Ongoing Hostage Crisis

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for scheduling this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I am almost without the ability to speak because of the horrors that have occurred on October 7 with the killing of people and the taking of 240 hostages, 110 believed to be alive and still in captivity by Hamas, is unthinkable.

Unthinkable to normal human beings, but thinkable to Hamas whose purpose in their charter and statements that they have made as recently as a week ago from leaders is to erase Israel from the map and to kill all Jews.

The war is horrific, and I have many people who I represent who have been supporters of mine for years who are upset that I have not called for a cease-fire. I share with them grief at looking at the rubble in Gaza and the people killed. The children that have been killed. The children that have lost their limbs. The children who will never recover from this trauma, but as Bret Stephens said so well in The New York Times this past week: Every single death is the result of Hamas because they broke the cease-fire on October 7. This is the fifth time they have gone to war on Israel and they continue to have the same purpose--to eradicate Israel and to kill all Jews. That is Israel's neighbor.

Bob Dylan one time wrote a song called ``Neighborhood Bully,'' Israel, but Bob said you would be a bully too if those were your neighbors. That is what they have got right now.

Mr. Speaker, Noa Argamani was put on a motorcycle and taken out of Israel. She reached up and said, ``Please, don't kill me.'' She is still there.

Mr. Polin, who Representative Schneider talked about, lost his arm. Who knows what condition he is in now if he is alive?

There are efforts to get the children, the elderly, and the women released with a 6-week or 2-month cease-fire that the United States has participated in, and President Biden is largely responsible for, working with Qatar and Egypt. Hopefully, they will be successful. They should also include the injured, and they should also include the people who have been killed so they can be reunited with their families and buried.

These are horrific conditions, unfortunately, that are transpiring.

I think it was President Trump who first started referring to the people who tried to take this Chamber, who came in here saying, ``Hang Mike Pence,'' ``Hang Nancy Pelosi,'' and take Members of this Congress as hostages or beat them. One of our Members in particular has also referred to those who have gone to prison, criminals, as hostages. It is a disgrace to these people whose pictures are behind me who are hostages. Those people aren't, and anybody who says it should be ashamed.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Cohen particularly for highlighting the abomination of an idea that a terrorist entity should be allowed to live on the precipice of a nation and remain a threat, as Hamas continues to do.

Mr. GOLDMAN of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Florida, who has been such a terrific mentor and model for so many of us. I also thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing us this Special Order hour to highlight the horrific conditions, 116 days in captivity, that more than 100 hostages are enduring.

I stand before you today to highlight the tragic case of Noa Argamani, a 25-year-old Israeli woman who many know from a video posted by Hamas on October 7 of her being abducted by terrorists and taken away on a motorcycle, screaming ``Don't kill me.''

This is a still photo from that video. You can see the absolute terror in her eyes as she is being kidnapped into Gaza by armed terrorists who had brutally murdered, raped, and tortured her friends and fellow Israeli citizens.

This is a photo of her before October 7--a beautiful smile, full of life, hope, and a bright future ahead.

Noa should have been released with the other female civilians--one of the categories that Hamas had agreed to release--who were released during the temporary cease-fire 2 months ago, but she was not, and we know why. Hamas broke the agreement with Israel because they did not want Noa to describe the rape and violence that she endured in captivity. We know from other hostages that were released at that time that the same awful sexual violence that occurred with horrific brutality on October 7 continued in the dark, damp, cramped tunnels in Gaza, and that was 61 days ago. Two months.

At least as of 16 days ago, we know that Noa is still alive. We know because Hamas released a psychological terror video of her sitting with two other hostages, but we know nothing about her condition because Hamas refuses to allow the International Red Cross into Gaza to check on the medical conditions of the hostages.

That is required by international law, but somehow for many the fact that Hamas is a designated terrorist organization that has violated countless international laws--and cease-fires, I might add--seems to give them a pass at adhering to international law about medical checks and wellness visits.

Since when do we allow terrorist organizations to dictate how international law operates?

What makes this even worse is that we haven't heard anything from Qatar nor Egypt nor Turkiye nor any other country with influence on Hamas to push and prod them to allow international medical professionals to access the innocent civilian hostages, even though we know from those who have come out that their conditions violate a host of international laws.

I have met with families and mothers of some of the young women who remain in captivity. They, of course, are devastated, worried, and distraught about their daughters. Do you know what keeps them up at night? They assume that their daughters are pregnant with babies of Hamas terrorists. Imagine that being a mother's final thought before she falls asleep and her first thought when she wakes up.

Noa's mother, Liora, has an additional heartbreaking cause for urgency. You see, Liora is currently battling terminal stage 4 brain cancer. She is desperately hoping that she can see her daughter before she passes away.

This tragic story hits me especially hard because my father died of brain cancer 34 years ago, when I was just 13 years old. I remember to this day the last time I got to see my father before he died. I still feel lucky to have been able to say good-bye.

Noa deserves to have that same memory, too, and Liora deserves to die with the peace of mind that Noa is out of captivity and hopefully on her way to healing.

This is an excerpt from a letter that Liora Argamani, Noa's mother, sent to President Biden. She wrote, I am terminally ill with stage 4 brain cancer. All that is running through my mind before I part ways with my family forever is the chance to hug my daughter, my only child, one last time.

We cannot wait any longer. Noa will soon lose her mother. While every single additional day that Noa spends in captivity could be her last, it could also be her mother's last.

The international community must pressure Hamas to immediately cease their illegal kidnapping of more than 100 innocent civilians who are being tortured, raped, and horrifically treated.

Israel has reportedly agreed with the United States, Qatar, and Egypt to make significant concessions to Hamas to release the hostages. It is now incumbent upon Hamas to agree to do so, and for that to happen, the international community must apply pressure on Hamas to agree to the proposed cease-fire and release the hostages.

We must bring them home. We must bring them all home now. Time is running out.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York. That is a searing account of the absolute importance that there is in ensuring that we bring the hostages home immediately to their families.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud and thankful to be joined by a woman who makes our Special Order hour bipartisan, although I know there are far more Members on both sides of the aisle who share our sentiments. She is a woman who has become a dear friend, especially because of the experiences we have shared together unexpectedly over the last several months. The gentlewoman from Iowa and I were part of a bipartisan, bicameral delegation that was in the region on October 7, and returned at the end of December. She is a veteran of the United States Army of 24 years and an ophthalmologist. I appreciate her advocacy and passion about making sure that we bring these hostages home.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source