Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act

Madam President, I stand again in support of our great ally Israel.

The terror and devastation unleashed on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists has rightly horrified the world. What I am about to describe is difficult to say and uncomfortable to hear, but it has to be said on the Senate floor. We cannot make this stuff up. The world must know the atrocities that have occurred in Israel.

On the morning of Saturday, October 7, 2023, as families rose to start a new day, make breakfast, or slowly wake up in their beds, terror approached. Innocent families were murdered in their homes. Babies were killed. Innocent, little babies were murdered, and some were ruthlessly beheaded. Children were burned alive. Teenage girls were raped and then burned alive. An elderly, wheelchair-bound woman, who was later identified as a Holocaust survivor, was brutally dragged through the streets of Gaza. Children who witnessed the murders of their parents were kidnapped and are now being held hostage by Hamas. More than 250 young people were savagely murdered while attending a music festival in southern Israel--many shot in the back as they tried to run away.

At least 31 Americans--31 Americans--have been killed. More than 1,400 innocent people were killed in Israel, and we have no idea how many are being held hostage by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The atrocities are too numerous to fully recount, but the images seen will never leave our memories.

I was sent a photo of Kfar Aza. I visited this kibbutz during a trip to Israel

with AIPAC in 2019. At the time, it was full of happy families and children, but it is now silenced by brutality and death.

This week, I talked to the individual who gave me the tour of the village, or the kibbutz. It was a beautiful place, with nice people-- happy. I was told she is only alive because she was not there. She told me the family who lived next door to her on the right was murdered, that the family on her left was murdered, and that the family down the street was murdered. I was told that the Hamas terrorists set fires to force people out of their homes and safe rooms, and they savagely murdered innocent Israelis--many shot at close range. She told me that she was talking to her sister, who was in a safe room, and the Hamas terrorists were trying to break in. Fortunately, they weren't able to.

Children were shot in front of their parents, and some have been kidnapped to Gaza. Iran-backed Hamas terrorists slaughtered the innocent babies in their beds. I met so many happy people there just a few short years ago. Now I fear a lot of them are going to be dead.

We saw FOX News correspondent Trey Yingst report:

Bodies litter the town of Be'eri. You can see here it's

complete and total destruction. All of the houses are

destroyed. It looks like many were blown up with RPGs or

other explosives. People were shot and killed in their beds,

executed at point blank range. This is the most horrific

thing I have ever seen.

Thomas Hand is the father of Emily, an 8-year-old girl who was killed by Hamas in Be'eri. Thomas had to wait 2 days before he found out that Emily was killed.

I am the father of two daughters and am the grandfather of seven grandchildren. Watching this father speak about the murder of his daughter is heart-wrenching.

He said to CNN:

They just said we found Emily, and she's dead. And I went

``Yes!'' And I smiled.

This is what he said.

He said:

I smiled because that is the best news of the possibilities

that I knew. . . . She was either dead or in Gaza.

He said:

And, if you know anything about what they do to people in

Gaza, that is worse than death.

Do you know why they murdered Emily and more than 1,400 other Israelis and 31 Americans that these Iran-backed Hamas killers slaughtered? Simply because they were Jewish. They killed them because they hate Jews and want to kill every Jew.

It is unimaginable what these families have suffered. We cannot look away. Let's remember these were Israeli and American families. The atrocities are too numerous to fully recount, but these stories and the images we have all seen will never leave our memories.

Not since the Holocaust has the world witnessed such a brutal attack on the Jewish people. Sadly, the Jewish people have endured thousands of years of hate and persecution, but this will not be the end of Israel or the Jewish people.

Israel is surrounded by terrorist groups that want it wiped off the face of the Earth. I have seen this firsthand during my five visits to Israel, which has given me a clear perspective on Israel's proximity to its enemies Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, and Iran.

I want to be clear: Hamas and Hezbollah are not religious groups. They are not on a noble political quest for liberty or civil justice. They are terrorist thugs, and they are killers. They are killers who seek to eradicate the Jewish people from this Earth, and they are funded and supported by the evil Iranian regime.

In August 2021, the Senate voted 99 to 0 for my amendment to a budget bill to ensure that U.S. tax dollars do not benefit terrorist organizations such as Hamas. The vote was 99 to 0. Everyone in this body agrees American taxpayers should never fund Hamas terrorists. Unfortunately, the final text of the bill did not include my language, necessitating further action today.

Here is why we need the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act. In 2021, 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.

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.

We all know that Hamas controls Gaza. Every dollar that goes to Gaza comes under the control of Hamas, who decides what it is going to do with it.

So what I heard from the Biden State Department in 2021 is that the administration can't guarantee that American taxpayer dollars aren't going to fund terrorists in Hamas. The Biden administration thinks the risk of resources going to Hamas terrorists is OK because, in life, ``there are no guarantees.''

I reject that, and I will not leave anything to chance when it comes to preventing U.S. taxpayer money from being sent to the brutal terrorists who have slaughtered so many Israelis and Americans.

And we know for a fact that Hamas uses humanitarian aid to support its terrorist attacks. Look at this one. This is a humanitarian package. It is a humanitarian UNICEF bag that was found among the trucks used to carry Iran-backed Hamas terrorists into Israeli towns where they brutally murdered innocent families and burned homes to the ground. I guess there was no guarantee.

I have talked to a lot of rabbis in Florida. We have a lot of synagogues there. They told me that they have seen lots of pictures on Israeli TV of humanitarian rice bags and that, when people opened them, there were bullets in them.

The administration must do better and fully control where American taxpayer money is going. We can. We can make sure American taxpayers aren't funding terrorists. That is why I am again asking that we pass the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act. I am proud to have the support of Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mike Braun, Kevin Cramer, and Ted Budd on this bill.

What this bill says--it is common sense--is 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 that U.S. funds are not authorized for expenditure in the territory of Gaza through any United Nations entity or office unless the President can certify that it is not encouraging or teaching anti-Israel and anti-Semitic ideas and propaganda. It is pretty basic.

Finally, this bill mandates that the President certify that there are no hostages--and we know there are hostages in Gaza--being held in Gaza by any terrorist organization.

Just this morning, President Biden announced $100 million of U.S. aid for Gaza and the West Bank. While Iran-backed Hamas terrorists continue attacks against Israel and hold American hostages in Gaza, I cannot think of a more critical time to pass this bill.

Let me just finish with something that somebody reminded me of today.

I know a family in Florida who lost their sister-in-law and her husband, and I think there were two 6-years-olds and a 3-year-old. So here is the way it works. They lost their loved ones, but their government is going to tax them to give money to the Palestinian Authority that gives money to the terrorists who died while killing their family. You can't make this stuff up.

So, I mean, this is a simple bill.

Let me now turn it over to my colleague from Indiana, Senator Braun.

Madam President, I thank my colleagues Senator Braun and Senator Budd for joining me here on the Senate floor to pass this important legislation.

You know, the individual who gave me the tour of the kibbutz--she was telling me that they were just half a mile from Gaza, and before Hamas took over the Gaza area, she used to be able to walk all the way to the beach, and it was safe.

I think most people in America--no one is against Gazans, but to take any chance that our money goes to Hamas before or after this doesn't make any sense.

I think every single Member of this body can agree that the United States shouldn't allow a single dollar of taxpayer money to get into the hands of terrorists--funding that is being used to kill innocent Israelis and Americans and hold our citizens and others hostage.

I look forward to my colleagues joining me today.

I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 489 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the Scott of Florida substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

So I hoped my colleague would change his position if he just read what I said. The bill doesn't say that money can't go to Gaza; it 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 benefiting terrorist organizations. I don't know how anybody can disagree with that. It says that no funds are authorized for expenditure in the territory of Gaza through any United Nations entity or office unless the President can certify that it is not encouraging or teaching anti-Israel and anti-Semitic ideas and propaganda.

So this doesn't say money can't go to Gaza and help Gazans. This bill says the President has to ensure that this isn't happening and rice bags are not being filled with bullets and we are not having the PLO give money to terrorists who killed American citizens or their families. That is all this says, is that the money cannot go for the benefit of Hamas. So if you disagree with what this says, then you are saying money can go to Hamas. I don't know how else you can disagree with it. This is so basic.

Madam President, let us just remember, what we are talking about is, this is not against sending money to Gaza. It is saying we have--if we are going to send money, it cannot go for the benefit of individuals who murdered babies, raped teenage girls, and shot people in their sleep. I mean, I don't know how anybody can ever support giving money to Gaza when you know it is going to go to Hamas if you are not careful. And that is exactly what this administration said.

Reserving the right to object.

Madam President, I listened carefully to what Senator Scott and others have said about the barbarous acts committed by Hamas against innocent men, women, and children--the mowing down by machine guns of young people who were doing nothing more than attending a dance; the murder of babies. This is a horrific--horrific--act, precipitating a worldwide crisis, and the United States of America--all of us--condemn this act.

In my view, the State of Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against Hamas and terrorism in general--no debate on that. But what I ask my colleagues to also consider is that while we fully appreciate the horrific attack by Hamas against innocent people of Israel, I ask you also to understand that right now there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza who have lost their homes. They have been thrown out of their homes. They have no food. They have no water. They have no fuel. And I remind my colleagues that half of those people are children. Half of the people in Gaza are children. So, yes, we are united in doing everything we can to destroy Hamas and their terrorism, but I implore you, do not take Hamas's inhumanity and brutality and terrorism against children who are 3 or 5 years old.

I ask you to think for a moment. Think about it. I have a State that I represent, the State of Vermont--630,000 people. A million people-- most of them are poor. They had nothing to begin with. Before this whole business, Gaza was one of the most desperately poor places in the world. Youth unemployment was 75 percent, many of their people dependent on the U.N. for basic survival.

So what I am asking people to take a look at is to understand what our country is about, and what our country must not be involved in is making the horrific and miserable situation in Gaza even worse.

Many of the families--and, again, these are people thrown out of their homes. They don't know where they are going. They don't know who will accept them. They don't know if they are ever going back to their homes. And they were poor to begin with. Do we really want to deny those people aid from the U.N. and other agencies to feed the children, to provide water for them? Is that really what we are about?

Of course, it goes without saying that we have to do everything we can to make sure that not one nickel goes to the murderous Hamas organization, but at the same time, we have to stand with the innocent women and children in Palestine who are suffering today and are facing an almost unprecedented modern humanitarian disaster.

So today, in the midst of this crisis, U.S. and U.N. assistance in Gaza is aimed squarely at addressing the basic needs of the Palestinian people, including humanitarian aid and water and health programs. The United States and the United Nations go to great lengths to ensure that aid gets to the people needed and is not diverted, through trusted partners like Catholic Relief Services. The Israeli Government itself recognizes the importance of this U.N. humanitarian aid and has long supported it.

Today, in the midst of this horrific crisis, the United States and the international community are working to secure humanitarian access-- and from media reports I have seen recently, we may be making some progress on that--so that the U.N. can get food and

water and fuel and medicine to the million or more people in Gaza who need essential supplies. That should be our focus. There are people now facing hunger, they are facing incredible desperation, and we cannot-- cannot--turn our backs on them.

If you think this is going to be good for Israel, if you think that the suffering of the Palestinian people long term is good for Israel, I think you are sorely mistaken.

The world is looking at us, and the world understands that what Hamas did was terrible, but they don't want to see our great country turn its back on innocent women and children. That, in my view, is not what this country is about.

This is a tough issue. There have been four wars there in the last 15 years. It ain't going to be solved tomorrow. But while we do our best to support Israel and destroy Hamas, please, let us not turn our backs on the suffering people in Gaza.

This is not what we should be doing, not what Congress should be doing, and therefore I object.

The thing is that hundreds of thousands of women and children are living in desperation today. And nobody in the world can guarantee that a bottle of water may not go to somebody connected to Hamas. If you are insistent upon that, what you are really saying is, no money for Gaza.

So, with that, I object.

Madam President, I was on that trip with Senator Scott back in, I believe, August of 2019.

What struck me about that visit, as we went to almost every perimeter in Israel, is how they had to be on guard constantly--constantly--to keep from having something flying into one of their towns or villages.

When we did visit the one that Rick referred to, what struck me is they had like a big locker by one of the homes that showed all of the unique ways--and I think it was the village nearest to the Gaza Strip-- of how many attempts that were made over time. Thank goodness, most of them had fallen short, but it gave me the impression that there was never a moment of real security.

Then we saw how, within those villages, you had to be on guard almost 100 percent of the time and scurry into a safe room that would disrupt the normal pace of your life. Imagine if you had to live under those conditions. And here, it has been a long time since anything of this magnitude has come along--probably nearly 50 years--but it shows that it never ends there.

When something like this does happen and when we have had legislation that looks like it was intended to prevent this and it went through--I think, according to the Senator, unanimously--this should be a slam dunk in that we would want to make sure that nothing can leak free out of any other type of aid that would help something like this either persist or happen again.

If the report in the Wall Street Journal is accurate, Iran was closely involved in the planning and execution of the horrible terrorist act on Israel. If that is the case, then it appears the $6 billion in cash, unfrozen for Iran, freed up resources to aid the attack. We should suspend those funds immediately and permanently. We must also take extra steps to make sure the United States is not inadvertently funding terrorist activities. This bill--a simple one-- the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act, would do just that.

Under this bill, the President will have to certify that no U.S. funds are able to go to Hamas or members of Hamas. It would also make sure that funds are not benefiting organizations controlled or influenced by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or any other terrorist organization. It simply puts in specificity what we all should be for.

With President Biden's announcement today that he intends to send $100 million in aid to Gaza, we need this legislation to become law immediately. The American people need to feel confident that their tax dollars are not going to fund the mayhem we saw in Israel at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

I yield the floor to the Senator from North Carolina.

Madam President, on October 7, Hamas terrorists launched an unprovoked and barbaric series of terrorist attacks inside Israel. Over 1,400 children, women, and men were brutally murdered. Thirty-one Americans were killed, and dozens remain missing or held hostage.

In the wake of such a despicable series of attacks, we must ensure that our taxpayer dollars are not being sent to aid these terrorist killers.

Two years ago, one of our own State Department officials in the Biden administration acknowledged the possibility that aid to the Palestinians could find its way into Hamas's hands. That is unacceptable.

That is why Senator Rick Scott's Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act is so critical right now. It simply states that no U.S. taxpayer dollars would be authorized to Gaza until the President certifies to us, to Congress, that there are measures in place to prevent any taxpayer dollars from benefiting terrorist organizations.

At the end of the day, we should be standing shoulder to shoulder with the State of Israel to give them everything that they need to destroy Hamas.

I urge the Senate to pass this without delay.

I thank my colleague from Florida for his leadership on this issue, and I yield to him.