Udall Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2023
Floor Speech
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Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, UNRWA is a completely irredeemable organization. Since October 7, we have seen how much Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinians. In fact, some have called UNRWA a front organization for Hamas.
UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 attacks. Some participated in the attacks directly. Some helped with logistics. One hostage alleges that her captor was an UNRWA teacher. Another UNRWA staffer was actually a commander who participated in an attack on a kibbutz that left 97 people dead and took 26 hostages.
Regrettably, this does not come as a surprise. Because of previous U.N. investigations into UNRWA, we knew this was true before the October 7 attacks. We knew that UNRWA was using schools to store weapons and launch attacks on Israel. We knew that their textbooks preached hate toward Jews and Israel and glorified martyrdom.
I introduced this amendment because funding an organization like UNRWA that is so deeply embedded in Hamas is wrong. Our U.S. taxpayer dollars should not be going to fund an organization that is essentially a front for Hamas. This Chamber's ultimate goal should be to permanently defund UNRWA--defund it the way the Trump administration did.
I spoke with the Senator from Maine, and she and I have agreed that we will continue to fight to ensure that future appropriations to deny UNRWA access--she assured me that she will continue to fight against future appropriations, to deny UNRWA access to U.S. taxpayer dollars. This underlying bill does that for 1 year, and that is a start.
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Mr. RICKETTS. Mr. President, I am grateful for the senior Senator from Maine's commitment to defunding UNRWA and grateful as well for her pointing out that there are other ways to provide aid to Gaza.
I would also like to point out that when the Trump administration denied UNRWA funding a few years ago, the world did not come to an end. So I do believe, as the senior Senator from Maine pointed out, there are alternatives.
With her commitment, which I appreciate, for that reason, I will no longer seek a vote on my amendment.
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