Israel

Floor Speech

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Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, throughout their history, the children of Israel have known persecution and sorrow. They have lived in exile and enslavement. They have faced bigotry and violence. Entire nations and civilizations have sought to extinguish them and vanished, but the Jewish people remain, and, against all odds, millions of their descendants gathered together in the Holy Land and founded a nation.

Today, Israel is a vibrant democracy in the Middle East and a strong ally of the United States of America. Many people of faith would say the existence and perseverance of the State of Israel is itself evidence of divine providence.

Yet, even today--even today--Israel faces existential threats. On October 7, Hamas terrorists carried out the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust: the slaughter of 1,400 people; the decapitation of babies; the execution of grandmothers; and the taking of nearly 200 hostages, including children, women, seniors, and American citizens. Thirty Americans were among the murdered--30 Americans. Many of our fellow citizens have friends and family in Israel.

Regardless of our faith, we are all, I know, heartbroken for the loss and sickened--sickened--by the cruelty. And, on behalf of the Hoosiers I represent, I want to express my deepest condolences to the people of Israel as they mourn and pray and bury the dead.

As it has since its founding, against alliances of far larger nations and armies, this country, which is four times smaller than Indiana, will defend itself, and America will be here for Israel and support its right to confront this violence, this barbarism. We will do this because our values are the same: dedication to liberty and order, to tolerance, and to human dignity.

Make no mistake, the days ahead will be difficult. As Members of this body know too well, Israel is still under threat, and the risk of additional fronts opening up is real.

Over the past several days, I have been heartened by the strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate for the people of Israel. During this time of peril, this body cannot succumb to isolationism. We cannot abandon Israel any more than we can abandon our friends in Ukraine or Taiwan. On urgent matters of national security, we are stronger when we stand together, and in the difficult days ahead, we will work to support the people of Israel. I know we will continue that spirit.

Relatedly, I call on the Biden administration to consult and closely work with this Congress to quickly fulfill-- quickly fulfill--any urgent Israeli requests for assistance and do all we can to fully support Israel.

Now, colleagues, the Constitution of the United States lays out our responsibilities. Congress--Congress--has an important constitutional role in determining how the United States will respond to any additional acts of aggression.

As we support and stand with our allies, we also must be crystal clear about what has happened. The attacks on the people of Israel orchestrated by Hamas were barbaric, depraved--they were evil. Long supported by the Iranian regime, Hamas's stated mission is to destroy the Jewish people.

That is right--at the core of Hamas burns an age-old sickness: anti- Semitism. It was the twisted inspiration for their massacre. This broken thinking, this horrific ideology liberates not a single life; instead, tragically, it will cost only more, including those of innocent Palestinian civilians.

For the past 15 years, many peacekeeping Palestinians in Gaza have had their lives upended and exploited by the Hamas terrorist group. We acknowledge their suffering. We hope for change.

Those in our media, on our college campuses, or even those serving in government who ascribe the actions of Hamas to anything else other than hatred; those who are so quick to decry injustices elsewhere but place murder and rape in some sort of perspective; those who provide context for savagery; those who sigh that both sides are equally guilty--to all of you, I say you are providing cover for monsters.

The world view of Hamas must be added to the rollcall of evil ideologies that failed to destroy the Jewish people. And that is why we must stand with Israel. That is why. But that alone is not enough. You see, the murder of thousands of Jews brought reminders of the Holocaust and echoes of Russian pogroms and so many centuries of trials and tragedies. So we must also stand vigilant against and always oppose anti-Semitism wherever it appears, whatever movement it is attached to, whatever banner it marches underneath.

In these difficult days, we echo the old prayer sung across synagogues to the Jewish people:

May God have mercy on them and remove them from distress to relief, from darkness to light, from subjugation to redemption, now, speedily, and soon.

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