Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. No funds in the State and Foreign Operations bill go toward the humanitarian pier built by the United States Department of Defense off the coast of Gaza, just an FYI. This is not political talk. If you know what is taking place in Gaza, people are desperate. The distribution of aid from the pier is at least partially managed by USAID, period, including support for the World Food Program. I am also frustrated that we have to resort to these extraordinary measures to get aid into Gaza. In an area that is nearing collapse and where one million people are facing catastrophic hunger, we need to utilize every channel that is available, if you care about human life. This month, Israel facilitated 204 humanitarian missions into Gaza. It also denied or impeded another 76, and another 38 were canceled due to insecurity or logistical reasons. There simply is not enough aid getting in. The current humanitarian pier is only supposed to be in place for a few more weeks before the weather makes it untenable. There are no current plans to use the pier into fiscal year 2025, which is the focus of this amendment. I pray that we will not be in this situation next year, but I refuse to take any tools that will help innocent civilians off the table. The suffering of the civilian population of Gaza will not make Israel safer.…”