Lawmakers are calling last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court nixing the right to name Jerusalem, Israel as the birthplace of Americans born in the city, “very, very wrong.”
The chairperson and members of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus are also calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In an interview with NPR as well, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), a co-chairman of the CIAC and co-sponsor of the Jerusalem passport law, called the Supreme Court ruling, simply, “very, very wrong.”
The outcry comes in the wake of last week’s decision by the Supreme Court blocking American citizens born in the holy city from stating their birthplace as “Jerusalem, Israel” on U.S. passports.
The Court struck down as unconstitutional a law written by the Congress that previously had allowed the Jewish State to be claimed as the birthplace of those born in Jerusalem.
It is unlikely that Obama will respond to the call of the Caucus, given that it was his administration who opposed the Zivotovsky family in Zivotovsky v. Kerry in the case last week.
Obama officials sided with the Supreme Court in maintaining that the Congressional law intruded on the president’s privilege to set foreign policy.
This battle has been ongoing between the two branches of government since Obama took office and is unlikely to end until he leaves, lawmakers have noted.