[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 169 (Monday, October 16, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4967-S4969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Israel

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, today I come before the Senate with a 
heart full of grief. I come shaken by anger and fear but with a resolve 
to act. I come with my spirit moved down to its core by the terrible 
things I saw these past few days.
  This morning, I returned to the United States after leading a 
bipartisan delegation to Israel along with Senators Rosen and Kelly and 
Romney and Cassidy. As the first Jewish majority leader, as the highest 
ranking Jewish elected official ever in America, I wanted to be there, 
and I felt an obligation to be there.
  It was a trip I will remember for the rest of my life, a visit to the 
only Jewish State on Earth, facing one of the darkest hours of its 75-
year history, probably the darkest hour.
  We traveled to deliver a simple and unmistakable message: We, the 
American people, stand with the people of Israel in this moment of 
need. We said to the people of Israel: We have your back. We feel your 
pain. We ache with you. And in the coming weeks, the U.S. Senate will 
do everything possible to help Israel eliminate the threat that Hamas 
presents and help Israel in every way we can.
  I thank my colleagues who joined me on this important trip. I thank 
everyone who will be traveling there this coming weekend. Right now, 
our presence means the world to Israel. They were so gratified that 
American Senators came to stand with them in their moments of grief and 
sorrow. It was clear that just being there made a tremendous difference 
and boosted their resolve.
  We had very productive meetings with a whole range of Israeli 
leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, National Unity Party 
Minister Chairman Benny Gantz, Defense Minister Gallant, President 
Isaac Herzog, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
  But the most memorable meeting was with 12 families of the hostages. 
There they were sitting there, wondering what was happening to their 
mother, their sister, their brother, their baby in the hands of these 
brutal terrorists.
  Nothing prepared us for the overwhelming grief we felt talking to the 
families of the hostages and sharing their deep pain. There was not a 
dry eye in the room. Many of these people didn't know if their 
relatives were dead

[[Page S4968]]

or alive. Some of them said: I wonder which is better.
  They just knew that they were missing and taken by wretched Hamas 
fighters. It breaks your heart.
  We saw footage they showed us of their loved ones being led away by 
the Hamas terrorists, an elderly woman being dragged away from her 
family, a 12-year-old boy being pushed along by these terrorists--
families in sheer agony, wondering what was happening to their loved 
ones in the captivity of these brutal terrorists.
  Today, we now know that the number of hostages has exceeded 199. It 
is of the utmost importance that Israel and the United States do 
everything it can to bring every single one of these hostages to 
safety.
  During our visit, we also experienced, in flashes, what the Israelis 
experience on a daily basis. We were having lunch at our hotel when the 
sirens went off, meaning rockets were only 7 to 9 minutes away, rockets 
fired by Hamas. We all rushed into a shelter and waited with bated 
breath until they told us the coast was clear. It happened again in the 
evening moments before a press conference that had to be delayed that 
we held on Sunday.
  For us, the danger was momentary, thank God, but it is harrowing to 
think that Israelis are going through this and much greater horrors 
every single day.
  So, again, as the first Jewish majority leader, the highest ranking 
Jewish official in America, someone who has knowledge of the 
persecutions and ravages that have affected the Jewish people through 
the decades, the centuries, the millennia, I felt an obligation to 
travel this weekend to Israel and deliver a message of partnership.
  And I believe our trip went a significant way in pushing back against 
the dangerous false equivalency between what Hamas is doing and the 
response against them. Let us be clear: Hamas is an evil organization 
that wants to see Israel wiped off the face of the map. They don't 
believe in a two-state solution. They want no Israel and no Jews living 
between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. Eliminating Israel is part of 
their charter, so is the killing of Jews.
  If left to their own devices, Hamas would do to the Jewish people in 
the rest of Israel what they did to them in the Gaza border.
  So Israel can't just shrug its shoulders and say: Let's not try to 
end the threat from Hamas. They have an obligation to do it because 
Hamas's attack against Israel was an act of unspeakable evil. It was 
their goal to kill as many civilians as possible, children brutalized, 
the elderly slaughtered, young people in the prime of their life at a 
peace festival being machine-gunned down as they ran away.

  I was told that at one of the kibbutzes, over a hundred people--
people from 90 years old down to little toddlers--were rounded up and 
herded into the recreation room, and then Hamas machine-gunned every 
one of them down until they were dead, every one of them.
  It reminded me of the story of my own family, my great-grandmother 
who was the wife of a well-known rabbi. When the Nazis came into 
Ukraine--that was then part of Poland--in 1941, they told my 
grandmother to gather her family, her greater family, on her porch. She 
did. About 35 people, according to what my grandmother told me, her 
daughter, who had come to America, told me there were about 35 people 
from ages 88 to 3 months. The Nazis said: You are coming with us. She 
said: We are not moving. They machine-gunned every one of them down. 
History is repeating itself in an evil and awful way.
  So the bottom line is simple: Hamas must be defeated. Israel must 
ensure they are permanently stopped because if the world moves on and 
acts as if this were just some unfortunate episode, you can be sure 
this will happen again. And it is essential that the entire world unite 
in condemning the evils of Hamas.
  I first learned of the attacks against Israel during my delegation 
trip to China when I met with President Xi. I pointed out to President 
Xi that their initial statement on the conflagration in the Middle East 
didn't even mention terrorism or the deaths of these innocent 
civilians. I, respectfully, requested that he change his statement, and 
they did strengthen their initial statement relating to the attacks. 
The rest of the world must do the same. It must acknowledge and condemn 
the attacks--brutal attacks--that occurred this week.
  Now, as the Senate gavels back in for our fall work period, 
supporting Israel must be at the top, at the front, at the center of 
our attention. To that end, I urge every single member of the Senate--
Democrat, Republican, Independent--to unanimously support the 
resolution championed by Chairman Cardin, Ranking Member Risch, Leader 
McConnell, and myself, condemning Hamas and affirming that we stand 
with Israel and their right to defend themselves. The resolution 
matters because the Senate needs to declare in one voice that we stand 
with Israel and against Hamas.
  In the coming days, I will be working with the administration on 
putting together an emergency supplemental that will give Israel the 
tools it needs to defend itself. That means military assistance, 
intelligence assistance, diplomatic assistance, and humanitarian 
assistance to care for innocent civilians.
  We want to move this package quickly. The Senate must go first. I 
know that the House is in disarray, but we cannot wait for them. The 
needs are too great. And if we pass a strong package with strong 
bipartisan support, it will importune the House, somehow or other, to 
act, despite the morass they are in.
  It is also very important that we not only provide the military and 
intelligence support Israel needs but that we provide humanitarian 
assistance to aid civilians impacted by the violence.
  During my meetings with Israeli officials, my colleagues and I 
strongly echoed the administration's urging that Israel follow the rule 
of law and do everything to minimize civilian deaths.
  Israel has a very difficult task to eliminate Hamas, save the 
hostages but also minimize civilian casualties, which is a difficult 
task but one that Israel must and does strive to live up to.
  We are not like the evil militants of Hamas. Israel is not. In 
America and in Israel, countries must hold themselves to a higher 
standard. It is part of who we are as democracies. So this package must 
move quickly, a package of military aid, the necessities that Israel 
needs. We talked to the leadership of Israel about what they need, and 
it will be in this package: intelligence aid to make sure we share 
intelligence in the best way possible, diplomatic aid to make sure that 
the nations of the world stand with Israel, and humanitarian aid to 
make sure that civilians are given the help that they need. We must 
move this package quickly.

  We must also move to confirm an ambassador to Israel as quickly as 
possible. The President has already sent us a capable and strong 
nominee in Jack Lew, who will come before the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee on Wednesday. I urge the committee to approve Mr. Lew as soon 
as possible, without any costly partisan delays so we can bring him to 
the floor and confirm him with all due haste.
  We dealt very closely in our trip with so many people in the Embassy, 
including a wonderful charge d'affaires, but it is obvious that they 
really need an ambassador now more than ever. Mr. Lew has proven 
himself a strong public servant, a ferocious ally of Israel, so 
delaying him would be egregious at a time like this. We must move him 
quickly, and I hope we will.
  Finally, as the conflict evolves in the coming days and weeks, my 
office will work with the administration to ensure the Senate remains 
fully updated about the situation at all times.
  For the information of the Senate, we will hold an all-Senators 
classified briefing this Wednesday, October 18, at 3:30 p.m., provided 
by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Chairman of 
the Joint Chiefs, and the Director of National Intelligence. It is 
essential that we hear what is going on from our top leaders.
  Madam President, the coming weeks will be an immense challenge, not 
just for the people of Israel, but for all of us in Congress as well. 
Now, more than ever, we must work with the spirit of bipartisanship to 
ensure we can govern and protect Americans here at home and abroad and 
stand with our friends in Israel. This moment is a test for all

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of us--a test for our ability to work together, a test for our resolve 
to stand with our friends, a test of our resolve to fulfill our 
fundamental duties to the world. Let us not squander this consequential 
moment.
  And to the people of Israel--``eretz zavat chalav,'' a land of milk 
and honey--let me close with this: We will be by your side. We will not 
allow you to bear this burden alone. Your burden will be our burden; 
your grief is our grief; your cause is our cause. May the memories of 
the day be a blessing and a source of strength to all of us as we 
navigate the road ahead.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.