Norma Torres: “I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to demand the immediate release and safe return of the remaining…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to demand the immediate release and safe return of the remaining hostages in Gaza who have now spent half a year in captivity. The words of a mother: ``I love you. Stay strong. Survive.'' This is the mental message Rachel Goldberg-Polin sends her son Hersh every single day. He is an American who is among the 130 hostages still held captive by terrorist Hamas for 186 days. The 130 hostages are not mere numbers, they are people with stories and families who love them and desperately want to see them home. Three of these hostages are American citizens. Hersh Goldberg is a vibrant 23-year-old California native who loves soccer, traveling, and spending time with his family and friends. He fought for unity and equality in Israel as a leader of an initiative to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together through soccer. I spoke with his mother, his parents, who are with us tonight, in Israel last month. They are in a constant state of profound trauma not knowing whether their son is dead or alive, not knowing if their son will ever come home. All they know about their child came from survivor accounts and from watching terrorist Hamas' GoPro footage of the October 7 massacre. Hersh was last seen on October 7 with his left arm blown off by terrorist Hamas' grenades, and his body was loaded into a truck heading into Gaza at gunpoint. His last messages to his parents read: ``I love you.…”