Jackie Walorski: “I thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding. Mr. Speaker, as with past conflicts in the Middle East, much of the media…”

“I thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding. Mr. Speaker, as with past conflicts in the Middle East, much of the media focus in this current conflict between Israel and Hamas has been on the death tolls on both sides, but what this reporting neglects to mention is Hamas' destruction of its own people. Legitimate governments understand that one of the most important duties of any nation is the protection of its people and the protection of innocent civilians. Israel goes to great lengths to avoid targeting civilians, from its use of precision-guided weapons to sending out phone and text warnings to evacuate buildings before it carries out a strike. Yet Hamas' leaders are willing to sacrifice their own people in an attempt to score political points. Hamas continues to force civilians, including women and children, to stand in harm's way and literally act as human shields for the terrorist leaders and properties, causing Israeli strikes on legitimate military targets to result in the loss of innocent lives. As General Conway, the 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal, there is a clear and obvious ``moral chasm,'' he says, between Hamas and Israel. Hamas has always targeted civilians, and they continue to target civilians. It is their standard operating procedure, and it is one of the reasons it makes them a terrorist organization. Sadly, though, what we are seeing in this conflict is nothing new.…”