Hamas and Other Palestinian Terrorist Groups International Financing Prevention Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 340, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Since its inception, Hamas has been a military and political entity dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
Rather than addressing the needs of the Palestinian people, Hamas has furthered their suffering and has destabilized the Gaza Strip. Rather than building schools, industries, and public infrastructure to lift up their own people, Hamas has built a terrorist army and a network of sophisticated attack tunnels to destroy Israel and kill Jews. The group has terrorized its people rather than govern, using Palestinian civilians as human shields and has terrorized its own population and that of Israel.
Since 2007, when Hamas violently seized governing control of the Gaza Strip, it has launched tens of thousands of rockets targeting Israeli cities and towns from hospitals, schools, and Palestinian neighborhoods in Gaza. It has conducted countless terrorist attacks, engaged in hostage taking, and tortured its own, the Palestinian people.
The State Department first designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. The EU and other Western countries have done the same. Passage of this legislation today will provide more tools for this and future administrations to hold Hamas accountable for its terrorism and brutality.
While Hamas leaders don't have financial assets in the U.S., new sanctions have been unveiled by the Biden administration in recent days that will increase pressure on some of the countries that host them. With this legislation before us, the United States will now be able to penalize third parties who provide assistance to Hamas.
While we desire to put more pressure on Hamas, we want to make certain that American and partner NGOs and governments are still able to assist the people of Gaza and their humanitarian needs. The waiver present in this legislation, while strict, will allow that assistance to continue.
Hamas' reign of terror must end. It is our only chance at a lasting peace.
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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Manning), my dear friend and the vice ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 340 is an important effort to strengthen sanctions on Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that showed its true intent and core evil on October 7, when it crossed over a border and savagely massacred 1,400 people, took more than 240 people hostage, wounded thousands of others, and continues its assault, as it is written in its charter, to destroy the State of Israel and to murder Jews.
I will remind my colleagues, if I can, that what we saw on October 7 was the worst day for the murder of Jews since the Holocaust, but I also believe it is important that, unless we are talking about Nazis and the Holocaust, we are very careful and avoid making comparisons.
I also think it is important that as Israel prosecutes its war against Hamas--and it is against Hamas, not against the Palestinian people--we recognize the humanity of the civilians, all the civilians who are caught in the middle of this horrific war.
Hamas is a terrorist organization and must be eliminated from being a threat to Israel, an oppressor of its people, and in control of Gaza. That is why this legislation is so critically important. We have to see the humanity of people.
I am a co-chair of the bipartisan, bicameral Abraham Accords Caucus. I have committed my life to seeking and pursuing peace for Israel and its neighbors. The Abraham Accords Caucus recognizes for the first time that both Arabs and Jews belong to the same land and records in its essence and in its being that by embracing each other, Arabs and Jews cannot only live together but lift each other up and lift up the future for the same land.
Hamas does not see that future. Hamas is a terrorist organization. It is a threat to peace, a threat to Israel, a threat to democracy.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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