Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Colorado with almost the same name as me. I appreciate him leading this important time for us here tonight, especially as we encroach upon Christmas, which a lot of times can be made into something else besides the celebration of our Savior.

The Bible serves as a compass, guiding us through life's journey, illuminating the path of its teachings, parables, and wisdom. It is indeed more than a collection of words. It is a living testament to the grace, power, and unwavering love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Its narratives reveal the depth of God's faithfulness, His miraculous interventions, and His promise of salvation--if we would just ask for it.

The Bible has played, of course, an integral role in shaping the values, principles, and visions of the early pioneers who sought freedom in this country, who did not want to be dictated by a monarch as to what religion they would follow.

We have that freedom in this country. We don't have a state-sponsored religion. We don't have a preferred one, even though many based the founding of this country on Christian and Biblical values, the Judeo- Christian ideal. They don't force it on anyone in this country.

We hear a lot of fuss about the separation of church and state. That is really a misnomer. It is not in the Constitution, and it is not what everybody is about. No one has to prescribe to any particular type, but we encourage it because there is salvation in it.

As we celebrate the week of the Bible here, it is the inerrant Word of God, inspired. The teachings in it are positive values for anybody. They stand the test of time. They stand above the whims of Congress, of people, or of governing. If we embrace that, it is indeed better for all of us and for all of our families.

The Pilgrims sought that religious freedom 300-plus years ago, and many have been seeking it since. As we see more and more persecution of people's religious beliefs, we have to put a stop to that and, indeed, honor what is so formative in this country and its basic freedoms.

As we honor National Bible Week, we do recognize the impact extends far beyond individual faith practices. It is indeed part of our Nation's story. It serves as an anchor, offering solace, hope, and guidance in the world--indeed, inspired by God, given to mankind.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this time and opportunity to put the spotlight on this because it is a very selfless thing. We hope you will take time to read it. It will inspire.

Mr. Speaker, today, as you know, marks the 82nd anniversary of the dirty attack on Pearl Harbor, where the U.S. was thrown into war by the Imperial Japanese military.

Indeed, we should never ever forget, and we should always have vigilance and readiness.

At the time right now when our world is in great peril, I worry about the readiness we have in order to do what we need to do to protect ourselves and those allies we care about.

Some of my best memories are with some of the people I knew who were involved in Pearl Harbor, such as my dear friend, Mel Fisher, and his wife, Cathy, on the 69th, when I was able to attend Pearl Harbor ceremonies with them on the USS Arizona. That was a great moment for me to be involved. I also think of a great patriot, over 100 years old and still living in Grass Valley, California, my good friend, Lou Conter, the last surviving member of the USS Arizona.

I think of people like that, and I think of these brave folks who stand in the gap for us and for our country on this day. We should honor them as we honor them every day, by being good citizens for freedom in this country.

Mr. Speaker, what it really boils down to is choice for Americans, affordable choices. Just because we want to be part of this green agenda here, constantly crying about climate change doesn't mean it is going to be good for Americans.

These mandates, for example, on trucks will add 16,000 pounds of weight that is no longer part of the cargo capacity for trucks. On automobiles, it is adding about $13,000 to the price of a car.

Little credit has been given for how efficient and clean internal combustion engines run these days. This is all a big CO2 scam. I remind you; CO2 is only 0.04 percent of our atmosphere.

Let's go back in the direction of allowing people to have choices of the best manufactured cars that come from right here in America instead of giving it over to China, which is what will happen on the mined products, the labor, so many other things.

Americans can figure out what they like. They certainly don't need California mandates that have already failed in the past and the Federal Government dictating to them what their choices are in driving.

H.R. 4468 is a good, righteous bill. Let's support that and help people continue to have the choices they want in this country and not be mandated by Congress or certainly California.

Mr. Speaker, importantly, where we get our data from is extremely useful and key to making wise decisions around here.

Since about half the focus of the speeches at this place and at every committee and at every agency of the Federal Government seems to be on what they call climate change, it is good to know where we are getting our data. It tends to follow what percent of the atmosphere is CO2 and what the temperatures are.

Well, here is an interesting little piece from the EPA on their data and on the climate stations they have. They have all sorts of weather monitoring devices across the country, a little over 1,060, I believe it is. In some cases, the way they are set and where they are placed is a whole conversation unto itself.

The old rules require that they be placed in areas that are not skewing the temperature one way or another, but sometimes, you will find them on rooftops next to air-conditioning units, parking lots, areas that are going to be more prone toward heat sinks and to keeping temperatures higher.

Nonetheless, a recent set of data that EPA themselves has allowed to get out is that, since 1948, only 19 percent of those weather stations have shown a mild increase in temperature. That means 81 percent did not show an increase in temperature as per their own data.

Over 800 of those stations, I think 863, reported either a decrease or no change in the number of hot days.

Interesting, isn't it? You would think that we are melting down. We hear all this talking--even the committee I was just in--oh, sea level rise. Well, you look at pictures, and the sea level hasn't risen; certainly not to the extent that we are being threatened in the way they are not asking us but forcing us to change our lives.

It is one thing if you want to buy an electric vehicle because that might work for you in your commute. Hey, great. When you see my own State of California forcing these mandates by 2035, or whatever round year number they make up, as to when we have to get to what they call net zero on CO2,

it is really going to negatively affect a lot of people's lives, not just automobiles, which might be easier, but trucks that haul things.

For example, a typical truck, the total vehicle weight is 80,000 pounds, which the tare weight, or the empty weight of the empty truck, is 25,000 pounds. You have got about 55,000 pounds worth of capacity. If you convert that truck to an electric vehicle, it will take 16,000 pounds of additional weight of batteries to make it have any kind of range. The payload has just decreased by about 16,000 pounds or so on a truck.

Let's get back to the core numbers. What we are seeing is their own climate stations, their own weather stations, 81 percent of them, have shown as level or a decrease in temperature since 1948. Only a handful have seen an increase. Even then we have got to see how skewed those are with where they are placed, in parking lots or areas that are heat sinks.

Let's look at the CO2 numbers since that is supposed to be the killer that so many folks are whining about around here. Carbon dioxide is only 0.04 percent of our atmosphere. Four one-hundredths of 1 percent are what they are making us change our lives for. It is also putting America at a huge disadvantage economically, by exporting our jobs, exporting our extraction of natural resources to places like China or other areas around the world that have the ability to do the mining that is needed to produce copper or, heaven forbid, all the lithium and the cobalt and other things it is going to take to battery and electrify everything.

Instead, let's not have mandates to take away our cars, our trucks, and our trains. I even see silly pieces on the internet about one of the major cargo carriers saying we need to look forward to electrifying aircraft. The aircraft won't have any weight capacity to haul anything if you load it down with batteries. Battery technology needs to make leaps and bounds. We don't have it yet. Yes, we should keep researching that, but, by golly, why do we have to hamstring ourselves right now?

The internal combustion engines we have now burn cleaner and better than ever. If we are allowed to continue to refine them, they will be even better, just through attrition, over time. By replacing trucks and replacing vehicles with the newer, cleaner-burning ones, we are making giant strides. We have already made giant strides from the bad old days in the 1960s in the LA Basin and stuff with cleaner-burning vehicles.

Let's make progress on things that are within our range. Yes, we can look into hydrogen and see if that can power vehicles, but this battery-powered everything is really a farce at the end of it. It has to be heavily subsidized to get people to buy the cars. We are seeing the range. We are seeing the stories in the wintertime, et cetera. Let's take a smarter look at what the heck we are doing instead of just forcing it.

Madam Speaker, if you want to look in the dictionary under the word ``boondoggle,'' you would probably find the California High-Speed Rail project.

It was passed in 2008 by a narrow majority with $9 billion worth of State funding by the taxpayers for this project to connect L.A. to San Francisco.

Fifteen years later, they still haven't laid any track. They have interrupted the flow of towns up and down the Central Valley and have put some causeways in so far, but many billions have been spent, and it is woefully over time. It was supposed to be completed by 2020.

They are going to seek more and more Federal funding. It started out to be a $33 billion project, and now it is a $128 billion project. At most, they would identify $20 billion worth of funding. They are going to come here looking for the rest of it.

Instead, why don't we invest in something that can help all Americans, such as food supply and building water storage in California. That would help all Americans, not a boondoggle running up and down the valley stopping at an almond orchard near Bakersfield. That is why I am seeking to get help for Sites Reservoir, raising Shasta Dam, and other water projects that will grow the food that Americans use from California.

Mr. Speaker, it is a little over 1 month now, 1\1/2\ months, since October 7 and the horrific things that happened to the good and peaceful people of Israel.

Many, many deaths and unspeakable demonic actions were taken by Hamas against innocent Israeli citizens attending a festival or other events in their neighborhoods. I can't begin to speak about how ugly some of these things are. The rape, the murder, and the beheadings are beyond polite company. Maybe we need to be a little less polite in talking about just what kind of horrific activity Hamas has been up to. Even the Gazan people are subject to the terrorism of not being able to make a move or make a change in that area they are trying to live in.

Nonetheless, Israelis have bent over backwards for decades in so- called land-for-peace deals and so-called two-state solutions. Yet when Israel gives 99 percent of what they asked for to the Palestinian Authority, previously to Arafat, and to Hamas, they aren't really there at the table to negotiate. They are not there to acknowledge the State of Israel as a Jewish state or its right to exist. They want it eliminated.

When they talk about ``from the river to the sea,'' there is no room for compromise with them for acknowledging a Jewish state and a Jewish people in the State of Israel.

So why are we pussyfooting around saying, cease-fire, more land for peace, more two-state solution?

They do not want the existence of Israel.

That is the first question we should ask any of them when we sit down: Okay, do you want this solution?

Do you want that solution?

Do you agree that there should be the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state?

They will turn away from the table because there is not a negotiation. There is not an agreement. They do not care to have peace. They care to wipe Israel off the face of the map.

So what does that mean right now in the short term?

Yes, it looks like a seventh day of cease-fire, at least in the Gaza area, but when you squeeze that balloon, Mr. Speaker, then you get other problems like the violence in Jerusalem, on the

West Bank, and others that will pop up. Whether it is Hamas here one day or Hezbollah in another area up north, we still know that Iran is sponsoring this terrorism and that Qatar is happy to help finance it.

It is time to get very real about this. What Israel really needs to be able to do is to root out the problems, the corruption, and the deep problems that exist within Gaza. Many, many miles of tunnels go sometimes 200 feet underground, the shafts go up inside houses, inside mosques, and inside hospitals and they use the innocent citizens there as shields. All those areas Hamas happily hides behind so they can try to make Israel look bad when they surgically go in and try to remove these evil terrorists.

There is a dramatic difference in the two sides even though our universities and the media are duping our young people into waving their Palestinian flags. There is a dramatic difference in the two sides. One seeks peace, one seeks existence, and the other seeks to wipe Israel off the map. They don't want peace. They don't want existence.

So I call upon the Biden administration to stand behind Israel in a real way and in a meaningful way. The IDF needs to be able to do what it needs to get the job done in northern Gaza and to finish the job of wiping out the existence of Hamas who will continue to launch rockets and commit terrorism against Israel and even its so-called own people.

Allow Israel to finish the job instead of us duplicitously saying, oh, we need to have a cease-fire.

That is because there wouldn't be a fire to cease to begin with had not Hamas started, really, with the first moments of deeding the Gaza strip over to that side years ago when the rockets were launched even before the ink was dry on the agreement.

That is what we need to have done. The Biden administration needs to show it is firmly behind Israel and what needs to get done instead of these half measures.

Israel has a right to exist. Israel needs us as a firm ally. We need to get off our backsides and get the aid to them that they really need that we passed in this House.

Madam Speaker, earlier this month, we marked 5 years since the 2018 Camp fire struck Paradise and surrounding areas of northern California. It was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history.

Recovery has not been easy and will take continued coordination of all levels of government and, importantly, also the citizens. One of the most instrumental people in the recovery efforts was Casey Hatcher, who sadly passed away just days before the anniversary.

I especially want to recognize Casey, who was the deputy chief administrative officer for Butte County. We are all grateful for her fantastic work. Ms. Hatcher served in Butte County's emergency operations center during many activations, including the 2017 Oroville Dam spillway crisis, the Wall and Ponderosa fires, the 2017 La Porte and Cherokee fires, the 2018 Camp fire, the 2020 North Complex fire, and the 2021 Dixie fire. There is a theme here of fire.

She served Butte County diligently as the Camp fire recovery director, working closely with the California Office of Emergency Services and FEMA. Her dedication, perseverance, and leadership have been paramount to the recovery of the entire region. We would not have gotten this far without her or in as timely a fashion.

As I remember the 5 years since the Camp fire, I am also remembering Casey Hatcher, her dedication, and her caring and compassionate approach to helping her neighbors. God bless her and her family.

Madam Chair, this is a preemptive effort. Why fight so hard? If a single penny has not been cut loose yet, good. That means we are taking action here that is going to prevent that. Had the Biden administration not cut loose the $6 billion in frozen assets to begin with, we wouldn't have to do this.

Why do we have a nonsensical effort to allow Iran to have the option? That is why we need to head this off at the pass with H.R. 5961, the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act.

We saw a sophisticated attack launched in Gaza by Hamas, and we are continuing this process to allow Iran to be the biggest state sponsor of terror in the world. We need to head it off at the pass, as I said.

It is ridiculous that we have to fight so hard to have this preemptive effort. I just don't understand it. I don't understand a lot of things coming out of the Middle East with the pro-Palestinian efforts all over this country and all over the world when Israel is simply a country that seeks peace.

Yes, we got five wrongfully detained American hostages in exchange for these frozen assets, but the President must impose sanctions on the foreign financial institutions involved in processing the transfer of these funds. Head it off at the pass. Don't allow it to happen. Why would we be in the business of helping Iran to destroy Israel?

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the effort here today. Now it is a gun problem. I believe we are moving illegal immigrants into national parks in New York, and I suppose around the rest of the country, because we have a numbers problem. No, it isn't a gun problem.

It isn't even that the immigration system is so broken, it is just not being enforced. We have laws in place that would actually work if they were enforced. It is crazy. No wonder people think Congress is out of its mind with some of the stuff that goes on because we, oh, are going to fill up the parks, starting in New York and other areas of the country, and it will end up in the West because we don't have enough space.

There is a green light at our open border. We have had sanctuary cities inviting them in, and now they are seeing the results, finally, of Democrat policies that have put us in this place.

Indeed, this is not a long-term problem, so much as it has been intense the last 3 years during the Biden administration. This is not a commonsense solution I hear on the other side about guns or filling the parks with illegal immigrants. It is about controlling the border where the root cause is and not trying to gloss over it with this sort of policy.

Mr. Chair, this is a good policy to get started in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker, as the conversation has been, we know that border security actually is national security.

President Biden's open border policies have incentivized a historic surge in illegal immigration at our southern and northern borders and the impact we are seeing lately on our national parks.

Since President Biden taking office, there have been over 6.4 million illegal crossings of our southern border and 1.7 million known got- aways who evaded U.S. Border Patrol.

Every State is now a border State. Every town is now a border town. Democrats are using the national parks to house illegal immigrants-- think how absurd that is--which only further encourages this crisis.

Republicans and Democrats alike have condemned Biden's border crisis. We must stop incentivizing further waves of illegal immigrants by providing them with free housing--again, the latest scheme being housing them in our national parks.

We will continue to fight to secure our border and eliminate the financial burdens these illegal immigrants are putting on American taxpayers and our towns.

That is why earlier this year we passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which is the strongest border security package in American history.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend from Hawaii for yielding.

I would chime in as well on the importance of improving and expanding rural health and the challenges faced in the most rural areas of our country, including my own northern California district.

We have several high country hospitals that are out on their own pretty much. The connectivity that they need and the challenges that pertain to some levels of equality on reimbursements is extremely important, so I would be happy to join with Representative Tokuda's efforts and that of the Rural Healthcare Caucus.

Indeed, as we expand and get more and more telehealth opportunities, something that has worked pretty well for us in our district is teaching health centers; getting young folks as students, and maybe young doctors, interested in working in our communities here, as well.

It just helps extend the opportunities for people that do live in these rural areas and don't have nearly the choices. That is part of the cost, I guess, of living in a rural area.

We have done a lot of good work with the USDA, expanding fiber optic, getting more and more connectivity. We need to keep doing that in order to be more successful for rural America.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this effort, and a bipartisan effort it is.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to join my colleague from Utah in this role here tonight. I appreciate his stepping forward to take this on.

It is very important to help communicate what we are up to here. We have had much discussion this afternoon on the border and the effects of a nonborder policy since the Biden administration has been in charge. It has been difficult enough as it is over several years when President Trump very strongly attempted and had some level of success in securing our border with more fencing and more personnel. Since then it has been completely undone by the Biden administration.

We have personnel going down there and actually welding the gates open and doing everything they can, suing the State of Texas to remove barriers in the river there that would normally help deter this illegal immigration, this massive wave that is coming in, indeed, it is called an invasion by many. I will echo that.

Why is it?

It is not because we don't have enough laws or, oh, we need immigration reform. Maybe there is something that we could be doing.

H.R. 2 that we passed earlier this year in this House would actually help supplement the laws that are already on the books and funding and some of the other measures that would help modernize what flaws there might be, but make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, this is a flaw in the enforcement of our border.

We already have immigration policy on the books. In the good old days you might say that we welcomed people to this country, but under our rules. We had rules as to who the new immigrants are going to be here, whether they are to be citizens or folks just seeking permits for work or for tourist visas or student visas or this or that. The rules are pretty much out the window.

Mr. Speaker, how do you have a country and how do you have sovereignty if you don't have any rules and the laws are not followed that are presently already in place?

It is not that tough.

What has changed has been the Biden administration to make what already has been kind of difficult many times worse, and that is where the problem lies.

Our border could be enforced within a short amount of time by building the barrier and having the personnel be able to do their actual job instead of horrific accusations of what they have done. We saw that false narrative put out that the mounted border personnel were somehow whipping people with the reins and the whips or something while horseback. It was a complete lie. That is part of the whole problem with this administration is that they don't get the truth out to the American people. They hide and distort what it is their horrific policies have been doing.

The same applies to the Hamas situation and our friend and ally Israel. The barbaric attack by Hamas on October 7 on Israel didn't actually come out of nowhere. It was a planned attack funded by Iran which is, of course, we know the largest sponsor of terrorism.

Biden's failure to put pressure on Iran for the last 3 years has emboldened Iran and enabled Hamas to launch its deadly assault. Indeed, they go back to the Obama administration where that horrific policy and that agreement was put in place.

President Trump tried to peel it back and take it back. Indeed, he did get a pause on that situation. We are right back at it again, empowering Iran to do what they do.

So the latest was unfreezing $6 billion worth of assets in this country to help foster and fund the cause of Iran's doing. It was very reckless. It just gives more incentives to foreign adversaries. It also gives weird messages and weird signals to our allies, of course, Israel, and also others with whom we are forming the Abraham Accords alliances with including in process with Saudi Arabia.

Now, what are they supposed to think is America's position on all of this?

So when we have an opportunity, as we do in this House with this Republican majority, to say ``no'' to unfreezing $6 billion worth of assets to Iran, we need to do that. So we will consider a No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act which imposes immediate mandatory sanctions on any financial institution that engages in a transaction with the Qatari banks holding the $6 billion of Iranian funds which will effectively freeze the money.

Of course, the Biden administration needs to get this idea through their head already without us having to do this.

Whether it is the Middle East situation in Israel or our own border here, they need to get their act together. They need to put some commonsense goggles on for a moment and just really look at what the problem is.

Politically, how they go into 2024 thinking this is good with the lack of energy policy, the driver of inflation, mass amounts of government spending, and the horrific energy policy, shutting down the pipeline, shutting down the ability to drill, and forcing people into electric cars. It is just a well-rounded discussion here what the Biden administration has put upon the American people and our allies around the world.

We can do a lot to improve the situation and help Israel bring stability back to the Middle East, bring stability to our border by just simply enforcing our border and putting those things in place and not having a green light to come across our border and get all the benefits of being a U.S. citizen without having to be a citizen, including putting them into the national parks in New York City and others. It just an unbelievable policy or lack of policy, lack of foresight.

It rests in the Biden administration and there is really lot of incompetence. Let's take step A with the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act and also a very important step on the border with finishing the fencing. We have material laying around that we are paying for storage. Let's allow the border personnel to do their job instead of running a welcome wagon. Wouldn't that be something?

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time here tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and service of Butte County resident, Casey Corin Hatcher, who passed away in the early morning of November 5, 2023, at the young age of 43. She was surrounded by her sister, mother, and two lifelong friends.

Casey was born on February 26, 1980, in Auburn, California to her parents Michelle and Tom Hatcher. When she arrived, she was welcomed by her big sister Kelci Hatcher who became her lifelong treasure. She was inquisitive and had a head for planning, directing and problem-solving early in her development. She moved to Chico to attend college in 1999, graduating, from California State University (CSU), Chico with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing.

Casey began her professional career with a management consulting firm focused on assisting small businesses. She assisted over 60 in total during her tenure. The hands-on work with these businesses provided her with a solid foundation for continuing her work in economic development.

In 2011, Casey joined Butte County Administration as a member of its economic and community development unit, where she began her enduring advocacy for the Butte County community that she served with dedication for the remainder of her life.

Casey worked on a variety of community development projects early in her career with the County including implementation of disaster recovery assistance for homeowners affected by the 2008 wildfires in Butte County. Due to her stellar work, she was promoted to Economic Development Manager in 2016. She returned to CSU, Chico and received her Master's Degree in Public Administration in 2017.

Casey served in the County's Emergency Operation Center during many activations including the Oroville Dam Spillway Incident, the Wall, Ponderosa, and La Porte/Cherokee fires in 2017, the Camp Fire, the 2020 North Complex Fire, and the 2021 Dixie Fire. She worked countless hours supporting the response and recovery to these tragedies in Butte County. She never wavered, faltered. or tired of her dedication to serving the people of Butte County.

Ultimately. she was promoted to Deputy Chief Administrative Officer and assigned to ``lead'' disaster recovery organizing County staff, advocating with state and federal agencies, and helping rebuild the community for which she cared so deeply.

Additionally, in October 2021, Casey was asked to testify before a congressional committee on disaster recovery where she was provided a national platform to advocate for disaster recovery. The systems Casey put into place are used today as a model by communities experiencing catastrophic disasters, including most recently by the State of Hawaii in their response to the Lahaina Wildfire in Maui.

Casey was a rock; she was a role model; she was a moral compass. She was encouraging, challenging, motivating, but supportive. Her family, friends, colleagues, and beloved community will cherish her for the rest of the days of their lives.

Madam Speaker, I have introduced the bipartisan Indian Buffalo Management Act to create a permanent buffalo program at the U.S. Department of Interior and help promote and develop Tribal capacity to manage buffalo.

The act provides secure, consistent funding for Tribes, and Tribal organizations to have an established buffalo herd and management program, as well as provide resources for Tribes that would like to establish new herds of buffalo.

This bill passed out of the House last Congress and was led by my dear friend, our late Congressman from Alaska, Mr. Don Young.

This bill will help bolster our Tribal sovereignty, create economic opportunities, and ensure a stable supply of nutritious, locally sourced protein.

Additionally, the American buffalo has a deep historical and cultural connection to many Tribes and has always held great meaning for Indian peoples.

Buffalo has provided the Tribes with everything from clothing, to food, to shelter, to utensils, to pouches, to headdresses, to containers, and much more.

It is impossible to overstate their importance to Native Americans historically and to this day, culturally, as well as all Americans as a symbol of the rugged West.

This program will greatly help with Intertribal Buffalo Council's goal of restoring buffalo herds on Indian reservation lands.

Madam Speaker, I hope we can get the support for that and get it out of the House, out of the Senate, and in front of the President.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was honored to be able to take part in the rally for Israel on the National Mall.

Indeed, there were so many people seeking peace, sharing their love for mankind with each other, but also underlining the horrific suffering that has happened to the people in Gaza and to the people that have been kidnapped by the evil Hamas. There are hostages still being held there.

We will work and fight for their release, but also for long-term peace. Israel only seeks peace to exist with their neighbors in the Middle East or amidst the Arab world. That is all they want.

To see what is happening, to see the videos, to see the images of what was done to them on October 7 is horrific and evil. We must continue to stand strong on Israel. At that rally, the march for Israel, we saw that solidarity and we will stay with Israel through thick and thin until this is resolved properly.

God bless the State of Israel and God bless those families that have hostages still being held until we can get to a resolution and find them and get them back to safety.