Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the national security interests of the United States and its allies and partners with respect to the Palestinian Authority.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, we live in a very dangerous world. It seems like there is chaos and darkness all around us. As a former Air Force pilot, I have seen the results of abusive power in a very real way.

It seems like every time we turn on the television or we read the news, we get the feeling that the world is being turned upside down. The wheels have come off the train and we seem to be careening towards the cliff: Russia takes Crimea and then sends un-uniformed troops into eastern Ukraine; tens of thousands of deaths in Syria, with millions of refugees; the recent evacuation of our own Embassy in Libya; Iran working toward a nuclear weapon; ISIS in Iraq creating essentially a terrorist state; the crisis of Chinese power threatening significant parts of the Eastern world. The list of concerns is very long, indeed.

But nowhere is the strife and uncertainty more dangerous, more strategic, and more critical to U.S. interests than what we are witnessing in Israel and their military operations in Gaza.

Israel is the most important ally in the region that we have. It has the only democratically elected government in a very unstable and violent part of the world. It has a vibrant, free capitalistic society that respects human rights, that respects women's rights, that respects minority rights, even the religious minorities.

Let me say this as clearly and as unambiguously as I can: Israel is our friend and our ally. So tonight we stand with Israel and state without equivocation that Israel has a right to defend itself.

Let me set the stage for the crisis that is happening right now, very quickly.

September 2005: Israel withdraws from Gaza Strip, home to some 1.8 million people. Thousands of Israelis are uprooted and missile fire from Gaza into Israel increases dramatically.

A few short months later, in January 2006, Hamas deposes Fatah, wins elections, and becomes the ruling party of Gaza. The United States, Britain, and all the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

June 2007: Hamas seizes power in Gaza with Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.

Skipping ahead now to May 2014: rocket attacks from Gaza to Israel increase.

June 12, 2014: Three Israeli teenagers are kidnapped and killed on the West Bank. The PA aids Israel Defense Forces in clamping down on Hamas in the West Bank and tension increases significantly. As a result of that, Hamas unleashes hundreds of rockets in Israel.

Finally, July 7, 2014: the Israel Defense Forces launch Operation Protective Edge. Its goal is to stop the insistent rocket attacks in Israel. Within a week, they expand to an offensive ground war. Its purpose is to destroy Hamas tunnels built for military use against Israel. Now, we will talk more about these tunnels, but let me mention just briefly that, to date, Israel has uncovered more than 66 access shafts to 30 tunnels. Palestinian militants have fired, to date, more than 2,000 rockets since the fighting began on July 8.

Let me put that in perspective before I turn the time over to some of my colleagues.

Imagine, if you will, that al Qaeda or ISIS in Iraq has pledged the destruction of the U.S., something which is not hard to imagine. Now imagine they placed a military frigate off our eastern shore. Now, they claim that it is a supply ship, they say that it has no military purpose, that it only has civilian and peaceful purposes. But then imagine they start lobbing not a few and not dozens, but hundreds of rockets and missiles along our eastern shore, specifically targeting cities where millions of innocent families live.

What would we do? What should we do. Would you expect your government, your President, to protect you? Of course, we would. We would defend ourselves. We would seek the elimination of the threat. We would protect our own people, our values, our way of life. Any Nation would, and every Nation should be able to do that.

That is all the State of Israel is asking: the right to defend itself. That is why we are here tonight, to defend a friend and ally against not only missiles and rockets, but against an onslaught of deception in the world of public opinion. We want our friends in Israel to know that they do not stand alone.

I have invited some of my friends and colleagues to share the floor with me this evening as we stand firm and united in the defense of Israel and their right to protect themselves.

I would like to begin with my colleague Dr. Wenstrup from Ohio. He is a fellow veteran, he has served in the Army Reserves since 1989, and served a tour in Iraq. He sits on the House Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. I yield to Dr. Wenstrup.

Thank you, Dr. Wenstrup.

Next, I would like to yield to Mr. Steve King, a colleague and gentleman from Iowa. Mr. King sits on the Agriculture, Small Business, and Judiciary Committees, and he has always been a strong defender of Israel.

Thank you, Mr. King.

Mr. King mentioned the tunnels. I would like to illustrate this, if I could, and just interject very quickly. This is a photograph of the tunnels. These aren't dark 2-foot holes dug into the ground.

These are sophisticated, expensive, complicated contraptions that have been put together--30 tunnels, not including the more than two dozen that were discovered prior to Operation Protective Edge. They run for miles.

They are dug more than 60 feet beneath the ground, so that they avoid seismic detection. Some of them are large enough that you can drive a vehicle through them.

You think: What is their purpose? Is it to smuggle men, weapons, or material? It is to in some cases, unfortunately, smuggle and hide those who have been captured and are being kidnapped. Hamas operatives have been intercepted emerging from the tunnels with tranquilizers and handcuffs--obviously, to kidnap Israeli soldiers.

Once again, how much better would the situation have been for the citizens of Gaza if these resources and this money had been diverted? Instead of building tunnels, build infrastructure and schools and hospitals and other things that the citizens there could use.

Thank you, Mr. King, for your comments.

I would like now to yield to my good friend, Mr. Daines from Montana. He is a successful businessman who sits on the Homeland Security, Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittees.

Mr. Daines, I agree that we must stand with Israel. All of us here tonight agree that we must stand with Israel.

I now yield to my colleague and good friend, Mrs. Hartzler from Missouri.

Thank you. We have so many people who want to join in this conversation tonight. We are grateful for many of those who participated.

It is my honor to yield to Mr. Engel, who represents New York, the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Sir, we are glad to have you with us.

Thank you, Mr. Engel. Thank you for your service on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

You bring up such a great point. This is a bipartisan issue. There is agreement on both sides of the aisle. We have got servicemembers, military members, school teachers, and businessmen. We have got people from all backgrounds who want to speak on this tonight. Frankly, we have got more people who want to join in this Special Order than we have time for.

I would like to now yield to Mr. Collins from Georgia. He has a unique perspective as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well. He served as a chaplain in the Air Force since 2002 and a combat tour in Iraq in 2008.

Mr. Collins, thank you for your service.

I thank you for your comments and for your support, Mr. Collins.

I now am happy to introduce the newest Member of Congress, Mr. Clawson from Florida.

Thank you, Mr. Clawson. We look forward to serving with you in the future, and we, once again, welcome you.

It is now my honor to introduce my good friend and someone I have come to respect and admire, Mrs. Walorski from Indiana. She is the daughter of an Air Force veteran and serves on the House Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees.

We thank you, Mrs. Walorski. Beautifully said.

I now would like to introduce someone I have come to have tremendous respect for. He brings not only a unique perspective but great experience to this question as chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. He is also a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran; although, he appears to be far too young for that.

Mr. Chairman, I yield to you.

Thank you, Chairman Frelinghuysen, for your comments and for your leadership.

It is now my honor to introduce Mr. Lance from New Jersey. He served for many years in the New Jersey State Legislature and now serves on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Thank you, Mr. Lance.

As the manager of this Special Order, I have to be prepared to fill the time if we need to, to fill any gaps in the conversation, and very clearly that has not been necessary tonight. We have so many eloquent Members who are anxious and are stating this case so powerfully.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks), who also serves on the Armed Services Committee and Judiciary Committee and is also chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee.

Thank you, Mr. Franks.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy now to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), a good friend of mine, someone, once again, that I have come to respect greatly. For one thing, he is a colonel in the Army National Guard. I was only a major when I separated from the Air Force, so, of course, I salute him every time I see him. He sits on the Homeland Security and also Foreign Affairs Committees.

Thank you, Mr. Perry.

Once again, I have the honor of yielding to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bentivolio), a Member with a unique background, who, while stationed in Iraq with the Michigan Army National Guard, he, himself, experienced rocket attacks. This happened on a regular basis, so I think he speaks with some authority on the subject tonight.

I thank the gentleman from Michigan. He has stated it, once again, like many others, very powerfully.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion tonight, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who, once again, as a senior member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, has great experience and is unquestionably like many of us, a strong supporter of Israel.

Mr. Speaker, that was powerfully said.

In conclusion, as we wind down our time tonight, let me just finalize with these thoughts.

There is a great line from a speech that would have been given by John F. Kennedy in November 1963 if he had been allowed to give that speech before he was assassinated. And he said: ``This people, this generation, not by choice, but by destiny, are set to be the watchmen on the wall of world freedom.''

We may not like the fact that we have to lead in the world. We may not like the responsibility. We may not like the cost. We may not like the hassle or the criticism or sometimes the hatred that is directed toward us. But it doesn't matter. We have to lead. If we don't do it, who will? If we don't lead, we give power to our enemies, and we weaken our friends.

We have a chance here tonight to make a statement to the world. To the people of Israel, we stand by your side. To the peace-loving people of Gaza, we stand with you as well. But to the terrorists who seek for the destruction of Israel and to the leaders of Hamas who seek only for death and destruction, we, the American people, will always stand in your way.

And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding to me, and I want to thank all my colleagues for their excellent remarks. I agree with every word that has been said.

I think perhaps I will start off with a bit of good news because everyone can see this tonight. At a time when the pundits say that the two parties can't agree on anything, that nothing gets done, and that there is too much fighting, there is one thing on which we can agree, and that is that the support for Israel in this Congress is strong and it is bipartisan, and that is the way it should be.

It is bipartisan for a number of reasons. First of all, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. We share common values with Israel, and we understand that the people of Israel, right now, are besieged.

Hamas is a terrorist group. It is not a fight between Israelis and Palestinians. It is a fight between Israel and a terrorist group. As someone who was in New York on that fateful day of September 11, 2001, Israel has endured many September 11, 2001s.

My colleague said it right before. The difference between the Hamas terrorists and Israelis is that Israel uses its missiles to protect its citizens and Hamas uses its citizens to protect its missiles.

It is terrible when any civilians die, and my heart breaks for casualties on both sides, but Hamas uses their citizens as human shields. They build their bomb factories, and they build their missile factories in mosques and schoolyards. Missiles were even found in United Nation schools. They do this deliberately because they apparently don't value human life at all.

Let's just imagine if we, in the United States, had a terrorist group over the border in Canada firing rockets, hurting people in New York or Michigan. Wouldn't we respond?

If there were terrorists in Mexico that were firing into Arizona, Texas, or California, would we just simply let our people be targets? Wouldn't we respond? Wouldn't we go over the border and try to root out the terrorists, root out their missiles, root out their tunnels if there were? That is precisely what Israel is trying to do.

I am introducing the emergency Iron Dome replacement act. The Iron Dome, which has been Israeli-created and American-funded, has saved countless numbers of Israeli lives, and by the way, Hamas has the nerve to talk about civilian casualties when it has targeted, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, Israeli civilians. That is what they do.

Israel targets the missiles--and there are some civilian casualties because of the way the Palestinians put their missiles right in the densely-populated areas--but Hamas has deliberately been trying to kill innocent Israeli civilians.

So we hope we will continue funding the Iron Dome, and I know there will be strong bipartisan support on both sides.

Any cease-fire should contain the total disarming of Hamas. Any cease-fire should contain the destruction of the tunnels which, as my colleague very adeptly pointed out, were made for terrible purposes.

With the concrete that was coming into Gaza, they could have built schools and mosques and skyscrapers; but what did they do? They built terror tunnels, so they can try to kill Israelis.

And the media? Shame on some of the coverage we have seen in the media. There is no moral equivalency between a terrorist group and a nation that values its citizens and wants to protect its citizens. There is no moral equivalency whatsoever.

Israel is trying to protect its citizens. Hamas only wants to kill. Read their charter. Read what they say about Jews. Read about Israel. They want to destroy every last person in Israel. So I think the media ought to be a little more evenhanded and not the way it has been portraying things up until now.

So let me conclude by saying this: the bond between Israel and the United States is unbreakable, unshakeable. It has always been and will always be. The United States will always stand by the people of Israel, particularly in their fight to exist and in their fight against terrorism.

I thank my friend.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and for leading on this Special Order to have this discussion about the sovereignty and the safety and the protection of Israel, our strongest ally in the Middle East, the place where there is a rule of law, where there are property rights, where they are available to everyone that is an Israel citizen, whether they happen to be of Arabic descent, whether they happen to be of Jewish descent, or any other descent.

The allies that Israel have been deserve on our side that similar kind of support, in fact, a stronger support.

There have been so many messages that have been sent from this administration to the contrary, we need to be standing on the floor of the House of Representatives sending a message to Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the leaders that are there, the members of the Israel Defense Forces: We stand with you, Israel. Any Nation that is surrounded by enemies, that is infiltrated by tunnels that are dug through to be able to infiltrate and kill innocent people on the streets of Israel, kidnap them, celebrate that, any government that is formed for the purposes of eradicating Israel from the face of the Earth--and, Mr. Speaker, I would point out that this new government that was formed among the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian unity government, includes Hamas terrorist leaders in the cabinet.

Finally, the political arm of Hamas, which always was the Palestinian Authority, has openly now embraced Hamas itself. This Congress and the administration itself and the American people need to understand that there is a Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 which prohibits the U.S. from sending foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority government. That includes Hamas terrorists. It says that we are not going to fund any terrorist organizations, and Hamas has been declared a terrorist organization.

We are watching now as the operations that were so utterly necessary, the Israel Defense Forces going into Gaza, losing Israeli soldiers, and, yes, they have to defend them since thousands of rockets have been fired into Israel. Living under that threat of a people that outside your borders would raise their children to carry suicide vests, to kill themselves to try to kill Israelis, to teach the things that they teach to the young people in that culture and in that climate, that hatred is on one side of that border of Gaza, it is not on both sides. It is on the Gaza side, it is in the West Bank, and it is all around Israel, it is not from within Israel out.

I am amazed at how forgiving they are, how patient they are, how tolerant they are, how they have suffered the way they have, and they waited until it absolutely had to be before the order was given to go in and eradicate the tunnels and to try to take out some of the rocket locations. These rockets are in schools around children. They are using human shields of the children. They are hoping--I guess I can't quite say hoping--but willing to accept the casualties of children, because that is a media message to the world.

This is an appalling set of neighbors that Israel has. They want to live in peace. They have a right to live in peace. We stand with Israel. Israel stands to defend itself. We need to make sure that they have the resources to do so and the moral support from the United States.

I would point out also the statement that was made by Ari Shavit in the newspaper in Israel. He said of Secretary Kerry's latest attempt for a cease-fire over the weekend that ``very senior officials in Jerusalem described the proposal that Kerry put on the table as a strategic terrorist attack.''

That is not a very strong message, I would say, Mr. Speaker. It is not a very strong message representing the policy of the United States coming from our Secretary of State. Our policy is we stand with the Israeli people. We stand for their self-defense.

I thank the gentleman for setting up this Special Order tonight.

I thank my good friend from Utah. I thank him for his service to our country and for, again, bringing us all together this evening.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on the President of the United States to give Israel the robust and vigorous support it deserves.

Since the latest round of unprovoked rocket barrages were launched on July 6 by Hamas, Israeli citizens have lived under a relentless rocket attack, mortar fire, even attack from Hamas drone aircraft and a foiled sea raid.

Israel itself has lived under a media attack, a calculated campaign to isolate Israel for defending itself. Major articles in international newspapers around the world take a grossly anti-Israeli slant.

Make no mistake about it, Mr. Speaker. A major purpose of Hamas' rocket attacks is to provoke counterattacks, thereby to use the inevitable civilian deaths to set up an international media campaign against Israel. Hamas is guilty of sacrificing Palestinian lives and is guilty of using women and children as human shields in a brutally cynical attempt to manipulate world public opinion and isolate Israel.

Mr. Speaker, the facts on the ground of Hamas attacks were clear from the start and follow long-established patterns. It is time our government sent a much more powerful and unambiguous message that the U.S. fully supports Israel's right to defend itself.

The administration should emphasize that Israel's actions in its own defense are legal, that they are right, and that the U.S. stands with Israel without any ifs, ands, or buts, or so longs or any other qualifiers.

As of yesterday, since the start of Israel's Operation Protective Edge, 2,500 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza. 1,875 of these have landed in Israel; 495 have been shot down by Iron Dome. Also, as of yesterday, the IDF has uncovered in Gaza 32 tunnels, with more than 60 access shafts, some of which were in mosques and houses.

Anyone who has read today's feature in The New York Times, ``Tunnels Lead Right to the Heart of Israeli Fear,'' understand what these tunnels mean. The tunnels are about 50 feet underground, mostly undetectable like

this one to my left, and underground equipment cannot even discover their whereabouts.

The story quotes Eyal Brandeis, who lives in Kibbutz Sufa, and he says:

It is a very pastoral environment. I live in the quiet of

the green grass, the trees. It is not pleasant, though, that

you sit one day on the patio drinking coffee with your wife

and a bunch of terrorists will rise from the ground.

That is exactly what happened a mile from his kibbutz at dawn on July 17.

Many Israelis are more concerned about the tunnels than the rockets. Perhaps that gives us some insight into the dimension of the Hamas terrorist.

I note, Mr. Speaker, that despite these rocket attacks by Hamas and tunnels, Israel continues to permit the transfer to the Gaza of humanitarian supplies and goods. Israel's humanity while under terrorist fire, its continued effort to do everything it can to separate terrorist militants from Palestinian civilians, only underscores the evil nature of Hamas.

Mr. Speaker, Hamas was designated a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, and it has adopted its charter, the famous Covenant of the Islamic Resistance. That charter remains its ideological program.

Only yesterday, Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, spoke on the Charlie Rose show in response to a question, ``Do you want to coexist with the State of Israel?'' He said, ``No.'' He said, ``No.'' Hamas doesn't want peace or reconciliation or coexistence. It wants to utterly destroy the State of Israel.

I have further comments I will be saying later on this evening about the charter. Please read the charter. It couldn't be clearer. Hamas wants to destroy Israel.

I thank the gentleman from Utah. I appreciate you leading this critical Special Order tonight.

It has been a dangerous few weeks in Israel. We have been watching the developments between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as Israel shows restraint while still protecting its citizens.

Quite simply, Israel is under siege by a radical faction that displays blatant disregard for its citizens. Hamas is using its citizens as human shields, building bombs in the basements of schools and homes, and prohibiting families from evacuating areas where rockets are being launched.

Israel has shown tremendous restraint and has every right to defend itself against these unwarranted attacks. Over 2,000 rockets have been launched into Israel, reaching even Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Over 80 percent of the country's citizens have had to huddle in bomb shelters for parts of 3 weeks now.

Over 6 million men, women, and children are endangered, yet Israel has

agreed to cease-fire after cease-fire. Unfortunately, Hamas has not abided by these calls, firing dozen of rockets into Israel, even when Israel was ceasing its efforts to protect its citizens, so that humanitarian assistance could arrive to the people in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has gone above and beyond for years now to help the people of Gaza and give them an opportunity for a better life. Nine years ago, Israel moved totally out of Gaza, giving the land and farms and greenhouses to people of Gaza. 10,000 Israeli lives were disrupted as they moved to Israel.

Generous people all over the world raised money to buy the tractors and farm equipment for the people of Gaza. The area could have become the jewel of the Mediterranean and a peaceful neighbor to Israel--a model of a two-state solution. Instead, they tore down the greenhouses. Instead of building roads and homes, they built tunnels with the intent to attack and kill Israelis. They voted Hamas in power and turned the area into a terrorist military outpost.

So here we are today, while Hamas is bent on killing innocent Israelis, Israel is intent on preserving their lives. As they seek to stop the rocket fire in the Gaza Strip, Israel goes to great lengths to save innocent lives. It drops leaflets into the neighborhoods, warning of an impending military attack to take out the rocket launchers, which are often strategically placed by Hamas in the neighborhoods.

It then calls the residents of the house to warn them, then sends text messages to the home, then ``knocks'' on the house by dropping a small nonpenetrating bomb on the roof to let people know they are serious. Unfortunately, Hamas has responded by stopping people from fleeing and even forcing them onto the rooftops as human shields.

Thankfully, the Iron Dome missile defense system has stopped rockets from reaching their targets in Israel. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:

Israel uses its missile defense system to save human lives.

Hamas uses its people to save its missiles.

We need to be standing strong for the only democracy and our greatest ally in the Middle East. We need to let other nations know we will never abandon Israel, and they need to join us in speaking out against the affront to national sovereignty and to human decency. We need to be offering assistance to stop these attacks and help Israel stay safe.

It is time for Hamas to agree to a total cease-fire. Any loss of life is tragic, and Hamas needs to end their blatant disregard for their citizens and agree to end the attacks.

Please join me in praying for the peace of Jerusalem.