(Washington) Today, Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), Ranking Member of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, held a hearing titled “Held for Ransom: The Families of Iran’s Hostages Speak Out.” Doug Levinson, son of Bob Levinson of Coral Springs, testified alongside others with detained family members. Bob Levinson, missing for over 10 years, is the longest held American civilian hostage in ... Read more

Today, Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22) issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a sanctions bill punishing Russia for interfering in our elections. The bill would also impose sanctions against Iran and North Korea. “We cannot allow a direct attack on our democracy to go unpunished. Months after every one of our intelligence agencies confirmed that Russia interfered in our elections, the House has finally responded by passing tough sanctions agai... Read more

Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), Ranking Member of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, issued this statement following recent violence in Israel and the murder of three members of the Salomon family: “The cruel, cold-blooded murder of three members of the Salomon family is heart-breaking. Every leader in the civilized world must condemn this attack and all attacks against innocent civilians and reaffirm the need to end incitement and violence. “Sadly, President Abbas has failed to stop... Read more

Today, Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22) joined with a bipartisan group of nearly twenty U.S. lawmakers to urge President Trump to prioritize the return of Bob Levinson, a Florida resident and retired FBI agent who went missing in Iran over 10 years ago. In a letter led with Florida Senators Bill Nelson (D) and Marco Rubio (R), the lawmakers urged the president to “maintain pressure on Iran to see that [Bob] is returned as soon as possible.” “Bob is still not home, and despite repeated promises, Ir... Read more

Today, Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) joined with his colleagues on the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism on a letter praising the European Parliament's endorsement of a working definition of anti-Semitism on June 1. The definition was adopted from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. As the letter reads, "The frequency and scale of anti-Semitic incidents in both the United States and Europe over the past few years has been deeply alarming. From large-scale attacks, s... Read more

Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, issued this statement after cosponsoring House Resolution 220 which recognizes the importance of drawing lessons from past genocides, like the Armenian Genocide, in order to prevent future atrocities: “Over 100 years after the Armenian Genocide, it is our responsibility to continue to learn from this dark moment in history which caused unimaginable devastation and irreparable pain to the Armenian people. As... Read more

Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), Co-Chair of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus and Representative of portions of South Florida already experiencing the damaging effects of climate change, issued this statement responding to reports that President Trump intends to remove the United States from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: "President Trump's unfortunate decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement all but guarantees we c... Read more

Today, Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22) introduced a resolution urging the European Union (EU) to designate the entirety of Hizballah as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on the organizations and its members. Currently, the EU only designates Hizballah’s military wing as a terrorist organization, while the United States makes no distinction between its military and political branches when listing the group on its Foreign Terrorist Organization list. Congressmen Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), S... Read more

Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution introduced by Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL), Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and 30 additional Members of the House. On April 1, 2017, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that authorities in Chechnya had abducted, detained, and tortured over 100 men due to their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Multiple independent investigations and first-hand accounts have subsequently corroborated the report, describing a... Read more

“On this Yom Yerushalayim, or Jerusalem Day, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and affirm the city’s historical and irrefutable connections to Judaism. “During the Six Day War in which the fledgling state of Israel defied all odds and defeated multiple enemies sworn to destroy Israel, the young Israeli soldiers fought their way through the Old City, fulfilling the two thousand years-old hope 'to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.' “Tod... Read more