Brian Mast: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Why at this time should we come together bipartisanly on this vote? That is the…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Why at this time should we come together bipartisanly on this vote? That is the question that I am going to attempt to answer. Members of this body are going to have the opportunity as we move forward here to either support Hamas or to not, to fight against them. The choice will be made. People will decide which direction they want to go. My bill, H.R. 261, the Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act of 2021, would make clear that the United States stands with Israel and would sanction those who provide financial support to Hamas. It is that simple. Now, why do we need to do that? Why is it important to come together on this? To put a fine point on it, this is not one pissed-off Palestinian that picked up a shoulder-fired RPG, put it on their shoulder, and fired it 100 yards over at Israel. That is not what we are talking about here. Hamas is sophisticated. They are well organized, and there is a complex infrastructure involved in getting them their weapons. They don't just go down to the Gaza Strip rocket depot in order to pick up these things. They are smuggled across Iraq, Syria, Jordan, into one of the most densely populated areas of the world without anybody noticing or saying anything. That is why we need these sanctions. {time} 1530 Why should we come together bipartisanly on this to support our friend and ally Israel to stand against Hamas?…”