Senator to preside over Netanyahu's Congress speech

The leader of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee will preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress on Wednesday, Senate aides said, as Vice President Kamala Harris will be traveling outside Washington.

The vice president, who serves as president of the Senate, was scheduled to be in Indiana on Wednesday. An aide said she would meet with Netanyahu separately this week.

Senator Ben Cardin, the committee's Democratic chairperson, will be presiding, an aide said on Monday. Democratic Senator Patty Murray, who, as president pro tempore, normally would preside in the absence of Harris, said she was not attending Netanyahu's address.

"Securing a lasting, mutual ceasefire is of the utmost importance right now, and I will continue to push for one to be reached as soon as possible," Murray said in a statement.

She added that she hoped Netanyahu would use his speech to address how he plans to secure a ceasefire and lasting peace.

Murray is one of a few members of Congress who have said they will skip the address. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said Netanyahu should not be welcomed into Congress and, in a statement, harshly criticized his "war machine."

Reuters