Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend the vote series today, due to an unexpected absence. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 227, NAY on Roll Call No. 228, NAY on Roll Call No. 229, NAY on Roll Call No. 230, YEA on Roll Call No. 231, and NAY on Roll Call No. 232.

Madam Speaker, and still I rise.

I am honored to have this preeminent privilege to speak on the floor, if you will, or in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. It is a unique experience to be here. I never take it for granted, and I always appreciate the leadership for affording me the opportunity to speak.

I rise today as a person of color, a person who understands the need for Brown v. Board of Education. We needed it then and still need Brown. We needed it when we enshrined it into law in this country, and we still need it today.

This is the day that marks the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, a lawsuit that has impacted the lives of all Americans but has had a greater impact, I believe, on persons of color because it eliminated the notion that we could have separate but equal institutions in the country, especially in the area of education.

Yes, we still need Brown v. Board of Education. There is an article in today's USA Today. It is styled ``School segregation is still alive and well.'' ``Seventy years after Brown, funding drives divide.'' Segregation is still alive and well.

I would like to explain why we needed Brown before delving a little bit more into this topic of funding. We needed Brown because of 335 years of slavery, convict leasing, and lawful segregation--335 years. It started on August 20, 1619, when the ship White Lion docked at a place called Point Comfort, near what we now call Norfolk, Virginia.

When the White Lion docked, it had some 20 persons of African ancestry. These 20 persons were traded to the Colonies, the persons who were here to form the Colonies, if you will. They were traded. They became the first enslaved persons to be introduced into what would become the United States of America.

These 20 persons marked the beginning of something that still haunts the United States of America, and that is invidious discrimination, but these 20 persons became a part of millions of persons who would traverse the ocean, who would be treated as cargo, not as passengers; persons who would be raped, robbed, murdered, incarcerated; persons who would be brought to this country because there was a desire to have in this country people who would be subjugated. They would be persons who could be immediately identified because of color.

They would be persons who would not be a part of a class because class is a socioeconomic circumstance. They were not a part of a class, Madam Speaker. They were a part of a caste, not a class. A class is socioeconomic. You can move in and out of a class, but a caste is associated with your heredity. If you were born into this caste, you would live in it, you would work in it, and you would die as a part of the caste.

America had a caste system. Persons of African ancestry were a part of the caste. They were persons who were immediately identifiable, who were subjugated, and made a part of a caste. This caste system in the United States of America lasted for some 246 years.

A good many people assumed that slavery only lasted for 20 or 30 years. No, 246 years. People were born into slavery. Babies were enslaved. People lived their lives enslaved, and they died as slaves. There were 246 years of it.

These persons became the economic foundational mothers and fathers of the country. They planted the seeds. They harvested the crops. They fed the Nation. They built the Capitol, this very building that we are in now. Their hands were a part of the construction of this facility. Their hands were a part of the construction of the White House. They built the roads and the bridges. They were the economic foundational mothers and fathers, and every person in the United States of America is standing on their shoulders.

Yes, they have not been respected. They have not been respected since they were brought to this country. They have not been respected while they were here in the institution known as slavery.

It moved from slavery to an institution called convict leasing. These are persons who were charged with violating what were called Black codes. They were charged with some offense. It could be a minor offense.

After having been charged, they would be leased to some plantation. They would work on this plantation just outside of Houston, Texas, a place called Sugar Land, Texas.

We have a gravesite with 95 bodies in it. They are called the Sugar Land 95. These were persons, human beings, people who were leased and died as convicts, convicts who were leased.

It is a shame that the story of America contains these facts, but it is the truth, and we ought not be ashamed to tell the truth because only by dealing with the truth can we get to a point wherein we are able to communicate fairly and properly with each other and span the chasms that divide us.

These convicts, persons who were leased is what I will call them for now, this lasted for 76 years. Madam Speaker, 76 years of convict leasing; 246 years of slavery followed by 76 years of convict leasing.

I am making the point for why we needed Brown v. Board of Education, for those who may be tuning in a bit late.

We needed Brown v. Board of Education because of the 246 years of slavery and 76 years of convict leasing, but it didn't end there. It did not end with the convict leasing.

We suffered nearly 100 years of lawful segregation, lawful segregation wherein persons of color were separated.

Persons of color had to go to the back door in this country. In my lifetime, I was relegated to going to the back door. Persons of color had to drink from separate water fountains.

In my lifetime, I have been forced to drink from a colored water fountain, and I might add, a filthy water fountain.

They were never maintained to the same extent that White water fountains were maintained. Persons of color were required to sit in the back of buses. In my lifetime, I sat in the back of a bus.

The laws that were enshrined in the Constitution to protect me and give me equality under the law as explained and extolled in the 14th Amendment, my friends and neighbors took those rights away from me. They denied me those rights.

The Constitution said they were there for me, but my friends and neighbors decided they would deny me those rights.

I know what segregation is about. I have lived it. Yes, we needed Brown v. Board of Education then, and we still need it now.

Segregation for nearly a hundred years, 246 years of slavery, 76 years of convict leasing, and nearly a hundred years of lawful segregation. We needed Brown v. Board of Education.

In the process of suffering these some 335 years, we had a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in a case styled Dred Scott where Chief Justice Taney, in his infinite wisdom, indicated that the Negroes or African Americans, as we would call ourselves now, persons of African ancestry, if you will, that they had no rights which a White man was bound to respect and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit, not for his benefit meaning the benefit of the Negro, but for his benefit meaning the benefit of the White man. That is what the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said.

It might be interesting to note that most scholars conclude that this is one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

Yes, we needed Brown v. Board of Education. However, but for some quirks in history, we might not have the same decision that Chief Justice Warren arrived at. We might not have it but for some quirks in history.

I want to talk about a couple of these quirks in history. Thurgood Marshall was the lead counsel for the NAACP, an organization that I belong to. I was the president of the Houston branch of the NAACP for nearly a decade.

Thurgood Marshall, the lead counsel for the NAACP, when he decided to go

to law school, he tried to get into the University of Maryland. He couldn't get in.

He then decided to go to Howard University. At Howard University, he had the superlative pleasure of meeting a man who introduced him to a concept, and that concept was use the Constitution to right these wrongs associated with segregation. That is my paraphrasing of it. That concept was something that he would take to the courts.

I believe that but for the University of Maryland, Thurgood Marshall may not have developed the philosophy that he did.

In a strange sort of way, I have to say thank God for the University of Maryland because had he gone there, he may have developed a different philosophy, and, as such, would not have taken the case to the Supreme Court as he did.

Thurgood Marshall won many cases before the Supreme Court, but not one of them surpassed what he did with Brown v. Board of Education.

Thurgood Marshall takes the case to the Supreme Court, but when the case gets to the Supreme Court, the Justice who was there at the time was a person that was unable to pull the Court together to get a decision by June of 1953.

Because he could not do so, the case was then to be reheard in December of 1953. Between that time, the June date and the December date, the Chief Justice died. Then it became the duty of President Eisenhower to appoint another Chief Justice to the Supreme Court.

President Eisenhower looked to California. There in California was a Governor, a Governor who was unique in history for many ways, but this one I find worthy of mentioning.

He ran for Governor as a Democrat and as a Republican, imagine trying to do that today, and was elected Governor. He ran on the Democratic ticket and the Republican ticket. Never happen today. We are so divided here that neither party would tolerate it. The divide is so evident.

The public wants us to span the chasm. We can't span the chasm because the public is divided. The same people who want Members of Congress to compromise don't want to see compromise on the issues that are important to them.

Compromise is about give and take. Compromise is not winner take all, my way or the highway. The public itself has to understand that they are part of the reason there is a divide.

Back to the case, Brown v. Board of Education. Chief Justice Warren became the Chief Justice by virtue of President Eisenhower having appointed him as such.

President Eisenhower thought he did the country a great service when he appointed him, but he later said it was one of his greatest mistakes.

He said he made two mistakes, they were both on the Supreme Court, and one of those was Chief Justice Warren because it was Chief Justice Warren who pulled the Court together.

It was Chief Justice Warren who was able to get a unanimous decision in the Brown case. I don't know that anybody else could have done it.

He was a unique personality. He understood the politics of the judiciary. He was a Governor. He understood people, what motivated people and moved people, and he pulled together the Court such that there was a unanimous decision.

That unanimous decision was not, as one might think, a decision that would be immediately embraced by the country. It was not embraced immediately by the country.

There were persons who still wanted separate but equal or separate but unequal because that is what it was.

You can call it equal, but when you have inferior schools for people of color, which is what I attended, and then you have superior schools, not in the sense that the minds in the schools are inferior or superior, but in the sense that the facilities, the books that I received were hand-me-down books from another school system.

You could see the names of children who had the books before I acquired them. Hand-me-downs. The school systems were segregated in that fashion.

This segregation did not end with May 17, 1954, and the Brown decision. In fact, a Nobel Laureate, Milton Friedman, he had a very clever idea.

He was of the opinion, Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, that we ought to just give the public dollars to the parents, and they could have these vouchers, and they could use these vouchers to send their children to private schools, maintain segregation but under a different name. What a world. What a world. Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate.

If you believe that that was the end of vouchers, you are imminently incorrect. The Governor of Texas is still pushing for vouchers, still wants to take public dollars and give them to parents and let them take their children and put their children in private schools.

That would have maintained segregation if it had been done, and there is a good likelihood I wouldn't be standing here now.

Do not believe that slavery had to end. It ended because of the will of Abraham Lincoln.

It didn't have to end. It could have continued. The caste system could have continued. To this day, I could be a part of a caste but for brave people who took a stance and but for the Civil War that was fought--for all the politicians who are listening--because of slavery.

We could easily find that the caste system exists today if not for some brave people. So this notion that we integrated, and it was about desegregation, it wasn't about integration. The Brown decision said that there should be desegregation with the term ``all deliberate speed,'' but it didn't happen immediately.

Milton Friedman tried his best to thwart it. In fact, in Prince Edward County, Virginia, the White elite of that county defied the Brown decision by closing the entire school system. They closed the school system, and they diverted public education funds into vouchers to be used at segregated private academies that were for Whites only. It would have still been segregation just by another name.

So, yes, we needed the Brown decision, but do not be deceived into believing that the decision was immediately implemented. We are still implementing it, by the way. We needed it then. We need Brown now.

Brown has made a difference, but Brown hasn't brought us to the promised land. We are not there yet.

The Senate of the United States of America disrespects African Americans on a daily basis. Now, some people don't believe I said that, so I probably should say it again: The Senate of the United States of America disrespects African Americans on a daily basis. The Senate of the United States of America is a place of shame.

The Richard Russell Office Building is a national disgrace. Richard Russell was a self-proclaimed white supremacist. Richard Russell fought antilynching legislation. Richard Russell fought civil rights legislation. Richard Russell coauthored the Southern Manifesto.

His name is on the Senate Russell Office Building. That is the Richard Russell. The Senate will not take Richard Russell's name off the building.

You are a place of national shame, Senate. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, every one of you. Every one of you. What is wrong with you? You know you are disrespecting African Americans, yet you leave the name of Richard Russell on a building being paid for with taxpayer dollars.

If that name was associated with the Third Reich, it would come down tonight. We are disrespected, people of color who happen to be of African ancestry.

The rationale given for not changing the name is that the Senators can't agree on a new name. Well, I solved that problem. Pardon me for using a personal pronoun. My mother taught me to say ``we'' whenever possible, but in my business, if you don't say ``I,'' other people will. We have solved that problem. Here is the solution: Let the name revert back to the name it had before it became the Russell Senate Office Building. Let it revert back.

What was that name, Al Green? It was the Old Senate Office Building. Just take Russell's name off. Let it revert to Old Senate Office Building, and then take as much time as you want, ad infinitum, if you will, and let it become the name of your choice.

I have no name. I am not doing this because I want a name. I am doing this

and saying this because it is not just the right thing to do; it is the righteous thing to do. His name needs to come off of that building.

Brown v. Board of Education didn't bring us to the promised land. We still have problems here in the Congress of the United States of America. This one is so obvious. It is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. The name ought to come off.

I will say to every Senator: You ought to be ashamed. You made the Senate a place of national shame.

By the way, the news media ought to be equally ashamed because, in the rotunda where Richard Russell's statue is, you have the news media right there above Richard Russell. He has a rotunda devoted to him. Above him is CNN, MSNBC, FOX. You ought to be ashamed, all of you. You are perpetuating this. It has been perpetrated by the Senate, and you are perpetuating it.

Well, Al, you will probably not get back on those stations or networks again. Do you think that matters to me, that someone would keep me off because I speak the truth not only to power but about power?

Speaking truth to power is fairly easy. You say power is a problem we need to solve. Speaking truth about power is to say, power, there is a problem, and you are it.

You are it, CNN. You are it, FOX, MSNBC. You are it, Senate. You don't have the courage to do the right thing. You ought to be denouncing what the Senate is doing, but you are right there in the building where it is happening. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are perpetuating this insult to African Americans.

So Brown v. Board of Education did a lot, make no mistake about it. It has made a difference in the lives of people of color, especially African Americans. It has made a difference. It has made a difference in job opportunities. It has made a difference in opportunities for education, opportunities to hold public office. It has made a difference, but we are still not there.

We aren't because people of color are disproportionately poverty- stricken. People of color are not--let me close with this. I am being told my time is up. This is a to-be-continued.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate you calling it to my attention. We have much work to do.

Mr. Speaker, during Roll Call Vote No. 211 on H.R. 6571, I mistakenly recorded my vote as NAY when I should have voted YEA.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend the vote series today due to an unexpected absence. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 196 and YEA on Roll Call No. 197.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, Israel suffered a tragic loss on October 7, 2023. The people of Israel are in mourning. The lives of innocent civilian Israeli men, women, and especially children matter. They must be protected. This includes the hostages, all of whom must be immediately returned in tandem with a lasting ceasefire as the genesis of a two-state solution.

After the horrific human rights violations committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the Netanyahu administration had just cause catalyzing a de jure right to pursue justice as it did by declaring war on Hamas, not hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children.

To the contrary, and shamefully, Prime Minister Netanyahu has engaged in an unjust, revengeful, might-makes-right offense, creating more enemies than have been killed. He has engaged in lethal atrocities wherein the ends of destroying Hamas justifies:

Killing thousands of innocent civilian Palestinian children;

Collectively harming thousands upon thousands of innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children;

Failing to properly aid hundreds of thousands of food-deprived Palestinians; and

Committing domicide by destroying approximately 62 percent of Palestinian homes in Gaza, as well as damaging at least 84 percent of Gaza's health facilities, together with over 275 schools.

It has become intuitively and painfully obvious to me that Prime Minister Netanyahu's definition of ``the right to defend'' embraces an invidious ends-justifies-the-means strategy. This imprudent and unjust strategy of domicide, collective harm, and failure to feed the hungry, in tandem with the killing of thousands of innocent Palestinian children, cannot in good conscience receive a blind eye.

No one, no political entity, no country can commit such atrocious injustices in the name of justice and expect the blessings of people of good will. Injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. Israel's de jure right (in the hands of Prime Minister Netanyahu) to defend itself in the name of justice has metamorphosed into unconscionable de facto human rights violations that offend the conscience and grievously tarnishes Israel's global image. In truth, Prime Minister Netanyahu's might-makes-right, by any means necessary-- war--is making Israel an existential threat to Palestinians living in Gaza.

I cannot in good conscience oppose the above-cited atrocious transgressions and contemporaneously provide the munitions which can beget more of these God-awful inhumanities. Sadly, but righteously, I cannot vote to send the pending billions of supplemental funds to the opprobrious administration of Prime Minister Netanyahu. To do so would allow those funds, or free up other funds in their treasury, to purchase the lethality to kill more innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children, which I oppose.

Palestinians (like Israelis) are in mourning, and the lives of innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children matter. They too must be protected.

For the reasons enumerated above, I will vote no on The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024.

Madam Speaker, and still I rise, supporting the overall intent of H. Res. 1143, condemning Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel.

However, while supporting much of the intentions of this resolution, I believe that it is imperative to make clear that, as this resolution affirms Israel's right to ``respond to this aggression through military, diplomatic, economic, and other necessary means,'' I do not intend my vote in favor of the resolution to be taken as an endorsement of any military action Prime Minister Netanyahu might take in response. We stand at a dangerous time for the region, and any response to Iran's attack should be measured with the goal of achieving lasting regional peace.

In advancing this resolution, let us not forget our steadfast, ironclad dedication to upholding international peace.

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. Today, I would like to do something just a bit different. I have stood here on many occasions and said that I love my country, that I salute the flag. I still love my country and salute the flag, and today what I would like to do is actually salute the flag. I just believe that any time is a good time, especially when you are in this facility, to salute the flag.

If you would indulge me, Mr. Speaker, I would like to move to another podium.

And still I rise, Mr. Speaker, proud to stand here in the well of the House of Representatives. One can but only imagine the great speeches, the oratory that is imitated from this area. However, today, I want to do something different. I just want to say the Pledge of Allegiance from this very almost sacred place.

Those who would like to join me, you but only have to stand and as you would normally salute the flag, you may do so. If you choose not to, you don't have to. The greatness of America will not be measured by whether the Al Greens of the world salute the flag. The greatness of America will be measured by whether the Al Greens of the world would defend those who choose not to salute the flag, who choose not to say the Pledge of Allegiance, who choose not to sing the national anthem, who choose not to stand for the anthem.

I, today, will do what I will do, and that is salute the flag. To all of my friends who are here, we are about to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and for those who choose not to, you don't have to, but those who do, would you join me by standing. I place my hand over my heart when I say the Pledge of Allegiance. I shall lead in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of

America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation

under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate everyone joining me in this Pledge of Allegiance.

I wanted to do this because I believe the values that we have in this country we can export to the rest of the world.

I believe that the words in the Declaration of Independence, a founding document, these are words that we can export to the rest of the world: All persons created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are powerful words. These words are words that we are in this country still trying to make real. It is a great and noble ideal, but we still have not gotten there yet. We are forming still our more perfect Union.

I think that as we do it here, I believe that these things can be exported to the rest of the country--the rest of the world, if you will--the notion that all persons are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I want to focus for just a moment on life, this aspect of the Declaration of Independence. I want to focus on lives not just in this country because we do this quite often, so I have said a lot about the deaths that are taking place here, the mass shootings that are taking place here, yes, but I want to export this idea to another place.

I want to talk about this noble concept as it relates to Gaza and what is happening to the lives in Gaza. I want to do this because for too long the thousands that have lost their lives have been statisticized. The statisticization of their lives is a disservice to humanity. These innocent people, innocent men, women, and especially children, their lives should not be just simply statisticized. Their lives ought to be humanized.

Today, I would like to humanize the lives, and I also have a resolution commemorating innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially children.

Let's export the great and noble American ideal in our Declaration of Independence, let's apply it to people on a global basis.

Now I shall move back to the podium where I ordinarily make my comments because I have some paraphernalia there that I will be introducing. Mr. Speaker, I move to the next podium.

This is a resolution that I am previewing. There may be some tweaking, but I am previewing it, and it will be filed either today or tomorrow. This resolution commemorates innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially children.

Whereas, this resolution may be cited as the original resolution commemorating innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially children.

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas conducted a heinous attack on Israel leading to Israel declaring war on Hamas--not Palestine, not Palestinians, but declaring war on Hamas. And I say this because, unfortunately, a good many people--too many, if you will--have concluded that the war is against Palestinians, against Palestine. The war was declared against Hamas, and the Prime Minister of Israel himself has indicated that the war is against Hamas. He has also indicated that the Palestinians are victims, the Palestinians are victims. I concur. The innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children are victims of this war. They are victims to the extent that they not only suffer from being in a war zone, but they also suffer by being harmed in various and sundry ways--and I will say more about this later--and they are losing their lives.

Continuing:

Whereas, both Palestinians and Israelis are in mourning. The country of Israel is still in mourning from the October 7 horrendous attack. Gazans, Palestinians, innocent men, women, and children are in mourning because of the thousands, the tens of thousands, who have lost their lives in this war.

Whereas, in 2020 the population of Gaza was over 2 million with approximately half being children under the age of 18.

Whereas, the pain, suffering, and deaths of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children, are too often reduced to statisticization.

Whereas, people of good will must do more than statisticize the pain, suffering, and killing of innocent civilian Palestinians.

Whereas, people of good will must do more to humanize the pain and suffering of Palestinians in Gaza with explanations of how they lost their arms, legs, eyes, ears, and lives.

Let me repeat this because this statisticization is something that is difficult to say but also something that we ought not attribute to persons who have lost their arms, legs, eyes, and hearing, as well as their lives. This is a very sad, sad circumstance to have to negotiate and deal with.

Whereas, because of the war, homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and, more importantly, their lives in Gaza have been destroyed.

Whereas, because of the war many businesses have been decimated.

Whereas, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian men, women, and especially children, in Gaza have suffered through the loss of mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters while starving and suffering the mental anguish associated with war.

Whereas, civilians in Gaza live in constant fear of sudden loss of arms, legs, and life; and

Whereas, tens of thousands of innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have been brutally killed in a war beyond their control.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the House of Representatives commemorates the tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially those of children. The lives lost should be viewed as more than mere statistics, the humanity, the pain, suffering, and deaths of the tens of thousands of men, women, and especially children, must be commemorated and memorialized.

The killing of innocent men, women, and especially children, in Palestine must cease immediately with all possible haste.

All hostages must be returned immediately--and we are talking about hostages that are Israeli, as well as any that may be Palestinian, but we know that Israeli hostages were taken.

And finally, because the United States' largess has contributed to the purchase of munitions used by the Netanyahu administration, the United States must do everything it can to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza perpetrated by the destruction of homes, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and, also, I would add, the loss of human life.

Now, I would like to give you some graphic indications of what this is all about. There is an article from The New Yorker that I would like to read, dated March 21, 2020. I will go through it, and then I will show you some pictures of what has happened. But first, let's start with this representation.

This is a representation of persons who are in mourning, and they are doing what people do when they are suffering. You can see persons who are screaming and crying out.

The language reads: ``Of the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, about 70 percent have been women and children.''

That is quite a large number. About 70 percent have been women and children.

This representation is of persons who are making an appeal for food. You can see in their eyes a sadness. You can see, with their hands extended, a plea for food.

The language reads: ``The catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population,'' the highest ever recorded of hunger in Gaza.

Now, this picture is a representation that tears at your heart as well but perhaps even in a more profound way because this young lady that you see, this baby, she is without her left leg. She is on a playground, so one would conclude that she is not in Gaza. You would be correct. You would be incorrect if you assume that this injury occurred in some place other than Gaza because that is where it occurred. As I read this article from The New Yorker, which I alluded to earlier, you will get a better comprehension of where she is and what happened to her.

Mr. Speaker, it is a very sad story, but we have to humanize these thousands of people. We can't just allow them to just become numbers. If they are just numbers, it is easy to dismiss them as just casualties of war.

They are more than numbers. These are human beings who have suffered. These are human beings who have relatives that are suffering. These are

human beings whose lives are never going to be the same. There is a good likelihood that they won't have what we have in this country, and that is the medical assistance to help them recover, those who survive, as well as the medical attention for mental illness that they may suffer.

Mr. Speaker, these are human beings. Some mother cried because of what happened to this child. Some father is crying because of what has happened to his child in Gaza. We cannot allow them to be dehumanized and reduced to statistics. We have to humanize these persons.

Mr. Speaker, I have chosen this baby as the example for us to give some thought to.

This article in The New Yorker is styled ``The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza.'' The subtitle reads: ``More than a thousand children who were injured in the war are now amputees.''

Mr. Speaker, some things bear repeating; I say this quite regularly. It reads: ``More than a thousand children who were injured in the war are now amputees.''

This baby is more than one in a thousand.

What do their futures hold?

This article was published on March 21, 2024. It continues. This is the photograph that accompanied this article. The excerpts read: ``Gazal was wounded on November 10, when, as her family fled Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, shrapnel pierced her left calf.''

That would be the leg that she lost, and this is what will break your heart: ``To stop the bleeding, a doctor, who had no access to antiseptic or anesthesia, heated the blade of a kitchen knife''--no antiseptic, no anesthesia, heated the blade of a kitchen knife--``and cauterized the wound.''

Now, cauterization means that he took that hot blade without any anesthesia, without antiseptic, and he placed this hot blade on the skin of this baby--a hot blade--to save her life.

Can you imagine the screams? Can you imagine the heartache that the parents felt as they saw this happening to their baby? But they knew this was necessary. This is a lifesaving technique, a hot blade-- ``heated the blade of a kitchen knife and cauterized the wound.''

She is more than a statistic. She is a human being, and she deserves to have someone recognize her humanity.

``Within days, the gash ran with pus and began to smell.'' She suffered the hot blade, and now the gash is smelling, running with pus.

``By mid-December, when Gazal's family arrived at Nasser Medical Center,'' which has been rendered dysfunctional now, I believe. If it is not, it has been brought back online, but it was.

Gazal's family took her to this medical center. It was, at the time, the largest functioning healthcare facility, but when they got there, gangrene had set in.

First, she is wounded. Then, she suffers a hot blade. Now, she has gangrene, necessitating amputation at the hip.

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the baby in this picture. Let's humanize her.

``On December 17, a projectile hit the children's ward of Nasser,'' meaning this hospital. ``Gazal and her mother watched it enter their room.''

Here is the mother with her daughter, having suffered cauterization with the blade of a hot kitchen knife, now in the hospital, and they witness the projectile coming into the ward where the baby is. A projectile hit the ward.

``Gazal and her mother watched it enter their room, decapitating Gazal's 12-year-old roommate and causing the ceiling to collapse.''

This is a baby who has suffered more than any human being should, and now, while in the hospital, a projectile comes into the ward where she is. This projectile decapitates her 12-year-old roommate.

We have to humanize, not statisticize.

This caused the ceiling to collapse.

``Multiple news reports have described the event as an Israeli attack. The IDF claimed the incident could have been caused by a Hamas mortar or the remnant of an Israeli flare.''

This is what The New Yorker is quoting, someone with the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force. This person is indicating that it could have been a mortar from Hamas, or it could have been the remnant of an Israeli flare.

``Gazal and her mother managed to crawl out of the rubble. The next day, their names were added to the list of evacuees who could cross the border into Egypt and then fly to Qatar for medical treatment.''

This is her now in Qatar. Her mother got her out.

``Gazal's mother was 9 months pregnant.''

The mother, whose daughter has suffered incalculable pain, was 9 months pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl while awaiting the airlift.

All of this time, this mother was pregnant--while having her daughter suffer the blade of a hot knife to save her life and then taking her daughter to a hospital where a projectile enters the room and decapitates another baby--12 years old--in that room.

Now, this baby sees all of this. She is a witness to this. Can you imagine what her life will be like, the trauma she will suffer?

Mr. Speaker, we have to humanize these lives. This is not just another casualty of war. This is a human being.

UNICEF estimates that 1,000 children in Gaza have become amputees. This baby represents one of a thousand--probably more than that now.

This baby has to be humanized.

This article indicates: ``This is the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history.''

This is happening in Gaza, the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history. We call these casualties of war. This baby is just another casualty of war--the biggest cohort in history. She is more than a casualty of war. She is a human being.

I now move to another story that should be humanized. This one is from CNN, a fairly reputable news source. The style of this article is: ``At least 13 killed, including 7 children, after strike on Gaza's Al- Maghazi refugee camp.''

Mr. Speaker, 13 killed, including 7 children. This didn't happen a month ago. This didn't happen 2 months ago. This happened on April 16.

That is in the very recent past. ``At least 13 people, it reads, were killed, including 7 children, and more than 25 injured after a strike targeted Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital officials.

``Graphic video obtained exclusively by CNN from eyewitness Nihad Owdetallah, shows several casualties scattered on the floor, including children, with blood streaming around the area.''

This was Tuesday. This was the Tuesday sometime after what happened in Israel as it relates to Iran. This happens in Gaza as the Netanyahu administration is planning a response to what happened with Iran.

How do you think these people feel? What about them? Are we now going to just forget them? We will just go on to the next fight, and these thousands, tens of thousands, over 30,000, just sort of put them in the past? I will not.

There has to be some justice for these children. What is happening to them is an injustice. You cannot, in the name of justice, create an injustice and call it justice. An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. This is an injustice, and it is continuing after Prime Minister Netanyahu has indicated that he wants justice for what happened to Israel. How can we just let this become a thing of the past? I refuse to allow it to be a thing of the past.

The video shows several casualties spread on the floor, including children with blood streaming around the area.

``Dozens of people appear to be running around in panic, screaming and trying to count and carry the dead bodies. A foosball table covered in dust is seen among the dead bodies.''

The witness, who lives in the camp, told CNN he heard an explosion around 3:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday around 30 to 40 meters away from him. This is his quotation: ``I immediately walked to see what happened and found dead bodies thrown on the ground. People screaming, kids screaming. Kids dead on the ground. They were just playing foosball, and they were martyred.

``Footage shot for CNN from inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital shows a continuous flow of casualties and injured people being ushered in, as the emergency room is crowded with patients,

including several wounded children, crying out on the floor''-- children.

Let's go back to the style of this article: ``At least 13 killed, including 7 children, after strike on Gaza's Al-Maghazi refugee camp.''

``The emergency room is crowded with patients, including several wounded children, crying out on the floor. Family members are seen crowding over their loved one's dead bodies, kissing them, holding onto them and sobbing.''

These are human beings. They do what human beings do when they suffer these kinds of tragedies.

``Video from inside a morgue at the hospital shows families trying to identify their loved ones among the deceased. Fatmeh Issa points to a white body bag with a young boy's bloodied face exposed, telling CNN, `This is my son.''' A young boy's bloodied face exposed in a white body bag, ``This is my son,'' she says.

``Another man cries out, `They have nothing to do with anyone. They are civilians. Have mercy on us.'''

These people are pleading, appealing to us. I say ``us,'' because our fingerprints are all over this. The munitions being used are in some part related to the largesse that we send to the Netanyahu administration. That largesse is the link to us, and we have to do something about it.

``Have mercy on us. You are killing children. You are not killing an army or fighters. . . . `'

Remember earlier, I said the war was declared on Hamas, not Palestinians, not Palestine? Here is a validation of the thinking of the people in Gaza. These people understand what is going on. ``You are killing children. You are not killing an army or fighters; you are killing children who were peacefully playing in the street.''

They are children playing in the street. One moment they are children running and doing the things that children do, laughing. The next moment, seven are dead. You are killing children who were peacefully playing in the street, not an army, not fighters.

``Video shows him handing a young girl's dead body to another man, both men crying out Quranic verses and sobbing. The man who receives her body is seen placing her on the ground, and covers her body with a jacket, telling CNN she is his daughter.''

Human beings dying and suffering, suffering and then dying and those left behind suffering.

This war has to cease. It has got to stop. We ought to be among the first to say it has got to stop.

Do you think history is going to be kind to us? Posterity is not going to be kind to the Netanyahu administration. We will be seen as persons who were eyewitnesses by way of television to a great human tragedy and did not do what we could to prevent it.

Remember, the war was not declared on children. It wasn't declared on women. It wasn't declared on innocent people. It was declared on Hamas, but we know that more than 30,000 Palestinians have lost their lives, some of them in horrific ways.

There seems to be a means by which the mind can process a person dying as a result of an explosion from one of the bombs that we helped pay for. There seems to be a means by which the mind can process that and see that as something that is not as horrific as if you do it in many other ways. It was just a bomb. The person was just a casualty of war, just another number, that is all. We need to move on.

My fear is just that, that at some point, Prime Minister Netanyahu will decide enough is enough, and we will then say he has now moved on.

Do you think this baby will have moved on? Do you think her parents will have moved on? Do you think the people who are suffering now will have moved on? This is a rest of their lives incident.

Incident? What a kind way to say it. This is a rest of their lives tragedy. This is a rest of their lives slaughtering of human beings. Do you think they can just move on?

At some point on this infinite continuum that we call time, we are all going to have to account for our time. Somebody is going to have to account for this and the thousands of innocent people who lost their lives. It won't be simply: Well, I just cast a vote. I didn't do it. There is a connection. We have our fingerprints all over this, and we ought to do what we can to prevent it from continuing.

The man who has said this is his daughter, he indicates: ``This is my oldest daughter . . . her name is Lujain. She is 9 years old.''

This man has lost his 9-year-old daughter. It goes on to indicate: ``A strike hit them while they were playing out in the street. They are all just children.''

Mr. Speaker, I can't let it go. I am sorry. I can't. I wish I could, but I can't. These are babies. I can't let it go. I refuse to be a participant in this any longer. I have done it too long already. Too many babies have been killed. It has got to stop.

Don't expect me to continue to fund this. Say what you want about me, but I am not going to continue to fund this killing of babies and then making them mere numbers.

At some point, we have to come to our senses. Don't you see what we are doing to ourselves and our image in the world?

Don't you see what Mr. Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, is doing to Israel's image in the world?

Israel had the moral high ground. It is losing it. Some would say it has lost it.

Nonetheless, we are quick to return it if something happens in Israel. We are quick to return it: You now have it again.

I refuse--I refuse--to continue to fund this kind of atrocious behavior.

Voltaire was right: Those who can make you believe absurdities-- actually, it was: Those who can cause you to let's just say believe absurdities, there is another way he put it, but those who can cause you to believe absurdities can cause you to commit atrocities. That is not the exact word.

We now believe the absurd notion that it is all right to kill innocent men, women, and especially children, if in that process we are trying to get to a dastard who is hiding behind these innocent men, women, and children.

I refuse to continue to be part of this unbelievable killing of men, women, and children before our very eyes that we are funding. Now, someone would say: Well, the war in Ukraine, you are funding that.

We might remember that Ukraine is defending itself in a war where there has been an invasion.

I don't want war anywhere. Ukraine's innocent men, women, and children are being killed as well, but Russia is funding that. Russia has their fingerprints all over that, and I don't approve of what Russia is doing.

That is easy for us to say in this country. It is easy for us to condemn Russia for what Russia is doing. We do it without hesitation and without equivocation. We do it with no consternation--just Russia, we can do it.

Why?

It is because it is easy to look through the window of life at someone else and say: What you are doing is wrong. It is not so easy to look into the mirror of life and see the wrong that you are doing yourself. At some point we have to confess to what we are seeing in the mirror of life. If we don't, then we will still be judged. I assure you, Mr. Speaker, history is not going to be kind to us for what is happening in Gaza.

There are going to be people who are going to wonder: What was wrong with them? They saw it. They had evidence of it, and they still forged forward to get it over with. Finish it, they say. Finish it.

Finish this?

Get this over with?

Mr. Speaker, do you think that will be over for her?

I refuse to continue to support this.

Now, there will be some who say: If you can't do this, then you ought not be there because we expect you to cast the votes to do this.

Mr. Speaker, all I can say to that is: My conscience will dictate what I do. I will do what I must and let others do what they may.

Do what you will. I have not suggested to one of you that you have to vote a certain way. I am just telling you how I am going to vote. I am telling you, Mr. Speaker, that history is not going to be kind to all of us, and that includes me.

I voted for over $50 billion to go to the country of Israel. Not that very

long ago we voted more than $3 billion. I have been a supporter. I am still a supporter of the people. I am not a supporter of the Netanyahu administration. I support the people, not that administration, because what they are doing to the people of Gaza is ungodly. It is shameful. It is disgraceful. I will not support that.

Let others do what they may. If there are people who believe so strongly about this in the Ninth Congressional District that they want somebody who will tolerate this and go along with this, then send them on up here and take me out because I don't go along with it. I am not going to go along so that I can get along, not when it comes to this.

By the way, I am not a saint. I don't claim to be a saint. I just claim to be a person whose conscience dictates that I shall not support this kind of behavior.

Mr. Speaker, I will close with this: Notwithstanding all that I have said, I still love my country. I am an American. I believe I am of African ancestry. I have not checked my bloodline to find out, I don't know, but I love this country. It means something to me to say to people that I am an American.

I love it more than it has loved me. It segregated me. The rights that the Constitution recognized for me my friends and neighbors in the South took away from me, but I still love my country.

How can you love your country when your country has treated you the way it has: the back of the bus, balcony of the movie, step off the sidewalk when people come by, separate line for you at the grocery store, and colored water fountains, how can you love it?

It is because I love what it stands for and its noble ideals, the ideals of liberty and justice for all as extolled in the Pledge of Allegiance that we said at the genesis of this message. I love the ideal in the Declaration of Independence that all persons are created equal and endowed by their Creator with these inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This is why I have said that because I love these ideals, I believe we should export them to other people, but not export them in the sense that we want them to simply obey them and treat other people right, I think that is a good thing to do, but in the sense that we ought to respect her life, her liberty, and her desire to pursue happiness. We ought to respect her life. Export that to people across the globe, especially people who are trapped, trapped in Gaza and who can't get out. They have no place to go and are told to move from one place to another.

Let's give them the benefit of these noble words: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I will do so in every way that I can. I believe in this country, and I love it to the extent that I believe we ought to make that noble ideal real for people in this country and without this country, especially the people who are in Gaza.

Mr. Speaker, as a proud Member of this Congress and a proud American in the sense that I love my country because of its great ideals, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise.

I rise proud to be an American, proud to have the opportunity to stand here in the Congress of the United States of America and address issues of importance to the world.

I am proud to say that as an American, I salute the flag. I say the Pledge of Allegiance. I sing the national anthem. I stand for the anthem, but, Mr. Speaker, as I always remind people, as a liberated Democrat, I remind them, the greatness of America will not be measured by whether the Al Green's of the world will stand and salute the flag or will stand and sing the national anthem.

The greatness of America will be measured by whether the Al Green's of the world will defend those who choose not to stand, who choose not to sing, who choose not to salute. I will defend their rights as Americans not to participate in many things that I participate in.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that when I tell people I love my country, a good many would say to me, why would you love a country that segregated you? Why would you love a country that required you to sit in the back of the bus, the balcony of a movie? Why would you love a country that has treated you so badly and so poorly when you were a child?

I was the son of a segregated South. The laws that the Constitution recognized for me, my friends and neighbors denied access to those laws, if you will.

But I have found that the best opportunity to make a difference in the world and change these things resides here in the United States of America. I love the country because I love the ideals, the ideals, what it stands for in its Declaration of Independence, what it stands for in its Constitution. I know that the Constitution did not apply equally to all when initially written, but I also know that there have been changes and there is still much change to take place.

I love my country, but I still believe that there must be things that we can do and there are things we can do to make the country a better place for all.

Therefore, today, I rise, Mr. Speaker, to speak on behalf of the many persons who have lost their lives, who have suffered in Gaza. The United States funds, funds the country that has purchased the weaponry, much of it, that has been used to harm people in Gaza. We have our fingerprints on these weapons. We have our fingerprints on the destruction that is taking place in Gaza.

I rise to stand with the innocent Palestinian men, women, and children, especially children, as well as others who were in Gaza who have suffered.

I rise, Mr. Speaker, with a resolution that I will be filing, a resolution that will be commemorating the innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza.

I plan to read this resolution, but before I read it, I will remind people, those who would think that I only commemorate the lives of Palestinians and those who lost their lives in Gaza who happen to be Palestinian. No. I was right here on the Capitol grounds just outside this building--you walk out, you walk over, you don't really walk down to the place where we stood to present our belief that we should bring back the hostages.

I participated in this with the Honorable Frederica Wilson from Florida to bring back the hostages, to say to the world that we support bringing the hostages back. They should never have been taken. You don't take babies as hostages.

I stood there, and before that, I was out in front of the Capitol with the Speaker of the House and many Representatives from this House to indicate that a certain number of days had passed and people were still being held hostage. I have spoken on the floor of this House on behalf of Israel. I have voted for more than $50 billion in support to Israel. So don't in any way conclude that I am a person who has not supported Israel and the people of Israel.

But today, I have a resolution that deals with the innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, and that would include, by the way, the seven people who were wounded, who were the World Central Kitchen workers. They were there to bring relief. It is a relief organization, but I say they were great humanitarians who lost their lives, and their lives have to be commemorated as well.

Please, hear now the resolution commemorating innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza:

``Whereas, this resolution may be cited as the `Original Resolution Commemorating Innocent Civilian Lives Lost in Gaza.' ''

By the way, it hasn't been filed. If someone wants to file a resolution similar to this before I file mine, please do so. I don't file it because I am trying to be first in time. I file it because there is a necessity to talk about the lives that have been lost in Gaza.

``Whereas, this resolution may be cited as the `Original Resolution Commemorating Innocent Civilian Lives Lost in Gaza.' ''

By the way, one of the reasons that I filed this resolution, Mr. Speaker, is because I believe we must do more than statisticize these lives that were lost. We must do more to humanize the suffering that is taking place in Gaza. Statisticizing does not give you the essence of the human beings that have lost their lives and been wounded.

I will say more about that as we progress.

``Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas conducted a heinous attack on Israel, leading to Israel declaring war on Hamas.''

This is not in the resolution, but you need to hear this: War on Hamas, Mr. Speaker. Not war on Palestinians, war on Hamas. Even the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu himself, has said that the Palestinians are victims. War on Hamas declared by Israel, not war on Palestinians.

Continuing with the resolution: ``Whereas, in 2020, the population of Gaza was over 2 million, with approximately half being children under the age of 18.''

Half, more than half being children under the age of 18. I repeat a lot of things for emphasis. This is one of those things.

``Whereas, because of the war, homes, schools, businesses, and hospitals within Gaza have been decimated.''

I will say more about that in a moment.

``Whereas, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian men, women, and especially children in Gaza have suffered through the loss of mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters''--family members, families have lost their lives in Gaza; innocent people, I might add--``while starving and suffering the mental anguish associated with war.''

Can you imagine what it would be like for the persons who survive this war, what their lives will be like? Will there be counseling for them as we provide counseling for ourselves when we have suffered some sort of mental anguish? Or will they just have to suffer for the rest of their lives and never get the proper medical treatment that they richly deserve?

``Whereas, civilians in Gaza live in constant fear of the sudden loss of arms, legs, and life.''

I will say more about this in just a moment.

``Whereas, tens of thousands of innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have been brutally killed in a war beyond their control: Now, therefore, be it resolved that the House of Representatives commemorates the tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, too many of whom were children; the lives lost should be viewed as more than statistics''--so far what I have done is give you statistics, for the most part, ``more than mere statistics''-- ``an effort should be made to respect the humanity of the dead; the killing of innocents should be stopped with all possible haste; and the United States should do everything it can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.''

I thank the President for causing the necessary aid to be brought back into Gaza. I don't know that enough has been brought back to date, but I do know that because of this President, the gates have been opened such that more aid can get into Gaza. I am grateful for that.

Now, let's go further into this because we have to humanize some of what I talked about. First, this poster that you see, my staff has written me a note that I have to remove. This poster that you see reads: Gaza's economy would not recover to its GDP levels of 2022 until 2092, seven decades from now--2092--if the economy were to grow at the pace it has in previous years. 2092 before Gaza can recover if its economy grows at the pace that it grew in previous years.

According to my staff, in 2022, Gaza's per capita income was $3,572, which is 4 percent of what ours was in the United States. Ours was $76,329. This simply says that to get back to a per capita income that was painful to suffer, it will take seven decades if it grows at the rate that it was growing in 2022.

Now, this is a depiction of the destruction. You have seen it on television. I am still dealing with statistics, by the way. I haven't really gotten to the heart of the message. If you can, stay with me.

This depicts the suffering visually in terms of property that has been destroyed. It says, ``Israel's destruction.'' I would have this read, ``the Government of Israel.'' The people of Israel I have no quarrel with. I do have a quarrel with the government. I have no quarrel with the people of Israel. I have had differences of opinion with my government and still love the people in the country. You can have people that you have no quarrel with, but you can have a difference with the government.

I would say the destruction of homes--and this is by virtue of the government's mandate--has created almost 23 million metric tons of rubble--23 million metric tons. My staff has given me some intelligence on what 23 million metric tons would be the equivalent of for reference. One metric ton is roughly equal to the weight of a small compact car. If we lined up 23 million compact cars end to end, you would be able to circle the globe--this would be the Earth--twice.

Now, I know that the fighting is not what it was. I understand that there is what we would call a cessation in fighting to some extent taking place at this time, but there is a possibility that it may return.

Even if it never returns, we can't forget that this happened. We can never forget that this took place. Just as I will never forget that slavery took place in this country, I won't ever forget that this took place in Gaza.

God gave us memory for a reason. You have a heart to forgive, but you have a head to remember. I won't forget this. If it ends now, I will still remember the suffering and pain and all the atrocities that took place in Gaza.

Continuing, this is a representation that starts to get to where I am going. It reads: ``The catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population.''

This document will tell me what the IPC is, and I shall tell you. It is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the highest ever recorded happening in Gaza now. This is not something that happened ages ago.

We are getting closer to the essence of my message: Of the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, about 70 percent have been women and children. There are estimates out there of tens of thousands. If you give the estimate that is being quoted, someone will say that is a bad source that you got it from, but nobody disputes the fact that tens of thousands have been killed, tens of thousands. Seventy percent have been women and children in the war to date. I won't forget this.

Now, to the heart of my message, this says more than 10 children lose a limb, on average, per day in Gaza. Now, that was a while ago. That was as of January 7, 2024, so it may be a lot different today because of the cessation in hostilities--not the complete stop. They haven't ceased, but there is not as much, not nearly as much, taking place currently.

What you see here is a child, this child I shall read about, and this gets to what I was saying about humanizing. We have to humanize not statisticize. This is more than a number. This is an actual child. We must humanize this baby.

I will read to you now from The New Yorker. The article is styled: ``The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza,'' subtitled, ``More than a thousand children who were injured in the war are now amputees. What do their futures hold?''

This is by Eliza Griswold, March 21, 2024. It reads: ``Gazal''--her name is Gazal, we are not saying Gaza, her name is Gazal, this baby-- ``was wounded on November 10, when, as her family fled Gaza City's Al- Shifa hospital, shrapnel pierced her left calf. To stop the bleeding, a doctor, who had no access to antiseptic or anesthesia, heated the blade of a kitchen knife''--she was bleeding as a result of shrapnel, and the doctor took a kitchen knife and heated the knife, it says here-- ``heated the blade of a kitchen knife and cauterized the wound.''

Now, this baby has to be more than a piece of statistical information. This is a human being suffering, and she had the wound cauterized with a heated kitchen knife.

It says: ``Within days, the gash ran with pus and began to smell.''

Now, this is somebody's child. The gash ran with pus and began to smell. Can you imagine what your life would be like if your child had suffered this kind of wound and you had to use a kitchen knife to cauterize, to try to save your baby's life, and then, within days, the gash starts to smell?

``By mid-December, when Gazal's family arrived at Nasser Medical Center, then Gaza's largest functioning healthcare facility''--by the way, it was rendered dysfunctional; if it has been brought back up, it was done so as of late; it was rendered dysfunctional during the war-- ``then Gaza's largest functioning medical facility, gangrene had set in.''

So, we have a baby wounded. Her leg is cauterized, and she is then taken to a hospital because of pus. The cauterized leg is smelling. We have to make sure that you understand that there was an odor that this family detected. It said that gangrene set in, necessitating amputation at the hip. This is a human being.

We have got to do more to humanize. We can't say that children are losing their limbs. A baby lost her leg up to her hip. We have got to do more to humanize. This baby had purpose. She had a life.

Now, someone will say, well, this is not Gaza. It doesn't look like Gaza. If the baby was wounded in Gaza, why is she in this environment? I will get to that. I will get to that.

``On December 17 a projectile''--now remember, she is at this medical center. ``On December 17, a projectile hit the children's ward of Nasser.'' That is the hospital. ``Gazal and her mother watched it enter their room . . . `' They are in the hospital now to receive attention to the wound that this baby suffered earlier, and they watched--this is amazing to me--watched it enter the room. They are saying the projectile came into the room, and they saw it as it was coming in.

Can you imagine the fear? Can you imagine the kind of counseling and psychiatric help you need when you see this?

So this projectile comes into the room, and here is what follows: `` . . .

decapitating Gazal's 12-year-old roommate and causing the ceiling to collapse.'' Gazal had a roommate in that facility. This person, 12 years of age, is decapitated.

By the way, Israelis were decapitated, too. I denounced it. I denounced it. I don't believe you can condemn the killing of Israeli babies and then condone the killing of Palestinian babies. I can't do that. The God that I worship doesn't let me do that.

This projectile decapitated Gazal's 12-year-old roommate and caused the ceiling to collapse. ``Multiple news reports have described the event as an Israeli attack. The IDF claimed the incident could have been caused by a Hamas mortar or the remnant of an Israeli flare.'' Now, IDF says it could have been caused by Hamas or Israel. ``Gazal and her mother managed to crawl out of the rubble.'' Here is a baby with one leg amputated up to the hip in a facility to get help, and she has to crawl out. ``Gazal's mother was 9 months pregnant; she gave birth to a baby girl while awaiting the airlift to Doha.

``UNICEF estimates that a thousand children in Gaza have become amputees since the conflict began in October. `This is the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history,''' it says, and it is taking place in Gaza.

My time is nearly up, so I have to rush to my close, and I am going to do so, Mr. Speaker, so I beg you would bear with me. This closing has to be heard.

Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining.

Mr. Speaker, we have statisticized, I have tried to humanize, and forgive me for not enunciating some of these words, the verbiage, properly, but my heart was speaking today so my head sometimes gets distorted.

We have humanized this baby. We have talked about what is happening and what has happened.

Now I want to talk to you about something that will give us hope. This is from the speech of the Prime Minister of Japan. He spoke where the Speaker is standing right now. Why would I go to the speech of the Prime Minister from Japan? Well, here is why. Listen to his words. He says--and this is his conclusion--``Let me close with this final thought. I want you to know how seriously Japan takes its role as the United States' closest ally.''

Somebody remembers that the United States was the first country in the world to use nuclear power against a perceived enemy. An enemy, if you will--some would say perceived, I am going to say an enemy at the time. We dropped two atomic bombs, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and you have got the Prime Minister of Japan standing where the Speaker is now saying that we are their closest ally, they are our closest ally.

He goes on to say: ``Together we carry a large responsibility. I believe that we are essential to peace, vital to freedom, and fundamental to prosperity.''

This is the Prime Minister of Japan. Notwithstanding all that has happened, notwithstanding what we did in dropping atomic bombs on Japan, the Prime Minister proclaims that we are friends.

He goes on to say: ``Bonded by our beliefs, I pledge to you Japan's firm alliance and enduring friendship.''

Why did I bring this up? I brought this up because those who say that we cannot have a two-state solution, I say to you remember that Japan is the country that we dropped atomic bombs on, and we now have a friendship with Japan. We have the Prime Minister coming here and speaking to a joint session of Congress.

Don't tell me we can't have a two-state solution. I know that Mr. Netanyahu's behavior is not that of a person who seeks a two-state solution because if it were, you wouldn't decimate Gaza, you wouldn't kill tens of thousands of people, many of them babies.

I understand that he doesn't want a two-state solution. I understand that Hamas doesn't want a two-state solution. But we cannot be guided by what Hamas and Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, what they want.

We should be guided by our conscience and do the right thing, and a two-state solution is the right solution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 2 o'clock and 22 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until Monday, April 15, 2024, at noon for morning-hour debate.

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a proud, liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. In the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, I rise, a great and noble American.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on another mission of mercy. I rise today because this morning, at approximately 4:30 a.m., I was reviewing a news story. In this news story, there was an indication that there was death in Haiti. I had an opportunity to see on the screen of my television the horrors that were emanating from the story.

Mr. Speaker, I saw a person lying in the street who was apparently without life. It is not a pleasant thing to see someone without life, but to see a person lying in the street without life, with only a portion of the body discernible, was quite an experience.

As I saw this person lying in the street, Mr. Speaker, I also saw persons passing by. Most of them were on vehicles of the two-wheel variety. As they passed by, some of them looked but others barely glanced. Among those passing by were young and old, but also there was a person who was with law enforcement who passed by a body lying in the street.

Someone was interviewed, and it was explained by the person interviewed that this person had been attacked, had been attacked by people who were of the opinion that they were defending themselves. They attacked this person with machetes and severed limbs from the body. At least that is the way it appeared to me as I viewed this on my TV screen. It was quite shocking and appalling to see this body lying in the street with people just simply passing by.

Haiti is a country in turmoil. If you believe that injustice anywhere, as Dr. King put it, is a threat to justice everywhere, you have to be concerned about what is happening in Haiti. You have to be concerned. The statistical information related to the atrocities that are occurring can stir the soul, can literally cause persons to come to tears, if you truly care about people.

I would like to share some of the information. Hopefully, those who believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere will have some concern about the injustice that is taking place in Haiti.

According to the U.N. Special Representative for Haiti, more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti in the last year. The last year alone, more than 8,400 people have been victims of gang violence.

Now, Haiti is a country with a population of a little more than 11 million, perhaps about 11,500,000. Haiti is a country that is closer to the United States than Houston, Texas, is to El Paso, Texas. Haiti is just off of our shores. We ought to be concerned.

Haiti, last year, including killings, injuries, and kidnappings, had about a 122 percent increase over 2022. The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, warned that across Haiti, last year, at least 3,600 people had been killed, 1,432 injured, and 2,951 kidnapped in gang-related violence, and this was as of November.

The number of injuries in Haiti, according to United Nations quarterly report on human rights, situated in Haiti, lynchings-- lynchings are something that causes me a good deal of concern with my history. My history is one that has suffered great lynchings--lynchings have left at least 76 people dead across the country. At least 1,634 people were killed or injured as a result of violence by criminal groups. Gangs of people killed 1,634 people.

At least 693 people were kidnapped in the last quarter of 2023, an increase of 18 percent over the previous quarter. At least 53 children, some as young as 6 months old, were kidnapped, killed, or injured during the last quarter of 2023.

This ought to cause people who believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere to have some concern.

Almost 500 children had no time to escape from a school they were trapped in and had to remain in that school for some 2 days.

The healthcare situation in Haiti has greatly deteriorated. According to the Guardian, Haiti's healthcare system has all but collapsed amid the ferocious gang insurrection that is taking place. Hospitals have been set ablaze. Doctors have been murdered. Even basic medical supplies have dried up. Currently, only one public hospital in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, remains operational, but it is expected to shut its doors.

Mr. Speaker, a summary of the food situation can bring one to ask how we could allow such circumstances to exist. According to NPR, since the COVID virus took its toll, at least 4 million people in Haiti have been acutely food insecure. Now, out of those 4 million, 1 million are one step away from famine.

According to the Washington Post, there were disturbances in January, and food prices jumped 25 percent in the south where roadblocks came up and trucks weren't able to get to Port-au-Prince with basic necessities.

Mr. Speaker, the World Food Programme survey found that as prices go up, household incomes are going down, because people can't go to work and are sheltering in place and aren't going to earn money.

If we truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, we have to be concerned about the persons in Haiti because many of them will want to leave and seek safety elsewhere. Some of them will make an attempt to come to this country.

Unfortunately, our country has a history of turning Haitians away. It wasn't that long ago that as the persons from Cuba were escaping Cuba and coming to this country, we had a policy that was styled as, known as, called, if you will, wet-foot/dry-foot.

This policy of wet-foot/dry-foot would allow a Cuban to get one foot on dry land in the United States of America and then move forward into the country, move forward on a pathway that would lead to jobs, that would lead to a better life, and possibly lead to citizenship in the country. Wet-foot/dry-foot was the name of the policy. It applied to Cubans.

At the same time Cubans were arriving in this country from Castro's Cuba, as we have called it, Haitians were arriving. Haitians were fleeing poverty, despair, hunger, and death. At the same time Cubans were arriving, the Haitians could get both feet on dry land, could acquire a job, but if they were discovered, they were sent back to Haiti.

There was one policy for persons coming from Cuba, known as wet-foot/ dry-foot. That is the way the policy was styled. There was another policy for persons coming from Haiti that would cause them to be returned to Haiti, back to despair, back to poverty, and some of them back to lives that are unthinkable as we envision life for human beings.

We have not treated Haiti fairly when compared to how we treated others within this hemisphere, a country that is closer to the United States than Houston, Texas, is to El Paso, Texas.

Mr. Speaker, if we truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, we ought to release the $40 million that are available to help Haiti. We have $40 million available that we could release if we only agree to let the money that has already been appropriated go to Haiti. We have $40 million available. It is not enough, but more than they would have, and it would be of help to some.

Two people out of 435, plus 100 in the Senate, are holding up this money that could go to Haiti and help the Haitian people. If you truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, release the $40 million, release the money to Haiti.

There could be any number of reasons why you would hold the money, but in my opinion, what is happening in Haiti, as I have explained it, would justify releasing the money. Release the money so that Haiti can get some of the help that it needs.

Voltaire reminded us that those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

It is an absurdity to believe that holding onto this $40 million is somehow going to benefit us and the people in Haiti. That $40 million ought to be released.

It is an absurdity to think that holding onto this $40 million is somehow going to improve conditions in Haiti. I don't believe anyone believes that.

Nonetheless, I also would hope that no one believes that holding onto the $40 million is more important than helping those persons who are suffering in Haiti. We ought to release this $40 million. It is an absurdity to hold onto this money, and, Mr. Speaker, those who can cause you to believe absurdities can cause you to commit atrocities.

In truth, our fingerprints now are on some of what is happening in Haiti because we could prevent some of what is happening in Haiti with the funds that have already been allocated, but because we refuse to send the $40 million, people are going to suffer.

Not enough money is the $40 million, but it is more than they have, and it can alleviate some of the suffering that is taking place.

I rise on this mission of mercy with an appeal to the two people who but with their signatures could release $40 million to suffering people.

Use that pen to make a difference. Take your hand, Mr. Speaker, grab

that pen, and release that $40 million to the Haitians who can benefit from it.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and we have a threat that is imminent and can, unfortunately, take its place across the gulf and find its home here in this country.

Injustice does not stay within the confines of any one border if it persists long enough. It is time for us to help the people in Haiti and release the $40 million.

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

Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 96.

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I rise to honor the memory of a noble public servant Harris County Justice of the Peace Judge Armando V. Rodriguez. Elected to Harris County's Precinct 6, Place 2 in 1973, Judge Armando V. Rodriguez became the first Hispanic to hold the title of Harris County Justice of the Peace. He served our county admirably for more than four decades and was known as the longest-tenured judge in Harris County.

The Honorable Judge V. Rodriguez was not just a holder of public trust but a justice seeker, community leader, and coalition builder. Judge Rodriguez exercised compassion and experience to boldly advocate for and protect his community. Judge Rodriguez went above and beyond the call of duty when he founded Fiestas Patrias, an organization that celebrates the diversity and cultures of Latin America and culminated into an annual parade that is still being held today. Judge Rodriguez's efforts also included the creation of the Black and Brown Coalition, which we co-founded together.

Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate enough to say that I knew and worked alongside The Honorable Judge Armando V. Rodriguez for many years. I believe that when history records the legacy of Judge Rodriguez, he will be forever

remembered for his caring and candid demeanor as he worked to serve local communities, his county, as well as his country.

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. And still I rise.

I rise as a very proud unbought, unbossed, and unafraid liberated Democrat. In the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, she was, as she proclaimed, unbought and unbossed.

I rise also as the scion of the enslaved Africans whose lives were sacrificed to make America great. I rise as the progenitor of Slavery Remembrance Day, August 20, Slavery Remembrance Day. All of these things are important to me because all of these things are associated with my history.

So I rise today in the spirit of Shirley Chisholm. I rise to speak and address an issue that is little known to most persons. The issue has to do with domicide.

Domicide. I will repeat this again in just a moment, but I think it will serve us well to articulate it at this moment. Domicide is the widespread or systematic destruction of homes, often during conflict.

I will be saying more about it in just a moment.

This is to whet your appetite, if you will, Mr. Speaker, to get you in the frame of mind such that you will start to give some thought to this word ``domicide,'' which more than likely you have not seen prior to today. Domicide is something that is new to most of us.

In addressing this issue of domicide, I would like to read from an article published by NPR styled: ``What is `domicide,' and why has war in Gaza brought new attention to the term?''

It is an article that was written by Becky Sullivan on February 9, 2024, in NPR. These are the words of NPR:

``One of the most staggering statistics to emerge from the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas is this: More than 650,000 residents of Gaza will have no home to return to once Israel completes its military campaign, the United Nations estimates.''

Once Israel completes its military campaign, there will be no home to return to.

According to NPR: That total amounts to nearly 30 percent of the territory's population. And `many more' will be unable to return home immediately due to damage to infrastructure and the danger of unexploded ordnance, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, says.''

It is disturbing to note that some 650,000 residents in an area that has approximately 2 million persons, a little more than 2 million, will have no home to return to, and it is indicated that

this will be the case once Israel completes its military campaign.

Let me step aside from the article for just a moment and say this: What Hamas did on October 7 was unthinkable. It was a dastardly deed. It will live in the annals of history with those other dastardly deeds that we all regret having to recall to our minds. It was horrible, it was unthinkable, and it is horrific. This is what Hamas did, and Israel declared war on Hamas.

Israel has a right to demand justice and to receive justice for the dastardly deeds perpetuated. Babies were killed, men and women were killed, and persons were decapitated.

Israel has a right to seek justice.

Israel declared war on Hamas.

Israel did not declare war on Palestinians or Palestine.

Israel did not declare war on the people of Palestine.

In fact, Mr. Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, had indicated himself that the Palestinians are victims. The Palestinians are victims.

Israel did not declare war on the Palestinians, but rather on Hamas.

I say this repeatedly with the emphasis that I have attributed to these commentaries because there are many people who have confused Hamas with Palestine and Palestinians. Many people assume that because of what Hamas did, Palestinians can suffer and it is okay; many people have concluded.

It is wrong to kill Israeli babies. It is wrong to kill innocent people in Israel.

Be that as it may, many people have concluded that it is okay to kill Palestinian babies and innocent Palestinians.

I am not one of them. I do not believe that in the name of justice you can commit an injustice and that injustice will be a justice. An injustice committed in the name of justice is still an injustice. What has happened to thousands of Palestinian babies in the course of this war on Hamas is an injustice.

Let me continue. I have indicated that some 650,000 residents of Gaza will have no home to return to once Israel completes its military campaign. This is according to the United Nations. It also estimates: ``That total amounts to nearly 30 percent of the territory's population. And `many more' will be unable to return home immediately due to damage to infrastructure.''

Now, this is in addition to the 650,000. In addition to the 650,000, many more won't be able to return home due to damage to infrastructure and the danger of unexploded ordnance, the United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA--I don't know how to pronounce it--OCHA says.

``As of early February, more than 70,000 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed and nearly 300,000 have been damaged. . . . `' This is according to the organization, OCHA, the one that coordinates the humanitarian affairs.

It goes on to say here in the article: ``Taken together, it represents 60 percent of all housing units in the Gaza strip.'' That is 60 percent of all housing units.

``Some researchers and human rights advocates say the destruction amounts to `domicide,'''--which I have called to your attention, domicide--``or the widespread or systematic destruction of homes, often during conflict.''

To a reader in a faraway place--this would apply to a lot of us.

``To a reader in a faraway place with no connection to a conflict, the numbers may feel abstract. But behind each of those numbers are families now experiencing the loss of their homes, said Ammar Azzouz, a research fellow at the University of Oxford and author of the book `Domicide: Architecture, War, and the Destruction of Home in Syria'.''

``This is the house of a family,'' he goes on to say, ``of the saving, the livelihood, the dreams, and the future of the people.'' This is what Azzouz said.

Let me just elaborate for just a moment.

This is the house of a family. Can you imagine your home being destroyed? You have done nothing wrong and your home is destroyed.

He indicates that savings will be destroyed. Most people don't buy homes with cash; they have to save. In this country, they have a mortgage for some long period of time, perhaps 30 years, even more if you have to refinance for some reason.

But this is your home and you invested your life savings to a certain extent in this home, so your savings are lost if your home is destroyed.

The livelihood, this is a means by which people can make a living. Some people literally have home offices for various businesses that they are engaged in. Your home is a place that allows you to dream of better things, of better places, of better times; dreams about things that have happened to you and things that you plan to do.

Your home provides you the opportunity to think big, dream big, and believe that there is a better opportunity in the future, but it is lost once your home is destroyed.

It is the future of people. Homes have been the means by which people have been able to finance a child's education. Homes have been the means by which persons can start a small business with the equity that they have in the home. Homes have provided people with a future.

He goes on to say, ``And when the world's gaze''--when the world's attention, if you will, when the world is no longer looking at Gaza and the Palestinians, he goes on to say, ``When the world's gaze moves on and forgets about what happened, this pain and suffering and rupture remains with the people for decades. . . . `'

You don't lose your home, have your home blown away, bombed, destroyed, and just forget about it. It becomes a nightmare. Your dream becomes a nightmare. You will for years, decades, perhaps the rest of your life, remember that you lost your home and then you have to start all over again.

If you are young, starting all over may be something that you can accomplish with a degree of ease, but many of these persons who are losing their homes in Gaza are not young. They are not starting all over as youngsters who have years ahead of them. Many of them are seeking a place to call home, shelter, if you will, in places that have been destroyed. Maybe there is a corner that they can move into and perhaps they can pull some cover over themselves at night. They bring their babies with them, their children with them as they move into these places to try to find shelter.

Let's take a look at one possibility.

This is a depiction of destruction in Gaza. You have two adults with children out front. I don't know that this is their home, if they were ever living in any of these areas that are represented in the picture, but this is a place where someone dwelled and, as you can see, it has been destroyed.

This has to be painful when you realize that years of savings, years of building, and repairing all gone up with one bomb that has our fingerprints on it, by the way, because we have provided largesse to Israel.

Some might say, well, maybe the money didn't go directly toward that bomb. Perhaps not. Perhaps not, but as my colleagues from across the aisle like to remind me, there is something called ``fungibility,'' meaning that moneys that are set aside for one thing, once you acquire some additional dollars, you can use that money for other things.

We have our fingerprints on this destruction, and we ought to be concerned about the harm that it is going to cause not just in the near future but in the distant future, immediate harm, as well as long-term harm.

I continue now with the NPR article. For fear that some may have missed the last paragraph, I will read it again. ``This is the house of a family, of the saving, the livelihood, the dreams and the future of people.''

This is what Azzouz said, ``And when the world's gaze moves on,'' when the world is no longer paying attention, if you will, ``moves on and forgets about what's happened, this pain''--these are the persons who will experience the pain to a certain extent--``and suffering and rupture remains with people for decades, because this was their lost life, their lost time, and they grieve for it.''

Your life is in your home. Your time is in your home. We have to start to think about what is happening to people now as a result of our largesse. Our largesse is permitting this kind of thing to happen to people that war has not been declared against.

Remember, the war was declared against Hamas, not the Palestinians.

Continuing with the NPR article. ``Domicide has come to be a feature of conflict in the Middle East''--this is what he said--``from Mosul in Iraq to Aleppo and Homs in his native Syria. Azzouz and others argue that this kind of destruction wreaks deep psychological damage on people.''

Can you imagine how hurt you would be mentally if you have your home destroyed and you have done nothing wrong and you are innocent? Can you imagine how this pain lingers within your mind?

He says it is ``deep psychological damage on people, for whom the loss of their home means a deeply felt loss of security.'' No home. You have lost your security. The home is a place where you feel secure. You lock your doors. You are there with your family. Everybody is in and you feel safe and secure. It remains a place of loss of security, of comfort, and memories.

The memories of the children growing up and the many little things that happen in the home. The baby taking his first step in the room where, in some cases, the baby was born, unfortunately.

Now, the article in NPR moves on to what the numbers show in Gaza.

``More than half of all buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed as of February 2, according to analysis of satellite imagery by a team of researchers at Oregon State University.''

This is NPR now quoting Oregon State University researchers as well as it says here, `` . . . the City University of New York. In northern Gaza, the most populous area of the territory before the war, as much as 82.9 percent of all buildings were damaged or destroyed.''

This is in northern Gaza where people were told you have to move because the military is coming and you will be safe if you move to another area, which we have found not to be the case, by the way.

Let's take a look at another picture.

This is a representation. This is Gaza. I am not sure that it is northern Gaza, but if you look at the destruction here, you can see the lost dreams, the hopes, the security. The destruction is almost unimaginable. It is unimaginable in the sense that this is being perpetrated on innocent people.

Here is an example of an innocent person, a young Palestinian child. Obviously, we should be concerned first about this child. The home and other tangible things are important, but first about this child.

This child may have no home to return to. Notice I said may. I don't know this child's personal history, but may have no home to return to. This child is injured, suffering, may have no home to return to. If not this child, some child who has been injured will have no home to return to.

And when you see this child, as I have begged in the past and I appeal to you now, don't just see a Palestinian child, see a human being, a human being that is suffering. See an Israeli child. See your own child, care, and have a heart. Understand that injustice in the name of justice is still injustice. This is an injustice.

Many of the persons who had to leave their homes did not leave in the mode of transportation that would be familiar to us. Here is a family. They are having to vacate, and in so doing, they find themselves with what appears to be as much as they can carry on a cart that is being drawn with a donkey.

They are already poor, already in poverty by standards that we recognize. They lost their home or are leaving their home. I don't know their personal history, so I can't say that these persons lost their home in the bombing, but I can tell you that somebody similar to these persons, if not these persons did, when the numbers that I called to your attention are as large as they are.

So it may not be these persons, but it has been some people that have had to evacuate, had to vacate and move on because the bombs were coming, and they came.

Here is another picture of a child suffering. We can conclude that the child is suffering because the head is bandaged, and there is some sort of tube that has been inserted in the child's mouth.

Suffering, I keep bringing this to your attention because we cannot allow the Palestinians to become just casualties of war. That is all-- just casualties of war.

I refuse to allow Israelis to be casualties of war, innocent people, and I am going to stand for the Palestinians in the same vein as I stand for the Israelis. They are not just casualties of war. These are human beings.

If this child survives, 10, 15, 20 years from now, what will the psychological impact of this be on that child? Some 20 years from now, how will this impact this child's behavior? Does anybody really care, or do we just want to bomb what we see as Gaza and Hamas into oblivion? Do we just want to bomb them into oblivion and, in the process, kill innocent babies?

Nobody could claim that this baby was a part of Hamas. This baby looks to be not older than 3 or 4 years of age at most, probably. I am being generous in saying 3 or 4. This is a baby.

We are the United States of America. We care about people. We are the country with the Statue of Liberty. We are the country with the words: All persons are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We are the country that pledges allegiance to a flag, and we announce as we do so that there should be liberty and justice for all.

We are the United States of America. We cannot condone this. We cannot condone it. We cannot, in one breath, condemn the killing of innocent Israelis, innocent babies in Israel, and then condone this, find some way in our minds to justify that it is okay for this to occur.

If you hurt an Israeli baby, you have done something dastardly. Well, this is a baby, too. For those who believe in the right to life, does this child have a right to life? I say yes.

Continuing, an NPR article, not Al Green. This is from NPR, published on February 9, 2024, written by Becky Sullivan. This is NPR:

``More than half of all buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed as of February 2, according to analysis of satellite imagery by a team of researchers at Oregon State University and the City University of New York. In northern Gaza, the most populous area of the territory before the war, as much as 82.9 percent of all buildings were damaged or destroyed.

``Israel's military says its strikes in response to October 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people. . . . `'

Let me just stop. I am going to finish the sentence, but I have to say this. ``Killed'' is too polite a word for what Hamas did. It really is. When you decapitate people, ``killed'' is not the word that we can use, and ``decapitation'' is too polite. These are words for polite society.

What they did was something that human beings ought not have to witness.

Let me conclude with this. Friends, we have to care because we have our fingerprints on these issues, and I only pray and hope that we will do something to help the people of Palestine.

Humanitarian aid is absolutely necessary, and I pray that the country that provided the largesse that made much of this possible will be the same country to provide the humanitarian aid to help the people of Palestine who are suffering immeasurable harm.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 11 o'clock and 51 minutes a.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until Friday, March 15, 2024, at 11 a.m.

Mr. Chair, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall No. 73.