No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to correct the number of hostages that Hamas terrorists took when they attacked Israel on October 7. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

That day, Hamas terrorists brutally murdered, raped, burned alive, and decapitated more than a thousand innocent babies, children, women, men, and elderly, including dozens of Americans.

Let me be very clear: More than 230 people were abducted and taken hostage by Hamas, a terrorist organization, including nearly a dozen Americans. Again, Americans were killed. Americans remain hostage.

There are some people who equivocate about Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization. There should be no equivocation. They are designated by the United States of America as a foreign terrorist organization. They are terrorists, and anybody who spent time looking at images of the barbaric, heinous, and unthinkable acts that took place on October 7, like I have, knows what Hamas is capable of. We will never unsee it. I know the ranking member was there, as well, and has seen it.

We cannot forget that Hamas is an evil terrorist organization. Their charter advocates jihad against the Jewish people and the destruction of the Jewish state.

In the region, militarily, beyond their support for Hamas, Iran is backing proxies that have attacked American troops in Iraq and Syria. We have seen an uptick in skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel near the Lebanese border.

President Biden has been phenomenal with his resolve and unwavering support for our key ally Israel, which is critical to America's national security and the fight against terror and is the democracy in the region.

The President has taken action in Syria in response to attacks by Iranian-backed proxies on American personnel, regular attacks. We have seen them in Syria. We have seen it in Iraq. We have seen it from the Houthis.

The President understands that you have to actually hold terrorists who commit atrocities against our country accountable, or they will strike again and be stronger. Hamas terrorists, their leadership, have even made it clear that they will not back down and are committed to ``a second, third, and fourth'' October 7 against Israel.

The President has continued to demonstrate strength, resolve, and leadership to get hostages home. Thankfully, in recent days, groups of hostages have been rescued, including 4 year old Abigail, an American citizen.

As of today, there are still nearly 160 hostages, including Americans. Forty American citizens were slaughtered by Hamas, and other terrorists have been living in horrifying fear and uncertainty at the hands of terrorists for more than 50 days. It blows my mind that this isn't talked about every single day in our country that Americans remain hostage.

Americans were killed and are still suffering in Gaza. May all their memories be a blessing.

This should be the beginning and end of the argument of why we must crush Hamas and stop Iranian-backed terrorist proxies. These terrorists continue to attack Israel and American personnel around the globe.

The names and ages of the Americans still held hostage by the terrorists in Gaza are as follows: Gad Haggai, 73 years old; Judith Weinstein, 70 years old; Keith Samuel Siegel, 64 years old; Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35 years old; Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23 years old; Omer Neutra, 22 years old; Itay Chen, 19 years old.

The eighth American still held hostage is 19-year-old Edan Alexander from Tenafly, New Jersey, in my district. Here is Edan. He is a wonderful, wonderful person. I have met with his family. They are phenomenal.

After Edan graduated from Tenafly High School in 2022, he began serving with the Israel Defense Forces. He grew up in northern New Jersey, became a swimmer, and went to the prom. I have seen all the photos.

Since day one, I have been in constant contact with the Alexander family. Their unimaginable strength in the face of unfathomable pain gives all of us hope. I don't know how they do it.

It is time to get our Americans and all of the hostages home. It is in America's interest and critical to our national security to ensure that October 7 can never and must never happen again. Our objectives are clear: to stand by Israel, our key ally, the democracy in the region, our partner in the fight against terror; to get all of the Americans and all the hostages home; to crush the terrorists and provide much-needed humanitarian aid to innocent Palestinian civilians being used by Hamas as human shields.

Mr. Chair, you will notice that Hamas does not allow any of the innocent Palestinians to go underground to be protected. There is no protection for them. They use them as human shields. Israel must eliminate every single terrorist responsible from Hamas for the atrocities committed on October 7.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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