[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 3 (Monday, January 8, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11-S13]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Business Before the Senate

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, we are back in the Senate and kicking 
off a new year, which will undoubtedly be busy and certainly 
challenging. There is a lot of work for us to do, and one of our most 
crucial tasks is to address the national security supplemental 
appropriations bill that President Biden has requested.
  As you know, that bill includes relief for not only Israel but also 
additional

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assistance to Ukraine and provides additional money for the Indo-
Pacific--hopefully to deter potential Chinese aggression in that 
region--and, of course, the border, which is another story for another 
day.
  But today, I would like to talk about the challenges we face in the 
Middle East. Today, the global threat environment is unlike any we have 
seen in recent memory, perhaps in our lifetime.
  I just returned from a trip to the Middle East with a bipartisan 
group of colleagues from the Senate Intelligence Committee. We had an 
extremely busy schedule, but it was very productive. We had 22 separate 
meetings with leaders across the region, from Jordan to Saudi Arabia, 
to Israel.
  We also had the opportunity, as I indicated, to travel to Israel to 
meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense, Galant, 
and also members of the intelligence community there in Tel Aviv--the 
Shin Bet, which is responsible for domestic security, and, of course, 
Mossad, the legendary intelligence agency of the Israeli Government.
  We all know that on October 7, the world shifted and changed in a 
dramatic way in Israel when Hamas entered Israel by air, land, and sea. 
They committed horrific acts of murder of babies and children and 
innocent civilians. They raped and tortured and beheaded innocent 
people--beheaded innocent people. They dismembered the bodies of their 
victims and captured hostages to use as human shields and bargaining 
chips. It was a day of infamy that will live in the minds of Israelis 
for the rest of their lives, and it should be a warning again--if we 
need another warning--to the rest of the region and the rest of the 
world.
  For the people of Israel, this was not unlike our experience on 
September 11, 2001, when nearly 3,000 Americans were killed by a 
terrorist attack here in Washington, DC, and, of course, the plane lost 
in Pennsylvania when brave passengers on that plane prevented an 
attack, perhaps on the very Capitol Building here in Washington. Of 
course, on September 11, thousands of families lost husbands, wives, 
parents, and children because of evil terrorists in pursuit of a 
fanatical ideology. That is what Israel experienced 3 months ago.
  Compared to the United States, of course, Israel is a very small 
country. It is home to roughly 9.3 million people. I represent a State 
of 30 million people. So Israel has roughly about a third of the 
population of the State of Texas. But in Israel on that day, October 7, 
the lives of 1,200 people were lost. Based on the population, this 
would be equivalent to roughly 36,000 Americans dying on 9/11--an 
absolutely mind-boggling thought.
  Just as most Americans can remember where they were and what they 
were doing on that terrible day of 9/11/2001, nearly every single 
Israeli who is old enough to remember the attack will forever recall 
the events of that terrible day. They will never--they will never--
forget the pain that their country and their people have endured and 
the threat to their very existence that terrorist attack represents.
  As might be expected, I am proud to say that over the last 3 months, 
the United States has stood strongly in support of Israel--one of our 
closest allies; the only democracy, really, in the Middle East. We 
provided military assistance and repeatedly affirmed that Israel has a 
nonnegotiable right to defend itself.
  In recent months, as has occurred throughout America's history, some 
Americans have voiced skepticism: Why should we care? Why should 
America be involved in these conflicts so far away from our shores? 
They ask, and it is a fair question: Why should we care about the 
outcome of a war that is happening thousands of miles away? Given the 
challenges we face here at home, they ask, why should the United States 
invest in Israel's victory and the defense of Ukraine against the 
invasion by Russia? The threats that are occurring in the Indo-
Pacific--why should we care about those threats?
  Well, the answer when it comes to Israel is simple: Terrorism will 
not be confined to Israel or the Middle East as a region. What happens 
there will not stay there.
  Now, I know that sometimes we have to relearn the lessons we learned 
the hard way many years ago, but the lesson of 9/11 is that our oceans, 
the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, do not protect the United States 
against terrorist attacks on our own soil. That is the hard lesson we 
learned on 9/11, and we should not forget it.
  The evil that the world witnessed on October 7 is not limited to 
Hamas. Hamas, of course, is a terrorist organization committed to the 
destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Israeli people from 
the map. This is a sickness, a perversion of a great religion that is 
shared by terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East.
  But we should not be distracted by looking at just Hamas because it 
is Iran that is the head of the octopus. Its tentacles of terror--its 
proxies--extend throughout the region and threaten to destabilize the 
Middle East and potentially start a much larger war.
  Iran's terrorist proxies include not only Hamas but also Hezbollah in 
Lebanon, to the north of Israel; the Houthis in Yemen, on the Arabian 
Peninsula; the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank; 
and, of course the Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq, who have 
attempted as many as 100 different attacks on American troops and 
America's interests in the region. Iran provides these groups with 
funding and with weapons and training to enable these attacks like the 
one that was committed by Hamas on Israel.
  But that is only one example. Iranian-led proxies in Iraq and Syria 
are attacking U.S. forces, as I said. Hezbollah is launching consistent 
assaults on northern Israel. The Houthis are disrupting global commerce 
and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, as well as launching unmanned 
aerial vehicles in an attempt to essentially assault and bomb Israel.
  Iran is a country driven by an ideology that calls for the 
destruction of Israel, but Iran would not stop there.
  The Supreme Leader of Iran once labeled the United States as Iran's 
``No. 1 enemy.'' We see that view borne into action today as Iran 
supports Russia in its ongoing war on the people of Ukraine and through 
its strategic cooperation with China.
  Yes, this war is about the future of Israel, but it is also about the 
future of Iran. Tehran stands to gain a lot from Hamas's war against 
the Israelis, and the United States must continue to stand for the 
unequivocal defeat of Hamas. Anything less would embolden Iran and its 
terrorist proxies and aid them in their ambitions for regional 
hegemony.
  Our colleagues are working hard to reach an agreement on a national 
security supplemental appropriations bill that will include aid for 
four security national priorities, as I mentioned: Israel, Ukraine, the 
Indo-Pacific, and the southern border.
  When it comes to Israel, some want to set conditions on U.S. aid and 
thus attempt to micromanage Israel's fight for its very survival. This, 
I would suggest, is nothing but hubris, plain and simple.
  Imagine if other countries tried to tell the United States how we 
should have conducted our fight against al-Qaida after 9/11, right 
after the smoke had cleared and after the bodies of 3,000 Americans had 
been buried; if other countries had told us ``No, you can't go after 
the terrorists' threat this way; you have to do it that way.'' Our 
Nation had just lost 3,000 innocent lives through a series of terrorist 
attacks. Imagine if others tried to dictate the means by which we 
defeated that threat and protected our country. Would we have allowed 
them to tie our hands when it comes to our own defense? Absolutely not. 
We would have chided them for their naivety and dismissed any attempt 
to treat terrorist organizations with kid gloves or to treat them as a 
rational power.
  A number of Americans are concerned--we are all concerned, I would 
suggest--by the number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
  But the primary cause of civilian casualties in Gaza and in Israel is 
Hamas, the terrorist organization. There is no question that when war 
is declared as Hamas declared war against Israel on October 7, that 
innocent people will be hurt, perhaps even killed. But there is no 
question that Hamas's own tactics are the reason the loss of life in 
Gaza is so high.
  These terrorists have a long history of using Palestinian civilians 
as human

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shields to protect themselves. Hamas operates a vast network of tunnels 
beneath Gaza--some 500 kilometers by one estimate--and they shield 
their terrorist overlords in those tunnels from the dangerous fighting 
above ground. This is where they store critical supplies like water, 
food, and fuel, which are being kept from the Palestinian civilians who 
need that humanitarian assistance. It seems likely that these tunnels 
are the hiding place for more than 130 remaining hostages.
  I met with the grieving families here in Dallas, TX, who lost loved 
ones to this conflict on October 7, whose loved ones are hostages of 
Hamas today in Israel. And we also met with another group of Americans 
who have family members who are currently hostages of Hamas in Gaza.
  Well, a video was shared online of a Hamas gunman who was captured 
and interrogated by Israeli officials. He said that Hamas shelters in 
tunnels and basements under clinics, schools, and hospitals because 
they know the Israelis will not target those locations because of their 
concern about collateral damage and the injury and, perhaps, death of 
innocent people. So Hamas deliberately places innocent Palestinians 
between its terrorist foot soldiers and incoming rockets.
  We should remember that it was Hamas that initiated this war with 
their brutal massacre of Israeli civilians, including women and 
children--even infants--that were just going about their daily lives 
that represented no threat to them. It is Hamas that knowingly uses the 
Palestinian people as human shields. It is Hamas that rejoices at every 
Palestinian killed because it broadens their support and strengthens 
their narrative and helps them recruit more support.
  The world should not condemn Israel for defending itself against 
terrorist attacks, just like the world did not condemn the United 
States when we defended ourselves against al-Qaida following the 
terrorist attacks of 9/11. The world should condemn Hamas for its 
indiscriminate use of civilian infrastructure to protect its own foot 
soldiers.
  As the fighting continues, we can't lose sight of the jarring 
difference between two sides of this conflict. There is no moral 
equivalence between Israel and the terrorist organization known as 
Hamas or, as I mentioned earlier, the head of the octopus, which is the 
regime in Iran.
  This is not a battle between two nations. This is a battle between 
good and evil. Additional assistance for Israel is crucial to not only 
the future of the Jewish State but to the stability of the region and 
the future ambitions of Iran. If Hamas emerges from this war with 
nothing more than a black eye, it will send a message to Iran and its 
terrorist proxies that their war against Israel and the Western world 
is worthwhile. And it will continue and it will intensify and it will 
expand.
  Given the chaos that is unfolding in the Middle East today, the very 
last thing the world needs is an emboldened Iran. I hope in the coming 
weeks, the Senate can finally make progress on the need for assistance 
for Israel. The House passed an Israel aid bill on November 2--November 
2, more than 2 months ago--and the Senate has done nothing except 
preach to Israel on the means by which some believe it should defend 
itself from those determined to wipe it from the face of the Earth.
  This is not a time for preaching to Israel, our most steadfast ally 
in the Middle East, about how to defend themselves. It is a grave 
disservice, I believe, to do so.
  So there is a lot at stake, and the eyes of the world are on the 
United States. Again, as I said earlier, no American wants to see us 
involved in conflicts around the world. But, unfortunately, it is our 
responsibility, not just because we come to the aid of others who have 
been innocent civilians and people who have been viciously attacked by 
terrorists but because this virus, this contagion, will spread beyond 
Israel, beyond the Middle East, and to other parts of the world, 
including the United States.
  If there is a lesson we learned from 
9/11, it is that our oceans--the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans--will not 
protect us. So what happens in Gaza, what happens in Israel will not 
stay there.
  Taking action to ensure our top ally in the Middle East has its back 
would be a great place for us to start this new year. The clock is 
ticking, and the Senate needs to act soon to ensure that Israel has 
what it needs to defeat Hamas and confront the growing threat from 
Iran.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Butler). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. I also ask unanimous consent for the scheduled vote to 
begin immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.