Donald Norcross: “I thank Debbie and all my colleagues for being here today. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of Aviv Atzili.…”

“I thank Debbie and all my colleagues for being here today. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of Aviv Atzili. I was supposed to be here speaking about him being held hostage by Hamas and the need to bring him home safely and without delay. Instead, I am sadly here to speak about the memory of Aviv. Aviv was a dedicated family man, who just hours ago it was confirmed that he was killed by Hamas. According to his father-in-law, a New Jerseyan, Aviv bravely fought back against terrorists, but they had not heard anything since that day in October. The news of his death comes hours after his wife, Liat, an American, was released from captivity after 54 days. While we are grateful for her release, we mourn the loss of Aviv as he leaves behind Liat and her three children. We are keeping friends, family, and certainly his community in our prayers, but, unfortunately, Aviv's story is one of thousands, many that you will hear tonight about American citizens, many who have been killed or taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. When I traveled with Debbie in a bipartisan group just 2 days after the attack when we were in Israel, we heard the stories from the families. We listened as two children talked about how their mother and father hid in that shelter until they broke through and took her father away while she hid, and we are still waiting to hear what happened there.…”