Executive Session

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, over the weekend we were given yet another tragic reminder of the daily threats that face our friends and allies in Israel.

While American families enjoyed a spring weekend, those who make their home in the border regions of the Jewish State were subjected to a barrage of hundreds of rockets and other projectiles launched from within Gaza.

The attacks were carried out by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They targeted civilian populations. They killed a worker at a cement factory, a truckdriver in a border village, a man in the yard of his own home, and a rabbi as he left his car to run for cover.

They caused countless Israeli citizens to scurry to bunkers for safety, unsure whether rockets would rain upon their farms, apartment buildings, schools, or hospitals. These attacks, we should remember, are targeted at Israel's innocent civilians. They are intended to kill, to maim, and to terrorize.

In the face of such brazen acts of terror, it is of course Israel's right to take swift and decisive action to defend its people. Frankly, it is an existential necessity.

And it is the responsibility of every peaceful nation to condemn the terrorist organizations behind them and to continue to expose those governments and private entities that provide illicit support for their actions. Foremost among them is Iran, which has become a critical lifeline for the terrorist activities of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

I know my colleagues will join me in expressing sympathy for the families of the victims and for the communities left to rebuild the wreckage of these latest attacks. Furthermore, I hope this weekend's attacks could at least spur some action here in Congress, where Senate- passed legislation to renew and strengthen our partnership with Israel is still sitting over in the House, where it has not been permitted a vote. That thoroughly bipartisan legislation contains several provisions to strengthen our security ties to Israel and also to combat the scourge of anti-Semitism.

Behind these attacks lurks the same hatred that motivated the violence at Chabad of Poway last month and the Tree of Life synagogue last year--the same ugly bigotry that takes refuge within the BDS movement while masquerading as a legitimate political stance. It is the same tide of discrimination that an overwhelming majority of European Jews report is on the rise in their own communities, even as the Holocaust remains a vivid living memory. This disturbing trend has already taken its toll on communities of faith and on peaceful Jews in Israel and around the world, but when America does any less than our level best to confront it, we further undermine the cause of our friends and allies in this free Jewish State.

I hope this terrible violence can again spur my colleagues in the House to act on the bipartisan legislation that has been languishing over there for weeks. It was the first item we took up this year.

Clearly, the need to reaffirm our commitment to the safety, security, and sovereignty of Israel is just as important as it ever was.

Tribute to Mike Enzi

Mr. President, on an entirely different matter, I was saddened to hear over the weekend that our friend and colleague Senator Mike Enzi will not run for reelection. At the end of next year, he will retire with 24 years of service to the people of Wyoming, and the rest of us will have to step up to make up for the loss in expertise and in principled leadership his departure will create.

When Mike first arrived in the Senate, he brought with him experience in business and government that made him an immediate asset on a host of different issues. With an MBA under his belt, he had returned home to lead his family shoe sales business through a successful expansion. As the two-term mayor of Gillette, WY, he had presided over an economic and population boom, and over the course of 10 years in the State legislature, he had lent his accountant's eye to help other small businesses succeed through better policy.

So it is no surprise that Mike got right to work as a leading voice on the Federal budget, tax policy, and healthcare. Over four terms, he has taken every opportunity to make an outsized impact on policy for the people of Wyoming and for our entire country.

In 2006, as chairman of the HELP Committee, Mike provided the guiding hand that delivered the first major pension reform legislation in a generation and provided more security to the retirement income of millions of Americans through bipartisan policy.

In 2017, as chairman of the Budget Committee, he helped lay the foundation for the generational reform of our Nation's Tax Code and championed important elements for small businesses and retirees.

In these cases and in many more, getting Mike involved in an issue meant deploying a powerful force for fiscal responsibility, restraint, and policy practicality. You always felt more sure something would turn out well when Mike was on the case or part of the team.

But seeing as our friend has built nearly a quarter-century legacy in the Senate, none of us can blame Mike for choosing to spend more time with his even greater legacy: the wonderful family he and his lovely wife Diana have built together.

Mike and Diana are now the proud grandparents of four, and among everything their bright future holds, I know Mike will be excited for more chances to pass along his fly fishing wisdom and his love of good books.

Before he hangs up the ``gone fishing'' sign for good, I know my colleagues share my relief that we still have a year and a half to continue drawing on Senator Enzi's leadership and focused expertise. So today I will offer just the first of many sincere thanks for his years of distinguished service.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source