[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 8768]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF DANIEL WULTZ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more painful 
than a senseless death, particularly when a child's life is cut short.
  As parents, we do everything we can to protect them. We keep them in 
car seats protected by seat belts and air bags. We watch what they eat 
and lock cabinets and plug outlets. We put safety knobs on exterior 
doors and put gates up at the top of the stairs and around swimming 
pools. We give them curfews and cell phones so we know where they are 
and when they'll be home. We teach them right from wrong and we impart 
our values.
  And when they are older, we have no other choice but to hope for the 
best. We hope that all of the cajouling and caring, crying and 
cradling, helped them become the best grownups, parents, citizens, 
professionals, but most of all, we want to help our children to be the 
best people that they can become.
  After all of that planning, preparing, protecting and sometimes 
panicking, most of us are blessed with the fact that our children do 
become adults.
  So much of our children's lives are beyond our control, including 
their safety, yet we do everything within our power to protect them.
  But what parent in God's name would expect their child to be killed 
in a terrorist attack? Blown up by a suicide bomber at an outdoor cafe? 
How does one guard against that? What product is made to shield them 
from explosives strapped to the body of a madman determined to destroy 
an entire people? How do we teach our children that some parents raise 
their children with this hatred embedded inside their heart?
  How, if we want to raise our children as tolerant, understanding, 
open-minded individuals, do we teach them to look out for certain 
people who may want to do them harm, without painting an entire people 
with the same broad brush? Naturally, we teach them that they should be 
cautious about strangers in general, wary of people who act in a 
certain way.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask this question today because the other day, Tuesday 
afternoon, I attended the funeral of a young boy, just 16 years old. He 
was a constituent of mine who lived in the same town where my family 
and I live.
  When I got home, I explained to my two older children where I had 
been. As inquisitive little ones, they asked how the boy died. And I 
can still taste the bile in my mouth, Mr. Speaker, when I had to 
explain that this young boy in our hometown was killed by a bomb that 
blew up near where he was sitting in a cafe in Israel. I had to explain 
to my twin 7-year-olds that there are some people in the world who have 
so much hate in their hearts and who don't believe that the Jewish 
people should have our homeland, Israel, that they will do anything, 
including bombing innocent people to try to destroy us.
  Mr. Speaker, I could not bring myself to explain that the bombs were 
strapped to the bomber's body as they were detonated. Thankfully, that 
was beyond their comprehension, because it was beyond my ability to 
explain to their young, innocent minds.
  Daniel Wultz was sitting at an outdoor cafe with his father in Tel 
Aviv during Passover. A suicide bomber detonated a bomb strapped to his 
body, which injured Daniel's father and critically injured Daniel. 
Daniel lost his leg in the explosion, and, despite severe injuries, 
emerged from a comatose state and went through several surgeries with 
many more in front of him. He lived for a month, but succumbed to his 
injuries on May 14th.
  Daniel Wultz was eulogized by his family and friends on Tuesday. He 
was described as a beautiful young man with a big heart, someone who 
always did the right thing, who stood up for others, and had a big, 
beautiful smile. I listened to his Rabbi, Rabbi Yisroel Spalter, talk 
about officiating at Daniel's Bar Mitzvah. I listened to how proud 
Daniel was of that accomplishment and how his Judaism had become so 
much more important to him recently.
  I listened to Daniel's best friend and aunts talk about what a 
righteous person Daniel was, describing how he was always there for his 
friends and how he taught younger kids basketball and waited with them 
when their parents were late.
  I listened to Daniel's sister talk about how painful it was to lose 
her beloved brother and how badly they all wanted him to remain with 
the family and the struggle they were going through with God, who 
obviously needed him more.
  But the most difficult was listening to Daniel's father's angst-
ridden voice, wishing that he could have protected his one and only 
son, and describing that he knew his son's beautiful body ultimately 
protected him.
  Mr. Speaker, as a Jew, as a Member of Congress, as an American, but, 
more than anything, as a mother, I rise this evening to honor the 
memory of Daniel Wultz and to ask my colleagues to join me in 
condemning in the strongest possible way the ongoing cowardly terrorist 
attacks perpetrated against innocent victims in Israel and throughout 
the world.
  As Golda Meir once said, ``Peace will come when the Arabs love their 
children more than they hate us.''
  Hate is a weapon from which there is no safe haven.

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