Washington (QNN)- A new bill in Congress could allow the US government to strip citizens of their right to travel for criticizing Israel, reported The Intercept. The bill was introduced by Florida Congressman Brian Mast. Mast chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. His proposal would give Secretary of State Marco Rubio sweeping powers. Rubio could revoke passports of US citizens in the same way he has already revoked visas and green cards of foreign nationals who criticized Israel. In March, Rubio revoked the visa of Turkish doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk. She had written an opinion article in a Tufts University student paper calling for a boycott of Israel. The article did not mention Hamas. The new bill includes a clause that alarms civil liberties groups. It lets the Secretary of State deny passports to anyone accused of providing “material support” to a group labeled as a foreign terrorist organization. The term is vague and could include speech, advocacy, or campus activism. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Louis D. Brandeis Center have already blurred those lines. In a letter last year, they claimed Students for Justice in Palestine gave “material support” to Hamas by leading campus protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Journalists could also face threats under this bill. The Intercept warned that reporting on conflicts could be framed as “support” for terrorism. In 2023, Senator Tom Cotton demanded a Justice Department probe of AP, CNN, The New York Times, and Reuters. Cotton accused them of helping Hamas simply because they published freelance photos from the October 7, 2023, operation against Israeli settlements and military sites. Civil liberties advocates say the bill would criminalize dissent. They warn it is part of a growing effort to silence criticism of Israel inside the United States.