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Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, I am here once again to highlight the stories of the people who have been and continue to be held hostage by Hamas. I am so happy to hear that several of our hostages, whose families I have worked with, have been finally returned. They include: 4-year-old Abigail Mor Edan, whose parents were both murdered in front of her eyes and who now faces the horrible process of healing from the many traumas she underwent; Danielle Aloni and her 5-year-old daughter Emilia. They had been visiting Danielle's sister Sharon, her brother- in-law David, and their 3-year-old twins Emma and Julie on the day of the attack, when all of them were taken captive. Sharon, Emma, and Julie have also just been released, but David still remains in captivity.

I am so grateful that members of another family I have worked with have also been released. They include 67-year-old mother Shoshan, sister Adi, Adi's two young children Naveh and Yahel, Aunt Sharon, and Sharon's 12-year-old daughter Noam.

It has been heartening to see these families reunited with their loved ones, to see the joy and the indescribable relief, and I am grateful to the Biden administration for making these reunions possible. But, of course, many, many more people still remain in captivity, including Emma and Julie's father, David, and Naveh and Yahel's father, Tal.

These families have already endured the worst traumas imaginable, and yet now they have still been ripped apart, with no idea when they will see their fathers and brothers and sons again. Tal is a 38-year-old who reads a lot and loves to explore new topics as well as exercise and play sports. He and his family like to travel in the desert areas in southern Israel and spend time near the Sea of Galilee.

David is a talented 33-year-old actor who lived with his family in Nir Oz. He and his family woke up on the morning of October 7 to the sound of bombs and sought refuge in their home's bomb shelter. But when Hamas set fire to their house, the shelter filled with smoke and forced them out to meet the terrorists.

His American family last saw him in a video shared by Hamas where he can be seen in the back of a truck with Sharon and one of the twins. A survivor who was able to escape says she spoke briefly with him and that he said to her:

I know that I left the safe room with two babies, and now I have only one.

I can only imagine what it must be like for him now to have both of his babies ripped away.

These two families, these fathers, don't deserve to be separated from their families. They don't deserve to be kept in horrific conditions, potentially with little food.

As joyful as it has been to see some of the hostages reunited with their families, we must not stop pushing for the release of all the remaining hostages. I will continue to work with their families and with the Biden administration to advocate for these individuals, and I will not rest until we get every hostage, including the nine Americans, home.

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