[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 6, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2225-S2226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       State of the Union Address

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, tomorrow night, we will have the annual 
State of the Union Message from the President of the United States. 
Each year, Members of Congress are given a ticket to invite a guest to 
the State of the Union. I have invited several people over the years 
whom I will never forget. One of them, 15 years ago, was a woman in 
military uniform who came to see us from her hospital room. She had 
just been shot down in her helicopter over Iraq, and there she was a 
few weeks later as my guest at the State of the Union. Her name was 
Tammy Duckworth. Now she is my colleague in the U.S. Senate. So you 
never know what might happen when a Member of Congress offers an 
invitation to the State of the Union.
  Tomorrow night, I am going to have a special guest and a special 
friend. I am hosting an extraordinary resident of my State, Dr. Zaher 
Sahloul. Dr. Sahloul is a critical care specialist at Advocate Christ 
Medical Center at Saint Anthony's Hospital.
  He is an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University 
of Illinois in Chicago, but he is much, much more than that.
  Dr. Sahloul has a long history of leading timely and often dangerous 
medical missions to some of the most desperate parts of the world, 
including recently a trip to Gaza. You see, Dr. Sahloul is the 
president of MedGlobal, a nonprofit that provides critical medical 
services in areas of crisis all over the world. His work was recently 
featured on ``60 Minutes.''
  Before that, he led the Syrian American Medical Society, which led 
similar lifesaving missions. Through these efforts, he and other 
volunteer doctors have provided urgent care to desperate populations, 
including in Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, and Bangladesh. In fact, in 2017, 
when the Burmese military was attacking that country's Rohingya 
population with unspeakable cruelty, Dr. Sahloul and his colleagues 
helped the war-weary refugees who were fleeing into Bangladesh.
  I had a chance to visit him and witness those efforts firsthand at 
one such camp in the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar. I will never 
forget walking through that sea of humanity, desperate humanity, and 
seeing what Dr. Sahloul and his colleagues were doing to bring basic 
dignity and basic medical care to this traumatized population. It was 
truly heroic.
  And what he and his colleagues similarly have done in Syria, with 
barrel bombs falling from the sky, or in Ukraine or in Gaza, has been 
equally moving. It is no wonder he has been awarded the Gandhi Award 
for Peace, the Heartland Alliance Kovler Center Dr. Robert Kirschner's 
Award for Global Activism, and UNICEF Chicago's Shine a Light on Global 
Refugee Crisis annual humanitarian award.
  I believe that Dr. Sahloul epitomizes humanity's goodness during 
times of conflict and trauma. And it is my honor to have him as my 
guest tomorrow night. His most recent work in Gaza is a stark reminder 
of the dire humanitarian needs facing us in the unfolding crisis that 
started with the horrific October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
  He shared with me and several of my colleagues deeply troubling 
stories of innocent people caught in this conflict who are in desperate 
need of basic medical attention and supplies. Operations and 
amputations occurring using vinegar as an antiseptic or Tylenol for 
anesthesia in the amputation of children's limbs, expectant mothers 
without safe medical facilities to give birth.
  The United States has started airdropping emergency supplies into 
Gaza. It is a relatively small step, but

[[Page S2226]]

it is a step in the right direction, although not a long-term solution 
to the conflict. I have long called for a cease-fire by all sides that 
includes the release of the remaining Israeli hostages. That seems to 
be the direction negotiators are aiming for before the start of 
Ramadan. I hope that is the case, and I hope that any such pause can be 
used to reunite hostages with their families and deliver desperately 
needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.
  I continue to believe in the two-state solution, one with new 
leadership on all sides. I think it is the only viable long-term path 
forward. In tomorrow's State of the Union Address, President Biden will 
not only fulfill one of his most important constitutional obligations, 
he will also have the opportunity to highlight to America how his 
administration has been working with congressional Democrats to improve 
the lives of our Nation's working families.
  In addition to the millions of Americans who will tune in to hear the 
address, there is no doubt that people across the world will be 
watching and hoping that he will say something that will lead us toward 
a more peaceful globe because, as we all know, America's influence 
extends way beyond our borders, and as Dr. Sahloul has proven, so, too, 
do our citizens.
  I am honored to be joined by a guest who embodies the best of 
America--selflessness, a commitment to service, and a belief that a 
single individual has the ability to make the world a better place.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.