Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act

Madam President, I stand again today in support of our great ally Israel. Israel is a vibrant democracy that supports capitalism, champions human rights, and holds free and open elections. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, and Israel deserves our unwavering support.

Israel is surrounded by nations and terrorist groups that want it wiped off the face of the Earth. I saw this firsthand during my latest visit as Senator, which gave me a clear picture of Israel's proximity to its enemies--Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, and Iran.

At my last visit, I was about a half mile from the Gaza Strip and went to a kibbutz. What was shocking to me is that there were little children there instinctively raised that, whenever they would hear the sirens, they instinctively raised their hands because somebody is going to pick them up and get them to a bomb shelter. I think what they were telling me when I was there is they had 15 seconds to get to a bomb shelter when the sirens went off, which said that Hamas was sending rockets. Also, they were told the story that Hamas was sending balloons with candy and explosives. So when the balloon would come down, if the children would touch it, it would explode. It is disgusting.

For 11 days last month, we saw rockets rain down on Israel. As we watched Hamas terrorists target innocent Israeli citizens, I thought about the families impacted by this evil. Think about a 5-year-old you know. They like to play games. They love their brothers and sisters, and they love their mom and dad. Well, a 5-year-old, just like the one you are thinking of, named Ido Avigal was killed as Hamas rockets indiscriminately just pounded Israel. His life was taken by Hamas terrorists. I have a 5-year-old grandson. I can't imagine life without him. I can't imagine what either of those families is going through right now.

Instead of coming together against this violence, we saw the Democrats turn their backs on Israel. I was proud to lead more than 30 of my colleagues in a resolution to support Israel in its right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, it was blocked by Senate Democrats.

It was not so long ago that the Senate stood with Israel on a bipartisan basis. In 2014, when Israel was again subject to a barrage of rockets targeting innocent Israelis, then-Majority Leader Reid offered a resolution supporting Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas. Every single Senator voted to support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas--not anymore. It is despicable that something as simple as reaffirming America's support for Israel no longer aligns with the priorities of the Democrat Party.

I have also joined in a resolution with Senator Cruz to approve the arm sales to Israel and the resolution with Senator Hawley to condemn the disturbing wave of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel actions in Congress, in the United States, and around the world. These reprehensible and disturbing acts must be swiftly condemned at every level and those responsible prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

President Biden's State Department recently said:

We're going to be working in partnership with the United

Nations and the Palestinian Authority to `kind of' channel

aid there in a manner that does its best to go to the people

of Gaza.

The official went on to say:

As we've seen in life, as we all know in life, there are no

guarantees, but we're going to do everything that we can to

ensure that this assistance reaches the people who need it

the most.

So the Biden administration can't guarantee that American taxpayer dollars aren't going to fund terrorists in Hamas? The Biden administration thinks it is OK to fund Hamas terrorists because ``in life there are no guarantees''? The Biden administration seems unbothered if some funding goes to the terrorists that killed Ido.

President Biden must do better. His administration must control where this money is going. Yes, we can make sure American tax dollars aren't funding terrorists. What we are hearing from the Biden administration is they simply won't take the time to do what it takes to guarantee that. This lack of accountability or concern is absolutely disgusting, and we should not allow it.

That is why I, along with Senators Joni Ernst, Cindy Hyde-Smith, and Mike Braun, introduced the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act, which says that no funds will be authorized for the territory of Gaza until the President certifies to Congress that these funds can be spent without benefitting terrorist organizations.

The Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act also ensures U.S. funds are not authorized for expenditure in the territory of Gaza to any United Nations entity or office that the President cannot certify is not encouraging or teaching anti-Israel and anti-Semitic ideas and propaganda.

Recently, a European Union report was released showing Palestinian Authority textbooks in U.N.-supported schools encourage violence against Israelis, including anti-Semitic messages. And just last week, a tunnel reportedly dug by Hamas was found underneath a Gaza school run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

We can't allow this to continue. I am proud to lead my colleagues in saying the United States will not fund this destruction.

I yield to my colleague from Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst.

And I yield to my colleague from Mississippi, Senator Hyde-Smith

Madam President, I want to thank my colleagues from Iowa and Mississippi for supporting me today in our effort to make sure that we do not ever fund Hamas.

I hope every single Member in this body can agree that the United States shouldn't fund terrorists with American taxpayer dollars-- funding that could be used to kill Israelis--like I do.

I look forward to my colleagues joining me today to stand with Israel and against terrorism.

Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1899 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President.

Madam President, I am glad my colleague has acknowledged his interest in helping Israel. Unfortunately, I am surprised that the--if my colleague had an interest, why didn't the Foreign Relations Committee take up the same resolution that the majority leader retook up in support of Israel basically saying that Israel had the right to defend itself and saying that Hamas was a terrorist organization? My colleague didn't.

This is a pretty simple bill. It basically just says, look, any foreign aid we are going to give to the Palestinian Authority, we are going to make sure it doesn't go to Hamas. It is pretty simple.

Let's remember why we are doing this. President Biden's State Department said:

We're going to be working in partnership with the United

Nations and the Palestinian Authority to kind of channel aid

there in a manner that does its best to go to the people of

Gaza.

That should scare us.

It went on to say:

As we have seen in life, as we all know in life, there are

no guarantees, but we're going to do everything that we can

to ensure that this assistance reaches the people who need it

the most.

That is not much of a guarantee. That is a ``maybe we will try.'' We can do better. The Senate should do better. Republicans and Democrats should all say that not a dime will ever go to Hamas, a terrorist organization that kills little boys like Ido. We should all be disgusted with this.

So I am very disappointed that my colleague uses a procedural matter to say he objects, but basically what he is saying is he will not agree that this money will not go to Hamas. This was really simple. You could read this in just 2 minutes.

I am disappointed that my Democratic colleague has made this political. It is not political. It is about, do we support Israel? Are we going to make sure that never a dime goes to Hamas and another little boy like Ido dies?

I yield the floor.

Madam President.

Madam President, reserving the right to object, I have real concerns my colleagues' efforts to subvert the legislative process and push through a bill without due consideration from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I know my distinguished colleague from Florida is very interested in these issues. I hope he would ask his leadership to put him on the committee because he consistently comes to the floor and wants to circumvent the committee. This is not the first time.

Let me be very clear: Hamas is a terrorist organization, and the terrorists who lead Hamas have no regard for human life, whether they be the life of innocent Israelis targeted by their rocket attacks or the Palestinian families they constantly put in harm's way.

Israel has every right and responsibility to defend herself from attacks against their civilians, and the United States does not, and will not, ever provide funding to Hamas. Neither of those statements are up for debate. In fact, I would argue that every single Member of this body agrees with those assertions.

Indeed, the Senate has a long history of carefully crafting foreign aid programs with robust oversight, as well as sanctions that target Hamas and its supporters. With that in mind, there is simply no reason this bill can't go through regular order and sustain a markup in the Foreign Relations Committee. I looked at the dates of introduction and then its subsequent referrals--less than 3 weeks. We have done it before, and we can do it again.

As the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, I have shown that I prioritize moving serious, bipartisan legislation. This bill in question is not a serious attempt at legislating; it is a partisan talking point.

Had the Senator from Florida, who is the chair of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, or any of the bill's sponsors had a genuine interest in asserting Congress's role in foreign policy and the hard work that goes into legislating, they would have gone through the regular order of the committee process. They did not.

Instead, I imagine they would rather relish in a tweet proclaiming that Democrats support taxpayer funding of Hamas or oppose defending Israel. And all I can say to this is, enough abusing the United States- Israel relationship for partisan political purposes. It does damage to the United States. It does damage to the State of Israel.

I am proud of my legislative efforts to defend Israel for over three decades, and I would argue that the facts that these efforts have been bipartisan speak to the strength of the United States-Israel relationship. Both Republicans and Democrats share a long track record of working together to defend Israel's right to exist and legislating accountability for U.S. taxpayer dollars spent overseas. But we have to do the work, and I do believe there are Senators who are genuinely interested in working toward that goal.

The truth is, we already have a number of laws and regulations in place regarding the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian relief. As written, this bill, by way of example why we have bills go through the committee so they can be worked on, seems intended to ensure that nobody in Gaza could ever receive any of this support. The language is written so broadly that, for example, before delivering clean water or water infrastructure, the President would effectively have to certify that anyone related to Hamas would never drink that water or drink from a water fountain that carried that water. That is simply absurd.

I would welcome a robust discussion on the ways we can continue to ensure that taxpayer dollars intended for lifesaving humanitarian relief in Gaza and elsewhere can get to those who need it the most and certainly evade and avoid the hands of Hamas.

Let's remember why we invest in foreign aid programs in the first place. We do so in pursuit of our common humanity, of our values, and our own security interests. So let's recognize the political games being played on the floor today for what they are and reject them.

Because of all of those reasons, Madam President, I object.

Madam President, I thank Senator Scott, and I appreciate the time to speak today on this topic. Certainly, I am rising to also support the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act.

The United States should no longer provide any recognition or resources to Hamas, a terrorist organization supplied by Iran disguised as a Palestinian political party. Hamas is a longstanding terrorist organization whose attacks and efforts against peace threaten the lives of civilians and innocents.

Using the population of Gaza as a human shield, Hamas fired more than 1,500 rockets into Israeli civilian areas in an unprovoked attack last month. The attack was not the action of a responsible political party but the violent outburst of an Iranian proxy bent on the destruction of Israel and peace.

Hamas's roots and rationale have very little to do with a broader struggle for freedom of worship or narrow land use disagreements. It is far simpler than that. Iran supplies rockets, and Hamas launches rockets on innocent Israelis because they share a common goal: eradication of the Jewish people in Israel. It is that simple.

Hamas couldn't be more clear in their goals. Their charter states:

There is no solution for the Palestinian question except

through Jihad. There is no way out except by concentrating

all powers and energies to face this Nazi, vicious Tatar

invasion.

No mention of peace or advancement for people--Israel's defensive actions against a terror group that compares their people to Nazis and is dedicated to their destruction are to be expected. Self-defense and protection of citizens is a core responsibility of every country. Hamas attacked innocent civilians, fully expecting them to be attacked in return. Their plan was to purposely create civilian casualties.

We must be unequivocal in support for our ally. The President and Secretary of State must remain strong in American support to Israel and not lose sight of the true threat Hamas's backer, Iran, poses to Israel.

The administration must abandon its attempts to return to the deeply flawed nuclear agreement with Iran. Their attempt to return to the failed nuclear deal only emboldens Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Iran provides Hamas and other genocidal terrorist organizations with rocket systems, rocket parts, assembly training, and cash support every year. And Iran's goal mirrors that of Hamas: to wipe Israel off the map, bottom line.

Just as no country--Israel or otherwise--would tolerate such terrorism and aggression against its citizens, no true ally would turn their backs on a friend in their moment of need. They certainly would not continue funding the organization responsible for the attack. So now, more than ever, the United States must stand with its ally, condemn the attacks against Israel by Hamas, and affirm our commitment to support Israel's peace and security.

The Stop American Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act ensures no funding will be authorized to the territory of Gaza, the site of Hamas's headquarters, until the President certifies to Congress that these funds can be spent without benefiting terrorist organizations.

The United States must be clear in our unwavering commitment to our ally and ensure no American taxpayer dollar goes to Hamas ever again.

I would like to thank my friend and colleague from the great State of Florida for moving on this piece of legislation I am proud to support.

Again, thank you for your leadership on this.

I yield the floor back to the Senator from Florida.

Madam President, I join my colleagues today in defense of our longtime friend and trusted ally, Israel, and to argue that absolutely no American taxpayer dollars should be spent to benefit terrorist organizations.

Israel has no greater friend than the United States, and the Israeli people have long relied on assistance from the American people and other allies. It is an unshakeable bond based on mutual respect, shared democratic values, and common interests that existed long before the modern State of Israel was founded. We must continue to support and foster that relationship with everything we have as Israel faces growing threats from Hamas and other terrorist groups in the region.

As the annual appropriations process moves along, I am concerned, as are many of my colleagues, that foreign aid--U.S. taxpayer dollars-- could end up in the hands of those who have boldly proclaimed that their intent is to do harm to Israel and our interests in the region.

The most recent wave of violence in the Middle East makes it clear that our resources must be responsibly spent and kept out of the coffers of terrorist organizations and bad actors whose violence can be bankrolled by commandeering U.S. foreign aid.

The Biden administration admitted recently ``there are no guarantees'' our humanitarian assistance will reach the intended recipients. I believe it is our duty to guarantee this. It is imperative that we are certain that not a single cent of taxpayer money is spent to fund Hamas and its military arsenal.

In this effort, my colleagues and I have teamed up to ensure that safeguards are in place to make sure anti-American and anti-Israel groups do not continue down this dangerous path of radicalization and indoctrination at the expense of hard-working Americans.

The Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act, introduced by my friend Senator Scott of Florida, is commonsense legislation. It protects American assets and allies, while ensuring that not a penny of foreign aid is spent indoctrinating students abroad and bankrolling terrorist activities.

This is a nonpartisan issue. Americans do not support terrorism, so they certainly should not have to subsidize terrorism. We must take a stand against this barbarism and the harm it poses to most innocent civilians.

I simply cannot imagine why any of my colleagues--Republican, Democrat, or Independent--would oppose legislation that is fiscally responsible, morally sound, and in the best interest of our allies, servicemembers, and our future generations.

Finally, I believe we should recognize that American citizens feel the painful effects from the recent flareup of violence toward Israel. In tandem with the global unrest, we have witnessed the significant rise in anti-Semitic attacks largely fueled by old prejudices and accelerated by harmful political rhetoric. It is my fervent hope that we would dedicate ourselves to stopping anti-Semitic violence, to fortifying our determination to protect the State of Israel, and to promoting peaceful relations in the Middle East.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.