[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 125 (Tuesday, July 22, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H3533]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            AND STILL I RISE

  (Mr. Green of Texas was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise today to speak 
truth to power, as well as speak truth about power. I rise to speak 
truth about what is happening to the Palestinians in Gaza.
  I rise to ask: What do we call it when we have a group of people who 
are being denied food and denied the very essence and necessities of 
life? What do we call it when their homes are being destroyed, when 
their schools are being destroyed, and when their churches and their 
infrastructure are being destroyed? What do we call it when we do this 
to them as a group? We call it collective punishment. It is called 
collective punishment, Mr. Speaker.
  What do we call it when we have a group of people who are being 
pushed around, pushed from one end of Gaza to the other? What do we 
call it when they are literally being slaughtered as they are seeking 
food? What do we call it when people say that they ought to be removed 
from their land? We call it ethnic cleansing, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, what do we call when it appears to me that there is a 
deliberate and systemic effort to destroy in whole or in part the 
Palestinian people? What do we call it when we destroy them in whole or 
in part?
  We are witnessing before our very eyes, Mr. Speaker, genocide in 
Gaza, and we say nothing.
  I am amazed at how this country that stands for liberty and justice 
for all, this country that has a Statue of Liberty, how this country 
can see what is happening in Gaza and not call it what it is.
  There is a fear among us. We refuse to speak truth to power. We 
refuse to speak truth about power. Today, I am going to do it. I am 
doing it because these are precious babies that are being slaughtered.
  We see the bodies. We see the homes. We see the infrastructure. We 
say nothing. Who are we? What is wrong with us? What is going on? Here 
is what is going on.

                              {time}  1020

  We have an authoritarian leader who is supporting another 
authoritarian leader. Our President and the Prime Minister of Israel 
are working together, and they are doing this. Our President said there 
would be hell to pay if they did not move or if they did not 
surrender--not in those exact words, but that was his intentionality. 
He is talking about the people of Gaza.
  I am not talking about Hamas. They did a dastardly deed. What Hamas 
did can never be justified. They were wrong, but you can't justify what 
is happening in Israel right now. It is collective punishment. It is 
ethnic cleansing, and it is genocide.
  Mr. President, Donald John Trump, I say to you, Mr. President, you 
have been trying to hide from this, but, Mr. President, you can't hide. 
I charge you with genocide.
  Mr. Netanyahu, you are the perpetrator. I charge you with genocide.
  Also, I want this Congress to know that, yes, I voted against sending 
any additional monies to Israel for munitions. I voted against it. This 
genocide is going to continue until we have the courage to say no 
more--no more money to kill babies, no more money to say you are going 
to move people and create some sort of riviera on the Mediterranean, no 
more.
  I will not vote for any more money. I stand where I stand. I said 
what I said, and I mean what I mean.
  We cannot, as a great nation, continue to stand silent as we see 
collective punishment, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in Gaza committed 
against people and children.
  We can't stand silent. History will not be kind to us.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

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