{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stanton.house.gov/2023/11/stanton-statement-from-house-foreign-affairs-hearing-on-u-s-support-for-israel", "Stanton Statement from House Foreign Affairs Hearing on U.S. Support for Israel", "2023-11-09", "2023", "2023-11", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Greg Stanton", "S001211", "stanton.house.gov", "stanton", "https://stanton.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014 The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Rep. Greg Stanton during this week\u2019s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing titled, \u201cFriend and Ally: U.S. Support for Israel after Hamas\u2019 Barbaric Attack.\u201d\n\nVideo of Stanton\u2019s remarks is here.\n\nMore information on the hearing can be found here.\n\n---\n\nThank you, Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Meeks, for convening this important hearing on support for one of our nation\u2019s strongest allies: Israel. And thank you to our witnesses for joining us today.\n\nRecently I\u2019ve had many honest and emotional conversations with my constituents in Arizona . . . with people I have known, respected and worked with for decades. And I\u2019ve heard the deep divisions, as well as the fear created by the tragic rise in antisemitism and islamophobia here in the U.S. As Americans, we can freely debate many contentious issues, but we cannot allow it to turn into hatred.\n\nSince its founding 75 years ago, America\u2019s support for the only democracy in the Middle East has been resolute and unwavering . . . and always, always bipartisan. That cannot, and will not, change.\n\nBut the reality is that Israel cannot be secure, and there can be no lasting peace for Israelis or Palestinians, no two states side by side, until Hamas is destroyed.\n\nHamas does not care about the Palestinian people. They care about one thing: The complete destruction and elimination of Israel . . . from the River to the Sea. In pursuit of that goal, Hamas has preyed on innocent Palestinians. Hamas doesn\u2019t hide it: Its leaders talk about their willingness to make Palestinian civilians martyrs in their wicked mission.\n\nAnd right now, Hamas is holding two-hundred and forty women, children, grandparents, Holocaust survivors hostage in unknowable conditions . . . hostages they\u2019ve threatened to execute.\n\nThere can be no safe harbor for Hamas, and Congress must unequivocally support Israel in this fight.\n\nI am a proud supporter of Israel. I always will be. Yet I am also a supporter of the Palestinian people . . . I support a Palestinian state\u2014and I believe that every Palestinian has a God-given right to a more prosperous future.\n\nThe United States has been one of the best humanitarian partners for the Palestinian people for decades . . . sending billions into the West Bank and Gaza . . . and I\u2019m grateful that President Biden restored U.S. assistance to the Palestinian people after President Trump ended it. Today, we should do everything we can to get aid to those in Gaza who need it the most. . . including food and clean water, medical care, fuel and shelter.\n\nHistory has reminded us time and time again of the importance of a Jewish state. We must protect it. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but because Israel\u2019s security is tied to America\u2019s national security. Shared Israeli intelligence boosts our own government\u2019s ability to anticipate and respond to threats in the Middle East, and Israel\u2019s qualitative military edge provides a measure of stability in the region.\n\nThis Congress needs to quickly pass a national security funding package that mirrors the President\u2019s full request\u2013one that includes humanitarian aid to Gaza, additional aid to our ally Ukraine, and funds to secure our southern border\u2013and I\u2019ll work across the aisle to get it done.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "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://stanton.house.gov/2023/11/stanton-statement-from-house-foreign-affairs-hearing-on-u-s-support-for-israel"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7327741477638483, "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"}