Kelly Ayotte: “I rise to speak about an amendment-- amendment No. 1628--to the Defense Authorization Act. This is an amendment I have…”

“I rise to speak about an amendment-- amendment No. 1628--to the Defense Authorization Act. This is an amendment I have submitted with Senator Peters, and it has strong bipartisan support. This is about the threat of tunnels--tunnels used by terrorists. We saw those tunnels being used in the 2014 conflict that Israel had with Hamas. Israel found more than 30 terror tunnels that had been dug by terrorists to infiltrate and attack Israel. The Israeli military said these tunnels were intended to carry out attacks, such as abductions of Israeli citizens and soldiers, infiltrations into Israeli communities, mass murders and hostage-taking scenarios. In one disturbing attack in July of 2014, Hamas terrorists used one of these terror tunnels to sneak into Israel and then attack and kill five Israeli soldiers. This is a picture of one of these terror tunnels. You can imagine, if terrorists can use a tunnel to come into your country, the feeling of fear that can create in the civilian population. Unfortunately, terror tunnels are not a new problem. In 2006, terrorists used tunnels to capture Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. They used tunnels to take Gilad back to Gaza and held him captive for 5 years. Two other soldiers were killed in this same attack where these terror tunnels were used. Again, this issue of terror tunnels is not unique to the conflict the Israeli people have been subjected to.…”