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Biden would veto standalone Israel aid bill, administration says
President Biden would veto a standalone House bill that would provide $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, if it reaches his desk, the Office of Management and Budget announced late Monday.
The veto threat comes after the administration and many in Congress worked for months on a larger national security supplemental funding bill that would provide support not just to Israel, but to Ukraine and make changes to border security. Republicans in the House intend to move forward this week with a vote on the standalone Israel aid bill, despite the Senate’s work on the larger supplemental aid agreement.
“Instead of working in good faith to address the most pressing national security challenges, this bill is another cynical political maneuver,” OMB said in a statement of administration policy. “The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game … The administration strongly encourages both chambers of the Congress to reject this political ploy and instead quickly send the bipartisan Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to the president’s desk.”
House Republicans have been at odds for months with Democrats and the White House before over separating aid to Israel from other national security interests. On Saturday, House Speaker Mike Johnson told his colleagues he wants a new Israel aid package to be ready in short order.
“We will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” Johnson said in the letter.
But Johnson’s approach won’t be viewed favorably in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday took the first steps to move forward with the emergency national security supplemental package.
“This emergency national security supplemental is long, tireless months in the making,” Schumer wrote on “X,” formerly known as Twitter. “From senators to staff to the Biden admin, everyone persisted and persisted. I spoke with the negotiators hundreds of times. Now, it’s time to pass this bill and do the right thing for America.”
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Philadelphia — Rob Huberty’s operations center reads “military” — for good reason.
His company, ZeroEyes, seeks to fight the American scourge of school shooters. Its artificial intelligence technology scans security cameras for guns in hundreds of school districts, beaming images to a central command for rapid fire inspection. The software flags suspicious images to workers, who are then able to dispatch authorities with the press of a button.
Huberty, an ex-Navy SEAL, was struck by surveillance footage of the 2018 Parkland school shooter which showed his weapon visible on camera before the massacre occurred. No one was watching at the time, however, and the shooter went on to kill 17 people. ZeroEyes hopes to prevent that from happening by creating a window of opportunity to save lives before a shooting starts.
Just in the last four years, school shootings have killed more than 200 people and injured more than 600, according to a CBS News analysis of the K-12 School Shooting Database. Schools are spending hefty amounts on products like AI surveillance monitoring and collapsible safe rooms, while bulletproof backpacks and school supplies are marketed to fearful parents.
The ZeroEyes technology is pricey, costing tens of thousands of dollars annually. It also can’t spot hidden weapons, like a gun tucked in a backpack.
In Alabama, commercial contractor Kevin Thomas has a different solution: a collapsible, expandable safe room installed inside the classroom. It’s floor-to-ceiling, bullet-resistant and roomy enough for 30 students. Thomas started building the devices after 22 people were killed in the Uvalde school shooting in 2022.
Around $3 billion is spent on school security annually, according to market research firm Omdia, but Rutgers University professor Daniel Semenza says there’s “not very good research” to suggest the money is well spent.
“It’s a fear response, and it’s an empowerment,” Semanza said.
Thomas’s safe room has a hefty price tag of $45,000. He says he would donate one to every classroom and would put himself out of business if he could — not likely, as America’s schools edge closer to fortresses.
