The State of Qatar

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, for organizing this hour. I thank the Speaker for his indulgence and attention as we have gone through a long list typical of conversations talking about the hostages. I thank my friend from Michigan, General Bergman, for the time.

We should not have to be here tonight. We should not be forced to talk about some of the 250 people brutally kidnapped and taken hostage on October 7.

It should not be necessary to call for the immediate, unconditional release of these hostages. We should not be here because Hamas should not be holding hostages.

I am grateful that more than 100 hostages have been released and returned to Israel, but 143 hostages remain in captivity, held by Hamas, by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and by others in Gaza.

The families don't know the status of their loved ones. They don't know where their loved ones are. They don't know when they will be coming home.

I will talk tonight about one hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Hersh's parents, Rachel and Jon, are from Chicago. I have been friends with his aunt, Abby, for more than 30 years. I know his grandmother Leah. Hersh's family is now my family.

Hersh was born in northern California. His family moved to Virginia when Hersh was 4 and to Israel when he was 7. That was in 2008. Hersh grew up in Jerusalem, reached adulthood, and was known widely as a kind, gentle mensch.

On Friday, October 6, of this year, Hersh was with his family in Jerusalem. It was the evening of the Sabbath, Shabbat, and the holiday of Simchat Torah.

The family went to synagogue and then went to dinner at a friend's house with two other families. After dinner, Hersh grabbed his backpack and left to meet his friend Aner. They later learned that Hersh and his friend were going to a concert in the south, a music festival.

That was on Saturday, October 7. I will read at length some of the words of Hersh's father, Jonathan Polin, published in Time magazine.

He says, describing his circumstance on Sunday, having learned that Hersh was taken hostage on Saturday, at some time--I think it was Sunday morning--a picture started to circulate online that was from an outdoor bomb shelter. They are not uncommon in the south of Israel.

Our son was in the picture, as was Aner. Through social media, we started to search for other families of people who were in the shelter and to try to piece together a story.

What we have subsequently pieced together, based on conversations with the three witnesses who were in the shelter with him, is the following: Sometime around 7:30 Saturday morning, those in the bomb shelter came under heavy gunfire. Grenades were being tossed into the shelter.

Hersh's friend Aner, who was by the entrance of the bomb shelter, is responsible for the lives of anybody who is still alive--he was picking up grenades and tossing them back out and taking control of the situation. But it was total chaos. At least 11 grenades were thrown into the shelter. Aner picked up eight and threw them back out. Three exploded inside.

People were critically wounded. What we next know from witnesses is that at roughly 9 a.m., gunmen came into the shelter calmly, not shooting, and they said anybody who can get on their feet and walk out, walk out of here. And our son was one of the small number to walk out.

That was 55 days ago: Seven Shabbat dinners with an empty seat in the Hersh Goldberg family; seven weeks of uncertainty not knowing where Hersh is; seven weeks of not knowing how Hersh is doing; seven weeks of not knowing when Hersh is coming home.

Tonight, we have heard about so many of these hostages, 143 of the 250-plus hostages taken still are in captivity. The IRC must be able to see Hersh in every one of the other hostages.

Hersh and all the other hostages must come home. Not someday, not soon, but now. We owe it to these hostages to bring them home. We owe it to our families, and we must make sure that Hamas can never take hostages, can never attack Israel ever again.

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