We Can Make A Difference

Floor Speech

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise.

I am grateful to my colleague for yielding the floor, but I am very grateful for the opportunity to stand here in the Congress of the United States of America. It means something to me every time I have this opportunity to speak.

I love my country. I love what it stands for. Yes, it is not perfect. Yes, my ancestors were treated in a horrific way, but still we have some ideals that can help us to make a difference.

I believe in liberty and justice for all. I believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence: All persons created equal, endowed by the creator with certain inalienable Rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that notwithstanding our imperfections, we still have an opportunity to have that more perfect union.

I rise today, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in the name of mercy. Justice, yes. Always justice, but also mercy because justice has to do with the law and fairness, but mercy has to do with compassion and grace.

And still I rise. And still I rise, a proud son of the segregated South. I know what it is like to be discriminated against.

I know what it is like to drink from colored water fountains. I know what it is like to sit in the back of the bus because you are required to. I know what it is like to sit in the balcony of the movie theater because you are required to.

I know what segregation is all about, and I know what apartheid is all about. For those of us who lived segregation, the difference between apartheid and segregation is just the spelling of the words. I understand it.

A lot of what I say here on the floor has much to do with the history that I have lived. I care about those who are downtrodden, perhaps because I have walked in their shoes.

I care about those who are being denied their human rights--their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For many years, I lived in the segregated South where those rights were not afforded me. The rights that the Constitution of the United States of America codified for me, my friends, and neighbors--took them away.

Mr. Speaker, I want you to know a little bit more about me because today I rise with an appeal for innocent victims. Just before coming to the floor, I saw a preview, if you will, a showing of what happened in Israel on October 7.

Mr. Speaker, there is no way to justify that level of inhumanity to human beings. It cannot be justified. We can never tolerate that level of inhumanity. We have to speak up. We have to say something and we have to do something. I understand. For those who didn't see what I saw, let me share just a few aspects of what I saw with you.

I saw people who would shoot human beings and then decide to decapitate them. I saw an actual decapitation take place. I saw persons being pulled along and brutalized. I would not have you see it, but I would have you know that it happened as I saw it. This is human beings demonstrating an inhumanity to other humans.

I just left this showing. I am here today to appeal to this Congress, and all who can view what I am saying, for mercy and prayers, if you will, and aid to the Israelis. I am also here to ask for mercy and aid for the Palestinians.

Our signature has been placed on, by virtue of our largesse to Israel, our signature was on those bombs. I believe that we have a duty, a responsibility, and an obligation to do something about the conditions that were created when those bombs were dropped in Gaza.

According to the statistical information that has been afforded me by my capable, competent, and qualified staff, the death toll has risen to more than 27,000 in Gaza.

Here is a statistic that ought to touch your heart. I don't care where you are from, it ought to touch your heart to hear this statistic: 10,000 of them were children. You can blame adults, but you can't blame those children. There were 10,000 babies. Those babies are innocent victims.

Those persons in Israel on October 7 were innocent victims. There are innocent victims in Gaza who are women and men. We ought to care about innocent victims, regardless as to where they are from. Mr. Speaker, 10,000 children lost their lives.

Reports show that more than 67,000 individuals have been injured. More than 67,000. Those 67,000 people are going to hopefully have a life. I don't want them to have a life wherein their future, as they see it, has vengeance and revenge. The parents of those 10,000 children, I don't want them to see only vengeance and revenge in their future.

Vengeance and revenge doesn't end in one cycle. It is a continuous cycle that you are into. At some point we have to get out of the killing. I am asking for mercy. I understand justice, but I know this: An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice.

We cannot, as the United States of America, the country that believes in liberty and justice for all, we cannot sit and watch what is happening in Gaza and not have some sense of a desire to help them.

According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, over 300,000 people are at risk of famine. There are 300,000 people that are hungry. There are 300,000 people cramped into a very small space.

I have been to Gaza, it is the most densely populated area in the world, and that was when all of Gaza was available to the Palestinians who live there. Now that you have them confined in a much smaller area, imagine what it is like for 300,000 people to be at risk of famine.

A quarter of Gaza's population--and that is around a half million people--are believed to be at phase five, the catastrophic level. That is the level where you have a risk for mass starvation and death. I don't wish this kind of thing to happen to anyone.

We are a country known for our mercy in war. In this country, if we are at war with you, engaged in mortal combat, if we should injure you in mortal combat, we give you aid and comfort.

In this country, we understand that there is a difference between war and a person who is wounded. Yes, you can be at war, but the wounded ought to be treated. By the way, those persons on October 7 who took the lives of those innocent persons in Israel, they were not giving aid and comfort.

We have an opportunity to do something about this. We cannot allow Gaza to go on suffering with famine in this catastrophic way. We are the United States of America. When we show up, we bring liberty and justice with us. We bring mercy with us. We are not like the other guys. We are different.

It is time for us to show up. It is time for us to make it clear that we plan to be of assistance to the Palestinians. We have already made it clear that we are going to be of assistance to Israel. Now we have to make it clear that we are going to be of assistance to the Palestinians--the innocent victims.

Mr. Netanyahu himself has said that the Palestinians are victims. It is Hamas that has created the catastrophe. We must show up. We have a duty because our fingerprints are on those bombs, those munitions. We are the United States of America and we have to act like it.

As of the end of November, more than 1,000 children have undergone one or double-leg amputations. This is according to UNICEF. We don't want those 1,000 children to grow up with revenge as the hallmark of their history. We are the United States of America and when we show up things change.

An analysis of satellite photos suggest that between 50 to 61 percent of all structures in Gaza--this is the Gaza Strip--have been damaged as of January 29. Mr. Speaker, 50 to 61 percent includes, but is not limited to schools, homes, hospitals, and the things that make life livable.

In rebuilding Gaza, it is estimated--and estimates vary--but it is estimated that the economic cost to rebuild it after this war, depending on who is making the estimate and when the estimate was released--according to estimates, one in a January Reuters article, a Palestinian official has indicated that it could be $15 billion that is needed to rebuild Gaza housing units.

We can't talk about sending millions to Gaza when we are sending scores of millions to other places. Our fingerprints were on those bombs. We are going to have to do more than send a few hundred million dollars. I know that I will have people who will say, well, we can't afford it.

We can't afford not to do it because there is a future that we all have to encounter. That future ought not have in it another cycle of revenge. Our fingerprints were on those bombs that fell in Gaza.

The official estimate is that 350,000 housing units have been damaged and 150,000 of them would need to be rebuilt at a cost of about $100,000 per unit. These people are without homes. Many of them were living in circumstances less than desirable before this war, and they are even less desirable now.

According to a December analysis by DW News, a German-based state- owned news station, rebuilding Gaza after the war would cost up to $50 billion. I am not suggesting that we send $50 billion, but I am suggesting this: any bill that we pass have money in it for Gaza. I would hope that we would have the courage to have a line item for Gaza, just as we would have a line item for Ukraine, a line item for Israel, a line item for Taiwan and the Pacific Rim. We ought to have a line item for Gaza. Our prints are on the bombs that fell on Gaza.

I have said I am interested in justice always, but today the appeal is for mercy. As I indicated, justice has to do with the law and fairness, but today I am asking for mercy for these babies in Gaza that are now fatherless and motherless, and for these parents in Gaza who have lost their children.

I want to show just a few pictures to help better understand what we are dealing with.

This first picture that I will show is just to give an indication or some depiction of what you have already seen if you have been attune to the news. This is much of what these statistical pieces of information reveal. We can see the destruction.

This is not habitable. It is uninhabitable. Our fingerprints are on this. Those bombs had our fingerprints. We have to do something about this.

Here is a picture of two adults and two children. I don't know whether that is their home in the background, but I know that those conditions are not suitable for human habitation. Look at these beautiful babies. Babies are innocent victims of this war. We have to do something about this. Our fingerprints are on the bombs.

Here is a depiction of a child, a young person.

By the way, I did not bring some of the photos that would give a more horrific representation.

As you look at this, I want you to see the Israeli children in this child. There were some Israeli children who were harmed to a greater extent than you see here, and there were some children in Gaza who were harmed to a greater extent than you see here.

As we look at the child, don't look for someone that looks like you. Look at a human being. Our fingerprints were on the bombs that created these conditions.

The people in Gaza have been forced to relocate and relocate. Can you imagine what it would be like to be told that you have to move out of your home, told to do it on short notice? You don't have a vehicle, all the luxuries that we enjoy, so you take your cart and your donkey and load up. You and your family are off to look for a safe place to live, not necessarily a comfortable place. This has happened to the Palestinians in Gaza. We have to do something about this.

Finally, my appeal to you: Don't see a Palestinian, please. See a human being. Think of the Israelis that were harmed. Realize that there are children in Gaza who have been harmed.

``Harmed'' is a very kind, polite word for all of these innocent victims. It is a very polite way to say that children have lost their lives. It is a very polite way to speak of the inhumanity that the Israelis suffered. It is a polite way to talk about decapitations.

We are the United States of America. We hold within our hands the power to show the world that these kinds of circumstances can be addressed and that we plan to be a party to the effort to make right these injustices. Yes, injustices--injustice in Israel, injustice in Gaza.

Now, when it comes time for us to do what we can monetarily, there has to be aid for Gaza and aid for Palestinians. We cannot decide that our aid can only benefit some when we know that we have a duty to benefit others.

This is our duty and our responsibility. We must do what we can to ensure that the persons in Gaza receive aid and comfort. They are innocent victims, and all innocent victims have to be accorded the opportunity to have a brighter future.

I am always fond of quoting Dr. King. The quote that everybody knows is most applicable here: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

It may not happen today, but if we leave these injustices unchecked, if we don't do what we can to provide aid and comfort to Palestinians, the injustice that we see in these distant places can haunt us because our fingerprints are on the bombs that created these circumstances.

I will go back to my district. On Saturday, I will continue this. I will continue this process on Saturday because I have scheduled a meeting with constituents at The Fountain of Praise. Those from Houston and my district know the location I speak of. It will be at 10 a.m. This is an indication of what I will talk about, but it is not a complete story of what I will reveal.

I ask persons who come to bring their video equipment. We will do it live, and they can video it so that the world may see there is nothing to hide.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that we can make the difference necessary to end the cycle of vengeance.

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