On the recordNovember 30, 2023
Let me first start off by saying the President of the United States did the right thing. It is easy to say why we should vote against this bill. My good friend, the chairman, has talked about October 7 over and over. Our committee has had several family members come before our committee where we have vowed to do everything we can to get their family members back home. For me, it has been very personal. Yesterday, we talked to a group of family members. We told them we will not stop until we get their family members back home. Negotiating to bring our hostages home is hard because you have to do it with bad people. Guess what? Hamas committed the heinous acts on October 7, but who are we negotiating with to get the hostages home? Hamas. It is not easy, but we vowed in front of these witnesses. I wonder what we would say to those five individuals and families, who are now safe at home, before they were released? Would we have promised them and didn't we promise them we would do everything we could to get them back home? Yes, President Biden did the right thing. He brought five Americans home who were rotting in Iran's notorious Evan prison. Every Member of Congress--I repeat, every Member of this Congress who was aware of these cases wanted our fellow citizens to come home. Now, they are saying they should not have come home. This was done, wanting them to come home, with a bipartisan voice.…
