{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://baumgartner.house.gov/media/press-releases/baumgartner-returns-bipartisan-congressional-delegation-visit-israel", "Baumgartner Returns from Bipartisan Congressional Delegation Visit to Israel", "2025-08-12", "2025", "2025-08", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Michael Baumgartner", "B001322", "baumgartner.house.gov", "baumgartner", "https://baumgartner.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON- Congressman Michael Baumgartner (WA-05), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its Middle East Subcommittee, has returned to the United States following a bipartisan congressional delegation trip to Israel.\n\nDuring the visit, Baumgartner met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, engaging in discussions about joint missile defense cooperation, regional stability, and the shared threat posed by Iran and its proxy militias. He also participated in high-level briefings with Israeli defense officials and peace negotiators.\n\n\u201cVisits like this are essential for shaping effective U.S. foreign policy,\u201d said Congressman Baumgartner. \"I'm grateful for the opportunity to represent Eastern Washington and help ensure that American leadership abroad continues to support peace, security, and prosperity.\u201d\n\nThe bipartisan group visited the tragic site of the October 7 Nova music festival massacre, where Hamas terrorists brutally murdered hundreds of innocent young people. Reflecting on the experience, Congressman Baumgartner said, \u201cStanding at the site of such senseless violence was heartbreaking. It reinforces why the United States must stand firmly with Israel in the fight against terrorism.\u201d\n\nThe trip also included visits to several of Israel\u2019s most sacred historical and religious sites. Baumgartner joined Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to visit the Sea of Galilee. As a Catholic, Baumgartner described this moment as deeply meaningful.\n\n\u201cIsrael is a special place with special people, and I deeply value the country\u2019s enduring friendship with America,\u201d said Congressman Baumgartner. \u201cWe stand united against terror and committed to ensuring peace and security in the region.\u201d\n\nA longtime student of the region, Baumgartner first traveled to the Middle East 30 years ago to study in Syria and Jordan. He emphasized how this visit reaffirmed his dedication to counterterrorism efforts and his belief in the possibility of peace for all people in the region.\n\n\u201cAs someone who first studied in the Middle East three decades ago, this trip was personally moving and professionally impactful. It filled me with renewed optimism that people of every religion deserve peace, and that, one day, they will find it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T14:57:50Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://baumgartner.house.gov/media/press-releases/baumgartner-returns-bipartisan-congressional-delegation-visit-israel"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9866966865956783, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}