[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 94 (Monday, June 3, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3926-S3927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Israel

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, yesterday, in an interview with FOX News, 
Speaker   Mike Johnson said that I ``was parroting the talking points 
of Hamas'' and that I and others ``stand with Hamas and the 
Ayatollah.''
  Well, that, of course, is an absolute lie. As I have said many times, 
I believe that Hamas is a terrorist organization that committed an 
atrocious act when it began this war by attacking Israel on October 7, 
killing 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, and taking more than 
200 hostages, many of whom are still being held in captivity today.
  Further, as I have said on numerous occasions, I think that the Hamas 
leader, Yahya Sinwar, is a war criminal and should be arrested.
  Now, I am not quite sure those are the talking points that Hamas 
uses. But what the FOX interview did get right is that I believe it is 
a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 
has been invited by leaders from both political parties to address a 
joint session of the U.S. Congress.
  Israel, of course, had the right to defend itself against the 
horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, but it did not--and it 
does not--have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian 
people.
  Two days after the war began, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant 
said:

       I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There 
     will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is 
     closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting 
     accordingly.

  ``We are fighting human animals''--that is his definition of the 
Palestinian people--``and we are acting accordingly.'' That is what the 
Israeli Defense Minister said, and, tragically, that is exactly what 
the rightwing, extremist Netanyahu government has done.
  Now, let me put some detail into exactly what that means and whether 
anyone really believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu should be a guest 
of honor of the U.S. Congress and the American people.
  Over the last 8 months--almost 8 months--Netanyahu and his extremist 
government have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians and wounded over 
82,000. That is 5 percent of the population of Gaza. Sixty percent of 
those who have been killed or wounded are women, children, and elderly 
people.
  Netanyahu's war machine has driven 1.7 million people from their 
homes--75 percent of the population of Gaza. I would like the American 
people to think about that. Think about your community. Think about 
your State. Think about what it would mean if 75 percent--three-
quarters--of your population was driven from their homes, and most of 
these people are poor, and they leave their homes not knowing where 
they are going, with nothing but what they could carry in their hands. 
Think about that incredible level of desperation--three-quarters of the 
population driven from their homes, carrying a few bundles of clothing 
or food or whatever it may be.
  Further, Netanyahu's government has damaged or destroyed over 60 
percent of the housing in Gaza, leaving more than 1 million people 
permanently homeless.
  You know, there is a lot of talk in the media and among the pundits 
about the day after the war ends, but let's be clear: For over 1 
million people, there is no day after in which they can return to their 
homes because their homes, their housing units, have been destroyed.
  It is not just the housing stock of Gaza that has been destroyed. 
Netanyahu and his extremist government have destroyed the civilian 
infrastructure of Gaza, obliterated water and sewer systems and denied 
electricity to the people who live there.
  Defense Minister Gallant, in his statement that I read a moment ago, 
said:

       I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There 
     will be no electricity.

  Well, they have kept their word. Imagine living month after month 
with no electricity or clean water and seeing sewage run out onto the 
streets. That is life for the people of Gaza right now.
  Mr. Netanyahu--the gentleman invited by Mr. Johnson and the 
Democratic leadership here--Mr. Netanyahu and his government have 
annihilated Gaza's healthcare system. I have talked to doctors, 
American doctors, who have been there who talk about the systematic 
destruction of their healthcare system. Mr. President, 26 hospitals 
have been knocked out of service, and more than 400 healthcare workers 
have been killed--400 healthcare workers killed.

[[Page S3927]]

  In other words, there are some 80,000 wounded people in Gaza and 
hundreds of thousands of people who are sick. According to the World 
Health Organization, as of May 5, there were hundreds of thousands of 
cases of acute respiratory illness and diarrhea, including 110,000 
children. Yet, despite all of the injuries caused by the bombings, 
despite all of the sickness caused by the lack of clean water, there is 
virtually no healthcare available to these people because the 
healthcare system in Gaza has been almost totally destroyed.
  You know, there are 12 universities in Gaza where kids are able to 
get an education. In fact, the people of Gaza and the Palestinian area 
take education very seriously. Every single one of these 12 
universities has been bombed, as have 56 schools. Today, 625,000 
children in Gaza have no access to education.
  I would ask the American people just to think about what is going on 
psychologically to the children of Gaza. Imagine being in a place where 
drones are flying all over the place, maybe there with weapons, maybe 
not. Buildings have been destroyed. Your relatives have been killed. 
You don't have any water. You don't have any food. You are driven from 
one place to another. What kind of permanent damage will occur to 
virtually every one of these children? What a horrible experience it 
is.
  Maybe--maybe most importantly--when we think about the wisdom of Mr. 
Netanyahu being invited to address both Houses of Congress--an honor to 
address both Houses of Congress and the American people--we should 
remember that his government, according to virtually every humanitarian 
organization functioning in Gaza, has intentionally blocked 
humanitarian aid--that is, food, water, medical supplies--from reaching 
the desperate people of Gaza, which has created, on top of everything 
else, the conditions for starvation and famine.
  I would tell you, as you probably already know, that blocking 
humanitarian aid and creating the conditions for famine is not only an 
act of extreme cruelty--using starvation as an act of war--but it is a 
violation of both American and international law. It is a war crime. 
That is what it is.
  Let me say a word about what is going on in Gaza right now in terms 
of malnutrition. According to the United Nations, since mid-January, at 
least 30 children--30 children--have starved to death. More than 93,000 
children under 5 have been screened for malnutrition, and 7,280 were 
found to have acute malnutrition, including 5,600 with moderate acute 
malnutrition and 1,676 with severe acute malnutrition. But, 
importantly, that is just what we know. The full reality is likely 
much, much worse. But Israel has prevented journalists and the media 
from getting into the most desperate areas in Gaza.
  Mr. President, you know we, as we all know, are in campaign season, 
and I would say to Speaker Johnson that when you attend your 
fundraising dinners with your billionaire friends and you eat your fine 
steaks and your lobsters and your other wonderful food, please remember 
these pictures from Gaza.
  This is a photograph of a child in Gaza taken by Getty.
  This is a photograph of a child and his or her mother taken by 
Reuters, and one doubts very much whether that child is alive today.
  This is a photograph taken by Al Jazeera.
  This is another photograph taken by Getty of a child who I can't 
imagine is alive today.
  These children and thousands more are the direct result of 
Netanyahu's policies, Netanyahu's demands. Speaker Johnson has invited 
him to address Congress.
  No, Mr. President, I will not be in attendance for that speech.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The majority leader.

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