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Floor Speech

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Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I am pleased to join my colleague from West Virginia and others who you will be hearing from--next, our colleague from Nebraska--in regard to our absolutely ironclad support for Israel and why it is so important that we stand and we stand strongly with our friend and ally Israel.

On October 7, Hamas committed appalling atrocities against Jews in Southern Israel. I went to Israel one month later to show my support for our close ally during this very dark hour, and I am still today very proud to stand with Israel.

But I am very concerned about the Biden administration holding up weapons that need to be delivered to Israel. That is why I have cosponsored two important pieces of legislation requiring the President to expedite delivery of defensive aid to Israel: first, Senator Cotton's Israel Security Assistance Support Act and then the assistance support act that Senator Cruz put forward as well; that is the Assuring Resupply of Munitions Act, or ARM Act.

Congress has moved decisively to support Israel, and these bills make crystal clear--there is no doubt about it--our desire that Israel receive our support without hesitation. We said that October 7 can never happen again, but if we say ``never again,'' we should mean it. If we truly mean ``never again,'' then the only path forward is for Israel to win the war--to win the war.

And that is why it is so important that we give Israel the tools it needs to win the war as soon as possible. Destroying Hamas means allowing Israel to reestablish security for its people. Destroying Hamas also means it can no longer terrorize and repress the people of Gaza. If we are concerned about the lives of Jews and Gazans, the sooner Hamas is defeated the better. The sooner Hamas is completely defeated, the better.

Putting limits on military assistance only means prolonging a conflict that Israel must win, and it means greater loss of life among both Israelis and Gazans.

Delaying or halting military aid also sends the wrong message to both our allies and our adversaries. Our allies, like Israel, rightly wonder whether U.S. promises will be kept when times get tough. Our adversaries, like Hamas and Iran, wonder if they can manipulate us into failure. When we hesitate to keep our promises and give our enemies the chance to regroup, we incentivize the very behavior that we must oppose.

We have to wipe out terrorism. We have to work with our allies--not just Israel but all of our allies--to wipe out terrorism.

If Hamas survives, it will certainly seize more hostages in the future. That is what Hamas does. If Hamas survives, it will keep using innocent civilians as shields. Think about that: using innocent citizens as their shields. If Hamas survives, it will see October 7 as a triumph rather than a disaster.

The administration may believe that pausing military assistance will save lives or limit suffering, but it will only sow the seeds of future conflict. There is no substitute--there is no substitute--for victory over Hamas.

Congress has provided the resources to support our ally Israel, and I call upon the administration to keep our promises, to act according to the will of the American people, and to accept nothing less than the complete defeat of Hamas.

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