US Representative Claudia Tenney and 15 of her Republican House colleagues have urged the US Treasury Secretary to investigate whether Ireland’s proposed ban on trade of services with Israeli-occupied territories violates US anti-boycott law.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), the largest Irish American group in the US, has written to US Congresswoman Claudia Tenney expressing concern over the way Ireland’s proposed Occupied Territories Bill was characterized in her August 7, 2025, letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and in related public statements.

Tenney and 15 of her Republican House colleagues wrote to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on August 7, urging him to investigate whether Ireland’s proposed ban on trade of services with Israeli-occupied territories violates US anti-boycott law.

Responding to the letter, the AOH has accused Tenney of 'misrepresenting' Ireland's proposed legislation as a "wholesale boycott of Israel" when it is, in fact, a proposal to ban the trade of goods from settlements in territories that the US, the EU, and the UN recognize as occupied, namely the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

The AOH also found the "charged phrases" used in Tenney's letter and accompanying press release to be "troubling." 

“Members of Congress hold a sacred responsibility to present policy disagreements accurately and in good faith, particularly when the reputations of allied nations and the integrity of US law are at stake," Neil F. Cosgrove, National Political Education Chair of the AOH, said.

"As we have seen recently with the Vice President’s statements in response to U.K. moves to recognize Palestine, allies can disagree on foreign policy.

"Misrepresentation and inciteful rhetoric serve no one. We hope such mischaracterizations will not be repeated."

The AOH letter to Congresswoman Tenney is as follows:

Dear Congresswoman Tenney:

I am writing in my capacity as the National Political Education Chair of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in reference to your August 7, 2025 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent concerning Ireland's proposed Occupied Territories Bill.

While I, and the Hibernians, take no position here on the merits or shortcomings of the bill itself, I must express concern with the way it was characterized in your correspondence and related public statements.

The Occupied Territories Bill, as introduced, applies only to goods originating from settlements in territories that the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations recognize as occupied--principally the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. It does not ban trade with Israel as a recognized sovereign state. By treating a restriction on goods from the occupied territories as equivalent to a boycott of Israel as a whole, your letter disregards the distinction that has been maintained by successive US administrations, Republican and Democrat alike, including the Trump administration.

Equally troubling is the tone and framing of your correspondence. Phrases such as "a blatant attempt to isolate and delegitimize Israel" and "discriminatory" presume malign intent without engaging with the actual text or scope of the bill. Such language generates considerable heat and smoke at the expense of the light that reasoned discourse should provide.

Finally, your decision to quote in your press release on the letter advocacy groups that go so far as to label Ireland "antisemitic" or a participant in "bigoted boycotts" is especially problematic. These statements substitute ad hominem attacks for rational argument and reveal clear prejudices of their own. Disagreeing with the foreign policy of any nation is not in itself evidence of prejudice against its people, conflating the two shuts down the informed debate necessary to reach solutions.

Members of Congress hold a sacred responsibility to present policy disagreements accurately and in good faith, particularly when the reputations of allied nations and the integrity of US law are at stake. I respectfully urge you, in any future engagement, to ensure that your comments accurately reflect the scope of the legislation under discussion, and to distinguish between opposition to a nation's policies and prejudice against its people. Such standards are essential if this debate is to be grounded in fact rather than misrepresentation. I hope that, going forward, such mischaracterizations will not be repeated.

Sincerely,

Neil F. Cosgrove, Political Education Chair, Ancient Order of Hibernians

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Congresswoman Tenney has since met with Ireland's Ambassador to the US Geraldine Byrne Nason to discuss the issue. 

She continues to label the proposed Irish legislation as "antisemitic."