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Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, on October 7, Hamas launched the deadliest terror attack in Israel's history. Hamas's vicious and unprovoked slaughter targeted innocent Israeli civilians and killed 1,200 men, women, children--from babies to Holocaust survivors.

Not since the Holocaust has there been a deadlier day for the Jewish people. Yet some extreme individuals and organizations are trying to minimize, distort, and outright deny what happened that day.

We cannot let that happen. That is why Senator Rubio and I hosted a screening last week for our colleagues to show them exactly what Hamas did on October 7.

The videos, many taken by the terrorists themselves, are disturbing. They are graphic. The images and sounds in those videos, I will never forget. I encourage all Members to see for themselves what Israel is fighting against--pure terror; pure, pure evil.

On October 7, Hamas violated a longstanding cease-fire when they chose--they chose--to start this war. Hamas took deliberate and preemptive actions against innocent civilians, including dismemberment, torture, and mass rape, in what only can be described as barbaric terrorism. As any other nation would, Israel has responded to this unprovoked attack by acting to defend its own population, as they have the absolute right to do.

At the same time, Hamas has stated over and over and over again that they will not stop until there are a thousand more October 7s, until they destroy Israel and all of the people living there, and it is time that the world listens. This is why it is not surprising that at the end of last week, Hamas broke the agreement that was put in place to temporarily pause the fighting, to bring more humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to rescue the hostages brutally taken by Hamas.

Let me be clear. There is no equivalency, no equivalency--zero, none--between the terrorist actions of Hamas and the efforts of Israel to stop them from doing this again or, God forbid, committing a worse attack, as they have repeatedly promised to do. We must all remember this, especially now, as we work to deliver aid to Israel.

It has been nearly 2 months since October 7, and rockets continue to rain down on Israeli cities. More than 130 hostages remain in Gaza. We continue to learn more and more about the violent acts of rape, of torture, of murder committed by Hamas. It is all ongoing. Yet Congress hasn't passed the supplemental security assistance that Israel desperately needs to defend itself.

The security assistance includes support for Israel's lifesaving Iron Dome missile defense system--it protects them from Hamas and Hezbollah, from the rockets that rain down on them night after night after night-- as well as other key defense resources and tools. It also replenishes our own defense stocks that have been drawn down to support Israel in this time of need.

To my knowledge, Congress has never used conditions on security assistance in order to strong-arm Israel, and now is not the time to start. Conditions would undermine Israel's ability to defend itself and would send a signal to the world that America's support for our ally is weakening, which is exactly what Iran and its terrorist proxies--it is what they all want. Our aid could make the difference between whether or not there is another October 7.

Now I turn to Members of my own party. Here we are. We all want the same thing. We all want peace in the region for both Palestinians and Israelis, a two-state solution with a secure State of Israel living side by side with a peaceful Palestinian state.

But let me be clear. Hamas--Hamas--is the one currently preventing this goal. Hamas launched the attack on Israel. Hamas targeted, Hamas murdered, Hamas raped and kidnapped innocent people. Hamas is threatening to do this over and over and over again. Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are terrorists. They must be stopped permanently. It is the only way we will get closer to peace and stability in the region.

I also understand and I share your concerns about the need to minimize civilian casualties and the suffering in Gaza. Every innocent civilian death is a tragedy. To truly end the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians, Hamas must no longer control Gaza.

For nearly two decades, Hamas has stolen resources from the Palestinian people. They have used these resources for terrorist purposes. Instead of building infrastructure to improve Gaza's economy, Hamas built terrorist tunnels. Instead of launching programs to combat poverty, Hamas launches rockets to combat Israel. Instead of shielding their own people and lifting them up, Hamas uses their own people as human shields.

Israel must dismantle Hamas for both Israelis and innocent Palestinians. And while we help Israel, we can and we must continue to work with the Israeli Government to make sure that they are doing everything--everything--in their power to prevent the loss of innocent life.

As we partner with Israel and other nations in the region to deliver humanitarian aid in Gaza--food, water, medicine, emergency shelter, sanitation--we must make sure that this aid actually reaches civilians in Gaza. This aid and these resources will save Palestinian lives if they are allowed to reach them.

So, my colleagues, to all of my colleagues, we all agree on these goals. They are reasonable, and we are utilizing existing channels with Israel to make sure they are taking these steps--all without conditioning aid to Israel.

Let's be clear. Providing Israel with aid is not a blank check. As all of my colleagues in this Chamber know--every one of them knows this--all foreign aid is bound by a set of rules. This has been consistent for decades and has not changed. These are different from conditions specifically targeting Israel.

Now is the time to stand with Israel as they work to dismantle Hamas, stop its ability to cause more harm to Israelis and Palestinians, and free all the remaining hostages--all of them.

Conditioning aid to Israel after the worst terrorist attack in history would only embolden Israel's enemies, signal to them the limits of America's support, and open the door to more violence.

This is why I am calling on my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to pass this aid without conditions. If we are serious about preventing another October 7; if we are serious, really serious, about preventing more gruesome images like the ones my colleagues saw last week-- torture, kidnapping, rape, murder, beheading; if we are serious about preventing all of this and serious about a future where the people of Gaza are not ruled by a brutal and barbaric terrorist organization, then we should not delay.

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