Chuck Grassley: “I thank Senator Ernst for bringing this and continuing to bring the plight of the hostages to our attention. I am glad…”

“I thank Senator Ernst for bringing this and continuing to bring the plight of the hostages to our attention. I am glad to join Senator Ernst in speaking about just one of these: Edan Alexander. He grew up in Northern New Jersey. He was a champion swimmer for his high school team and a big fan of the New York Knicks. Edan also had close ties to Israel. He was born there, had grandparents there, and had his bar mitzvah there. Still, his mother was surprised when Edan announced his senior year in high school that he wanted to postpone college and go to Israel. Edan joined a program for young Jewish adults who want to explore serving in Israel's Defense Forces. Edan and 16 other American high school graduates, including a classmate from his high school, moved to a kibbutz in Israel. There they did 4 months of training before committing to serve in the IDF. Edan returned for a visit home in August and expected to return again in April for his brother Roy's bar mitzvah. He was on patrol at the kibbutz on the morning of October 7. He called his mother after the Hamas terrorist attacks began. She said: I'm here. I'm with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just be safe. That is the last she heard from her son. Edan needs to come home now. I yield the floor.”