which was introduced in May by Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois, with 21 original co-sponsors, including Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Pittsburgh’s 12th District. The Block the Bombs Act now has 63 cosponsors, all Democrats.
Block the Bombs would impose unprecedented conditions on arms sales to the Jewish state, including requiring specific authorizations from Congress for every transfer of many types of weapons and guarantees from Israel about their use.
Under the proposed legislation, the administration would be prohibited from transferring or selling various arms to Israel — such as several categories of bombs, bomb guidance kits, and tank and artillery ammunition — without a separate act of Congress approving each specific transfer.
The measure, which is not expected to pass in the current Republican-majority Congress, would go further than any prior conditions proposed for U.S. arms sales to Israel or those applied to other U.S. aid recipients. It also lacks an emergency waiver that would permit the administration to proceed with transfers if Israel came under attack.
Deluzio has been clear in his condemnation of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities, and also has implored the Jewish state to increase efforts in fighting hunger and illness in Gaza. He did not sign onto the Block the Bombs Act, however, until almost 10 months after its introduction.
The reason he signed on now, he said, is because of the war with Iran.
“I am very concerned around this war with Iran, which I think has certainly been deadly,” Deluzio told the Chronicle. “There’s already been seven Americans back coming back home in flag-draped caskets — which is the last thing I ever want to see — and others wounded. I worry that this war is going to even further destabilize the region. It’s a war I don’t think we should be fighting. And the Congress, frankly, I think, has failed to assert its war powers. The Congress hasn’t authorized this war. The War Powers Resolution vote failed in both the House and the Senate, and my point of view is that we should not be funding this war, either directly — if a supplemental request to continue Defense Department funding for the war would come to us — or indirectly, as the State Department did in bypassing Congress with selling new bombs to the Israelis. And the legislation here would stop that, to make clear that Congress has to make those decisions and give our assent or not to those kinds of sales.”
Deluzio said he is “very frustrated” with the State Department “having gone around the Congress,” and shares the Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member [Gregory] Meeks’ concerns around that.”
While asserting that President Donald Trump has “taken a very expansive view of his powers,” Deluzio acknowledged that “he’s not the only president who has done that. And so these concerns of mine around war powers are not unique to Donald Trump and not unique to just this president, even in this moment.”
The congressman stresses that he thinks “Congress should put a stop to this war before it further destabilizes the region and we see further loss of life from our troops and the precious treasure that we spend to keep our military armed.”
While the Block the Bombs Act was introduced in response to the war in Gaza, Deluzio said the legislation would apply to the current conflict with Iran and the weapons that “the State Department just bypassed Congress to sell.”
“My view here is pretty straightforward,” he said. “I don’t think the Congress should be funding and supporting this war. In fact, I think we should put an end to it, and that includes the State Department’s efforts to supply the Israelis in a process that should have gone through Congress.”
Deluzio is also a cosponsor of the Ceasefire Compliance Act, introduced in February. That act “would require the administration to assess and report to Congress every 90 days on whether Israel is complying with the October 2025 ceasefire agreement in Gaza, including halting military operations and bombing campaigns,” according to Jewish Insider.
“The legislation does not appear to contain exceptions for the strikes Israel has taken in retaliation for Hamas’ own violations of the ceasefire deal, nor mention its targeting of individual Hamas leaders.”
The legislation does contain language, however, that appears to ensure that U.S. defensive aid to Israel, intelligence cooperation with Israel and the supply of missile-defense systems are not subject to the stated conditions.
The Ceasefire Compliance Act, Deluzio stressed, is limited to offensive weapons and “is tied to performance of the peace deal and the different phases of the peace deal that came from the ceasefire agreement.”
Deluzio said he is concerned that the war with Iran “could complicate the success, or potential success [of the ceasefire], which already is quite fraught. I worry about the continued commitment of the Gulf and Arab states to see this through, alongside us and the Israelis, and what I hope might be for a Palestinian state alongside an Israeli one.”
The Ceasefire Compliance Act would impose several requirements upon Israel, some of which could be interpreted as being beyond its control. For example, the act states that Israel must ensure that:
“(i) no civilians are forced to leave Gaza Strip against their will;
(ii) civilians who wish to leave the Gaza Strip are free to do so; and
(iii) civilians who have left since October 7, 2023, or will leave the Gaza Strip are free to return
Deluzio said he does not interpret the bill as requiringn conduct of Israel beyond its control.
“I think this is about conduct that the Israelis can control, rather than conduct that Hamas is responsible for or any other actor in Gaza,” he said.
J Street is backing the Ceasefire Compliance Act along with New Jewish Narrative and Foreign Policy for America, according to Jewish Insider. PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.