Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking Mr. Mast of Florida and Mr. Gottheimer of New Jersey for their hard work on this legislation. The United States designated both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as foreign terrorist organizations more than 20 years ago. It is easy to see why: Hamas is responsible for the deaths of more than 400 Israelis and at least 25 American citizens. As recently as May of this year, the group fired hundreds of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, including at Israeli civilian areas in Tel Aviv. And Palestinian Islamic Jihad is taking credit for a number of terrorist attacks in Israel, including an attack that killed a New Jersey American student in 1995. Yet both groups, and particularly Hamas, still get cash from abroad. These funds are used to build tunnels into Israel and launch rockets at civilian populations. It is simply disgusting. No one benefits from terrorism, Mr. Speaker: not Israelis, who just want to live in peace and security; not Palestinians, who want a state of their own but are exploited by these terrorists. A Palestinian state will never be built on the backs of terrorism. Israel has the right to defend itself. The United States will continue to support that. In the meantime, we must do everything we can to prevent the loss of civilian life. That starts with cutting off the money to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This bill would help do just that.…”