[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 194 (Monday, November 27, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5589-S5590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Israel

  Madam President, over the recess, we saw some hopeful steps in the 
violence in Israel and Gaza. After more than 6 weeks of what must have 
been unimaginable horror, nearly 40 hostages were released by Hamas, 
with another 10 or so still, hopefully, to be released even today. 
These innocents should never have been taken in the first place, and it 
is long overdue that any still being held are released. This includes a 
young man with ties to our State named Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was 
horribly injured during the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas and 
subsequently taken hostage. I have spoken to his family, and I know you 
have as well. It is heartbreaking to think what they are going through.

  The agreement to release some of the hostages included a pause in 
fighting to allow for desperately needed humanitarian supplies to help 
innocent Palestinian civilians. We must remind ourselves that it is the 
Hamas terrorism we want to eradicate. Unfortunately, thousands of 
Palestinian people are being caught in the crossfire.
  I hope we can build upon this deal to negotiate the release of the 
remaining hostages and bring an end to the violence in a way that 
removes Hamas from power, allows the rebuilding of Gaza, and provides 
real progress toward a viable two-state solution.
  A two-state solution will require political leadership and courage 
from all parties. I was really pleased to read President Biden's clear 
thinking on this in the Washington Post recently. He wrote:


[[Page S5590]]


  

       This much is clear: A two-state solution is the only way to 
     ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and 
     Palestinian people. Though right now it may seem like that 
     future has never been further away, this crisis has made it 
     more imperative than ever.

  The President gets it. It isn't just a military victory that will 
bring peace to the Middle East; it is a final resolution of a battle 
which has gone on for decades.
  In the meantime, I also want to call on both sides to take another 
step in protecting innocent civilians--in this case, the reopening and 
operation of key Gaza hospitals under the supervision of a credible, 
neutral third party.
  Some of you may have heard me speak a few weeks ago about what 
Chicago area volunteer doctors--also the Presiding Officer's friend--
described as conditions in these besieged hospitals: amputations of the 
limbs of children without anesthesia, relying only on Tylenol for pain 
relief, and using vinegar instead of disinfectants to clean and heal 
wounds. Those are the desperate situations those hospitals have 
reached. Needs have only grown since I made that speech, with dozens of 
premature babies recently evacuated to Egypt for lifesaving care. All 
of this was, of course, complicated by Hamas's depraved use of 
hospitals to mask its activities.
  Let's be clear. Innocent Palestinians are also hostage to Hamas, 
whose members clearly don't care about those people in Gaza. But with 
the securing of these critical medical facilities, it is now time for 
both sides to agree to do something that seems so obvious, I dare not 
state it, but I will: Hospitals should be off limit to fighting. That 
is the only way they can be able to effectively function again. A 
neutral third party, such as the United Nations, could monitor these 
hospitals to ensure that they are only used to treat patients and that 
supplies go only and directly toward medical care.
  The other week, several Senators had a call with doctors involved in 
the humanitarian response in Gaza. The Senator presiding was one of the 
sponsors. They reminded us not only of the dire medical needs of those 
injured in the fighting but also the ongoing and future medical needs, 
including hundreds of upcoming births, that demand functioning 
hospitals.
  In the days ahead, I am going to reach out to U.N. Secretary General 
Guterres about implementing the idea of neutral third parties 
guaranteeing the integrity of the hospitals that still remain.
  This leads me to the President's emergency supplemental request. I 
was glad that Congress avoided another manufactured government shutdown 
crisis just days before Thanksgiving. I could not help but think of how 
history will judge this Congress, which has distinguished itself with 
bandaid budgets keeping our lurching economy at bay and not helping us 
move forward on critical issues that American families really care 
about.
  Why don't we do something about the cost of prescription drugs? Why 
don't we deal with the banning of assault weapons, which the 
overwhelming majority of Americans support? We could do things that 
would make the streets safe and people safer in their homes and make 
life more enjoyable and affordable, but instead we lurch from one 
manufactured political crisis to the next. It is time for us to act 
like Senators instead of political squabbling.
  But that does not end our responsibility to deal with national 
security and humanitarian needs in Israel and Gaza to Ukraine. After 
all, where did Hamas leaders turn up shortly after their despicable 
attack on Israel on October 7? You guessed it--sitting down with 
Vladimir Putin in Moscow. What nation helped supply weapons and 
training to Hamas? What nation is helping Russia with weapons to fight 
in Ukraine? Iran. Who hopes distractions and divisions over the Middle 
East distract the West from the war in Ukraine? Vladimir Putin.
  A few months ago, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, in the Senate 
Chamber just a few steps away from this Chamber, starkly told the 
Senators of both parties who gathered that if the United States stops 
its aid to Ukraine, Russia will win the war. He said it not once but 
twice to make it clear.
  If Russia wins in Ukraine, it would be naive to think they will stop 
there. The costs to the United States in repelling further Russian 
aggression will only continue to multiply.
  The other day, I was reflecting on a walk I took in Maidan Square in 
Kyiv with the late Senator John McCain in 2014, with a visiting 
congressional delegation. McCain led a bipartisan delegation there just 
after Russia seized Crimea.
  After Kyiv, we were supposed to go to Donetsk in Eastern Europe, but 
we had to cancel, as Russia was already destabilizing the region in 
preparation for its land grabs.
  John McCain and our delegation walked somberly in Maidan Square in 
Kyiv, through the makeshift shrines to those who lost their lives 
fighting for democracy, the freedom movement that so threatened Putin.
  I cannot help but wonder what John McCain would say today--or Ronald 
Reagan, who called the Soviet Union an ``evil empire''--as many in 
their party in Congress hesitate to stand up to Putin and advance 
American security interests.
  Let's not make a mistake that could cost the world and generations in 
the future by not advancing this critical supplemental funding request 
before the end of this calendar year.
  I urge my colleagues to support President Biden's national security 
supplemental request to aid Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and 
humanitarian crises around the globe, including Gaza.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.