Calling on Hamas to Immediately Release Hostages Taken During October 2023 Attack on Israel

Floor Speech

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Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, I was in Israel with Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Meeks, and a bipartisan delegation. We met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and we watched 21 minutes of unedited, raw footage of the October 7 terrorist attack. We watched Hamas terrorists indiscriminately kill women, children, and babies. We watched them take innocent civilians hostage, including Doron Katz Asher and her two daughters, Raz and Aviv. Doron's uncle is a constituent of mine in the 17th Congressional District of New York.

We met with families of the hostages, including the brother of Emily Hand. I sat next to him as he tearfully told his sister's story, bringing the rest of us to tears as he talked about the fact that his 8-year-old sister would spend her ninth birthday--the Friday after our meeting--alone, held captive by Hamas terrorists.

A few weeks ago, in New York City, I met with the mother of Or Yaakov and Yagil Yaakov, 13- and 16-year-old young men who were held captive. All of them have since been released.

I thank the administration for negotiating to get their release, but let's be clear: Hamas is a vile, barbaric terrorist organization.

We hear Members calling for a cease-fire. There was a cease-fire on October 6. In fact, there have been eight cease-fires in 15 years, each time violated by Hamas. In this most recent one, the biggest slaughtering of Jews since the Holocaust, 240 innocents were taken away from their families.

While they are releasing hostages, it is not enough. I have a simple way for this to end. If people want a cease-fire, Hamas must surrender. It is that simple. We want these hostages home, and we want to make sure that the innocent lives lost are not in vain.

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Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, we saw news reports that Hamas would not release a 10-month-old baby and, in fact, was turning that baby over to another terrorist organization. That is the type of people, if you can even call them that, who you are dealing with.

The United States must do everything it can to stand by its greatest ally in the Middle East and, indeed, across the world, the State of Israel. We will vote on a resolution that makes it clear that not only does Israel have a right to exist, but they have a right to defend themselves, and the only way that this ends peacefully is for Hamas to surrender.

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